If you want to see CSR cases evolve in real time, take a look at the following three examples that were in the news at the time the fourth edition went to press.  Click on any of the cases below to find out the issues and how to dig more deeply into them.

• Purdue Pharmais being sued by the state of Massachusetts for its role in fueling a drug crisis centered on its promotion of opioids.
• Alwaleed bin Talal, a Saudi Arabia prince, has been an investor, a philanthropist, and a prisoner.  His story provides fascinating insights into multiple aspects of CSR.
• BP Deepwater Horizon, one of the largest, most expensive oil disasters in history, still has some twists in its tail, nearly 10 years after the event.

The aim of these examples is for you to develop your own case studies, each one examining very different aspects of CSR.  Because each one is still unfolding, there aren’t any firm answers.  But the cases raise a lot of questions about what companies get right and what they get wrong, and they should generate a lot of debate amongst students, who can keep coming back to them to see how they are developing.

Purdue Pharma and Opioid Addiction – Is the company to blame for ruining people’s lives?

In June 2018, the state of Massachusetts in the USA sued Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, which has been blamed for spawning America’s opioids crisis.  The lawsuit names leading Purdue Pharma executives and members of the multibillionaire Sackler family that owns the pharmaceutical company. It accuses the company of spinning a “web of illegal deceit” to fuel consumption of the highly controversial drug while boosting its own profits.

To start learning about the case, you can visit the WBUR website, www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2019/02/01/purdue-oxycontin-savings-cards

For an introduction to the opioid crises, start at the Council for Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-opioid-epidemic

To learn more about the Sackler family which is one of the largest donors to higher education and the arts, try the Guardian article at www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/13/meet-the-sacklers-the-family-feuding-over-blame-for-the-opioid-crisis

Questions to get you thinking

• OxyContin is a legal painkiller.  On what grounds can Purdue Pharma be said to have done anything wrong?
• The Sackler family is famous in cultural and academic circles for decades of generous philanthropy towards some of the world’s leading institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum in the US, Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, along with the Serpentine Gallery and the Royal Academy in London.  And that is just the tip of the iceberg.  When looking at the family’s legacy, are questions about the source of the family’s fortune offset by this generosity?
• Bringing a lawsuit against a company as big as Purdue Pharma is enormously expensive.  Is the cost to the government a justifiable use of taxpayers’ money?

Alwaleed bin Talal: investor, philanthropist and prisoner

Alwaleed bin Talal is one of the world’s richest people.  In 2015, he gave his personal fortune, estimated at £20 billion, to charity with the aim of fostering cultural understanding, empowering women, and providing disaster relief.  Based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where his staff are mostly women, his wealth comes from stakes in hotel chains, media groups, banks and IT firms such as Twitter and Apple.  Although he is a prince, he does not hold an official government position.  He thinks of himself as the ‘Warren Buffett of Arabia.’

In 2018, however, Alwaleed was arrested and imprisoned in the glamorous Ritz Carlton Hotel in Riyadh.  Allegations against him included money laundering, bribery and extorting officials.  His brother was also detained and only released at the end of 2018, partly to improve the country’s reputation in the aftermath of a journalist’s death.

To start learning about the case, you can read the Washington Post’s article, www.washingtonpost.com/world/prince-alwaleed-bin-talal-billionaire-investor-is-released-from-custody-in-saudi-arabia-relative-says/2018/01/27/8083a212-035a-11e8-93f5-53a3a47824e8_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.072c44cdc6b4

The work of his charitable organization, Alwaleed Philanthropies, is explained at www.alwaleedphilanthropies.org

Alwaleed’s decision to follow Bill Gates in giving his personal fortune to charity is discussed at www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-33353370

Questions to get you thinking

• Alwaleed bin Talal is a leading figure in the world of international philanthropy.  What motivates him to give so much of his wealth away?
• Alwaleed is a major figure in the Saudi Arabia business community.  What aspects of management practice is he developing that have a positive impact on social and or environmental responsibility in the kingdom?
• There have been many critics of corruption and bad governance in Saudi Arabia, but when Alwaleed and others were arrested in an attempt to change this situation, there was outcry in the financial community and in parts of the press.  How is Saudi Arabia continuing to tackle corruption and governance, and is this proving effective?

The BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Deepwater Horizon, the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, had far reaching impacts on communities, ecosystems and livelihoods.  It has resulted in hundreds of claims for compensation which as of 2019 totalled a record-breaking $65 billion.  The incident became a cause celebre that at one stage threatened to bring the British-based oil giant down, and was in stark contrast to the company’s image in the 2000s of an oil and gas company that cared about the environment.

To explore some of the social and environmental impacts of the disaster, look at the collection of BBC coverage at www.bbc.co.uk/news/special_reports/oil_disaster

Recent news on the size and nature of BP’s settlements is at www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/16/bps-deepwater-horizon-bill-tops-65bn

BP’s range of responses and it philosophy in the aftermath of Deepwater Horizon can be investigated at www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/community/commitment-to-the-gulf-of-mexico/gulf-environmental-restoration.html

Questions to get you thinking

• Nearly 10 years after the original disaster, how is Deepwater Horizon still affecting BP?
• How is the gulf of Mexico experience having an impact on the oil industry around the world, particularly when it comes to offshore exploration?
• How is BP trying to restore its reputation as a responsible company?