New corporate social responsibility issues are cropping up all of the time.  In this new addition, we raise issues that complement themes in the book, and give students the chance to dig into them more deeply by looking at a single article or book chapter.  Look at the article or chapters, and use the questions to discuss or write about the aspects of CSR they address.

Some of the articles are taken from business literature and are mentioned in the book.  However, some of them are from alternative disciplines and give insight into other ways of exploring CSR issues.

GENDER DIMENSIONS TO CSR

Grosser, K., Moon, J. & Nelson, J.A. 2017, "Guest Editors’ Introduction: Gender, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility: Assessing and Refocusing a Conversation", Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 541-567.

CSR (and business ethics) have only gradually applied gender studies to the behaviour and purpose of companies.  This article examines the history of how gender studies has been included into CSR.  It also identifies which aspects of gender studies are useful for enhancing the analytical value of CSR.

• Why was CSR slow to incorporate gender studies into its analytical frameworks?
• What aspects of gender relations are companies most interested in today?
• How can gender studies be better integrated into CSR in the future?

WOMEN IN SUPPLY CHAINS

Barrientos, S., Dolan, C. & Tallontire, A. 2003, "A Gendered Value Chain Approach to Codes of Conduct in African Horticulture", World Development, vol. 31, no. 9, pp. 1511-1527.

Women in supply chains has been a CSR issue for a long time, especially in industries such as agriculture and low-skill manufacturing where women are often employed.  It is especially associated with developing countries.  This article was one of the first to tackle gender in the supply chain, focusing on Africa.

• What does the article tell us about the gendered nature of codes of conduct?
• What are some issues where a good outcome for men is not a good one for women, and vice versa?
• How have the three authors developed their work on gender in CSR since this article was written?

NON-BUSINESS INSIGHTS INTO CSR

Dolan, C. & Rajak, D. (eds.), 2016, The anthropology of corporate social responsibility, Berghahn Books, Oxford.

This book contains a large selection of articles that look at CSR from an anthropological perspective.  The articles come from different countries around the world (notably those in the Global South) and diverse industries.  Most but not all are focused on multinational firms.  They highlight a number of ways in which issues such as ethics, value, and power appear quite different if one does not look at them only through a business lens.

• What are some of the main issues where an anthropological perspective differs from one rooted in business theory?
• Do you think the insights of anthropology are easy to accommodate in management practice?
• What other disciplines do you think could add useful insights into the meaning and practice of CSR?

THE DEMAND FOR NEW FORMS OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Boeger, N. & Villiers, C. (eds) 2018, Shaping the Corporate Landscape: Towards Corporate Reform and Enterprise Diversity, Hart Publishing, Oxford.

This book brings together articles that explore whether conventional approaches to corporate governance are up to the task set by the changing nature of business.  For example, there are sections that explore the decline of the publicly listed company and how corporate law affects companies’ attempts to be more responsible or sustainable.  If you are interested in whether corporate law is fit for purpose given the changing nature of business, this is a very good introduction.

• What chapters in the book deal with new forms of business such as social enterprises and community interest companies?
• What are some of the key areas where corporate governance does not facilitate or encourage CSR?
• What are some of the reasons a gap exists between the focus of corporate law and the concerns of management theory?

MODERN SLAVERY

Crane, A., LeBaron, G., Phung, K., Behbahani, L. & Allain, J. 2018, "Innovations in the business models of modern slavery: The dark side of business model innovation", Academy of Management Proceedings, Academy of Management, Briarcliff Manor, NY,  pp. 13381.

Andrew Crane is a CSR theorist, well known for his work with Dirk Matten and others.  However, this article is not written from a CSR perspective.  It looks at an issue – modern slavery — that has largely been overlooked by CSR, but is nonetheless clearly something that companies of all sizes need to address.  The article’s particular interest is how slavery has led to business innovations that the authors call the dark side of management practice.

• What are the characteristics of modern slavery and how does it differ from conventional images of slavery?
• What are some of the industries where modern slavery is found?
• Why is slave labour ‘underworked’?

CSR AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Jeppesen, S., Lund-Thomsen, P. & Jamali, D. 2017, "SMEs and CSR in Developing Countries", Business and Society, Volume: 56 issue: 1, page(s): 11-22.

There is a distinct strand of CSR literature that examines business in the context of developing countries, and the work of authors such as Blowfield, Frynas, Kolk, and Tallontire is discussed in Chapter 4 of the book.  This article is the editorial of a special edition of the journal Business and Society and was written by three important academics in this area.  It pays particular attention to the distinctive features of small and medium sized enterprises in these regions, exploring how CSR can mean something different for these companies compared to larger national and multinational ones.

• What are the arguments to suggest SMEs are more likely to be more socially and environmentally responsible than larger firms?
• What lies behind the contradicting claims that SMEs do more social and environmental harm than larger firms?
• Why do the authors think formal interventions and legislation can have limited effects on the behaviour of SMEs?

THE CHANGING NATURE OF WORK

Standing, G. 2012, "The precariat: from denizens to citizens?", Polity, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 588-608.

The gig economy and zero hour contracts are just two facets of new and more precarious working relations associated with companies such as Uber and Deliveroo.  Standing was one of the first academics to study these changes in the workplace, and has written extensively about them.  This article summarises some of his observations and arguments, and throws up numerous questions about the way business is redefining its relationship with the workforce.

• What does Standing mean by ‘precariat’?
• Why have these new working relationships taken place, and how do they differ from traditional worker-employee relationships?
• What are the arguments for and against these relationships?

HISTORY OF CSR

Carroll, A.B. 1999, "Corporate social responsibility: evolution of a definitional construct", Business & Society, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 268.

This is one of the most widely cited articles outlining the evolution of CSR.  Carroll created the well-known CSR pyramid referred to in the book, and he has updated parts of his thinking on CSR’s history in a number of articles since this one was written.

• What does he mean by ‘definitional construct’?  Do you agree that’s what CSR is?
• Why do some people criticize Carroll for proposing an ‘American’ view of CSR?  What would be different about a European view?
• How would you revise this article to make it a better description of contemporary CSR?

POLITICAL CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Scherer, A.G., Rasche, A., Palazzo, G. & Spicer, A. 2016, "Managing for political corporate social responsibility: New challenges and directions for PCSR 2.0", Journal of Management Studies, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 273-298.

There is a political dimension to CSR that has become more prominent in academic literature over the past few years.  Political Corporate Social Responsibility (PCSR) refers to the intentional and unintentional political impacts of CSR, including how CSR has sometimes filled regulatory gaps.  This article by several prominent thinkers in this area, looks at the latest developments in the field.

• What was the original political and economic context to PCSR?
• What issues were ignored in early PCSR thinking?
• Why do the authors connect modern PCSR with nationalism and religious fundamentalism?