Historical Perspective - 28th March

Corporate Social Responsibility 1)A 1) A Historical Perspective from Industrial Revolution to Social Activism 2)Moral 2) Moral Arguments for CSR

 !rom Industrial Revolution to Social Activism "HA# IS C$RP$RA#% S$CIA& R%SP$'SI(I&I# *CSR+, Corporate Social Responsibility *CSR+ refers to t-e responsibility t-at business organisations *mainly companies+ ta.e upon t-emselves to do good for t-e society/ #-is responsibility re0uires t-e companies to invest time and money in social proects t-at benet society and people/ #-is responsible act by companies is of great importance in developing and under developed countries/ Some countries -ave made CSR mandatory for

 !rom Industrial Revolution to Social Activism CSR means di3erent t-ings to di3erent people/ "-ile some loo. at it as pure p-ilant-ropic or c-aritable 4or. by companies5 ot-ers vie4 it as compliance 4itla4s to survive in business/ A t-ird vie4 of CSR could be t-e disc-arge of contractual obligations to4ards employees5 customers5 suppliers5 etc/ I 4ould dene CSR as a set of functions disc-arged by companies5 eit-er voluntarily or in compliance 4it- t-e la45 to provide benets to t-at section of society 4-ic-

Historical Perspective of CSR  !rom Industrial Revolution to Social Activism #H% $RI6I' $! CSR, #-e !irst Industrial Revolution too. place bet4een 1789 to 1:;9 4-ere t-e signicant transformation 4as t-e movement from manual production to mec-anised production/ #-e factory system also came into estage/

Historical Perspective of CSR  !rom Industrial Revolution to Social Activism Morrell Heald in -is boo.5 ?#-e Social Responsibilities of (usiness@5 stated t-at t-e practice of Corporate Social Responsibility CSR) 4as alive and gro4ing from t-e 1B tcentury itself/ (usiness giving and business involvement in community issues 4ere very muc- prevalent at t-at time/ (ig companies used to get involved in t-ese community activities5 as t-ey 4ere given t-e responsibility of fullling public goals and public interest obectives/ #-us5 t-e origin of CSR seems to be rooted in

Historical Perspective of CSR  !rom Industrial Revolution to Social Activism PR%>"$R&= "AR II %RA, Heald notes t-at t-e ?trustees-ip concept@ of business leaders-ip and responsibility 4as enunciated nearly 2D years before "orld "ar II around 1B1D)/ Andre4 Carnegie o3ered an even earlier statement of t-e trustee concept in Eune 1::B in -is 'ort- American Revie4 article titled ?"ealt-/@ In 1B985 ale Fniversity President5 Art-ur Hadley5 advised business leaders to remember t-at t-ey are also trustees of t-e public interest and to align t-eir sense of et-ics and obligation

Historical Perspective of CSR  !rom Industrial Revolution to Social Activism In t-e 1B29s5 t-e trustees-ip concept emerged boldly in t-e 4ords and practices of $4en =/ oung and 6erard S4ope5 C-airman and President5 respectively5 of t-e 6eneral %lectric Company/ In t-eir eyes5 s-are-olders 4ere only one constituency to 4-om business leaders 4ere responsible5 and as oung put it in 1B285 t-e public and employees ran.ed a-ead of s-are-olders/ oung and S4ope envisioned and soug-t to bring about cooperation bet4een business5 labour5 government and community  not open -ostilities/ #-us5 4ell before "orld "ar II5 t-e practices of giving p-ilant-ropy) and of community involvement 4ere 4ell establis-ed in community c-est drives of t-e 1B29s  alt-oug- certainly not embraced by all business leaders/

Historical Perspective of CSR  !rom Industrial Revolution to Social Activism #H% P$S#>"$R&= "AR II %ARS, CSR activities gre4 in scope and intensity after t-e end of t-e Second "orld "ar in 1B;D/ %urope and America emerged from t-e "ar and modern businesses too. 4ings/ As t-e 1BD9s unfolded5 Heald describes business leaders moving beyond p-ilant-ropy to substantive cooperation and outrig-t leaders-ip on a range of community initiatives/ He developed e"orld "ar II years 1B;D to 291D) -ave been notable for t-e increasing attention given to t-e concept of CSR5 for its continuing evolution5 and for t-e lac. of consensus on 4-at it means  and even 4-et-er it is legitimate/

Historical Perspective of CSR  !rom Industrial Revolution to Social Activism At one e