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Changing economic and social landscape due to globalisation, increased communication, general environmental challenges and marketing scandals are factors which have significantly impacted marketing in the twenty-first century. To this effect, this research examines how marketers can increase confidence in their consumers through active engagement in consumer awareness and corporate social responsibility (CSR). It focuses on the roles of consumer awareness and CSR in marketing and aims to show the degree of influence the synthesis of both variables can have in marketing. The research, which is exploratory, depends on secondary sources of data and concludes that knowledge of products, services, consumer rights and CSR activities of a company is potent in shaping consumer behaviour. In addition, it shows that the synthesis of both variables has a great influence on moderating the effectiveness of each other and in improving marketing.

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to identify the CSR dynamics through a social capital lens in a developing country's context.

Approach – The research design underpinning this study is qualitative. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with SMEs owner-managers.

Findings – Adopting a pragmatic stance, the research highlighted the significant role of the social capital concept in enabling or hindering SMEs’ engagement in the CSR discourse in the Egyptian context.

Implications/limitations – A holistic understanding of the subject has been achieved by examining core issues at different levels. It is recommended that micro-individual (SME owner/manager), meso-organisational (SME context and industry), and macro-environmental (socio-economic and cultural environment) dynamics be explored by employing suitable research methods grounded in research paradigms that allow for qualitative exploration.

Practical implications – By giving prominence to SMEs as the research focus, the significance of these enterprises for sustainable development is highlighted at the policy level by developing tools and mechanisms that deal with effective implementation of CSR programmes in that sector.

Social implications – An in-depth understanding of the CSR practices of SMEs as embedded in their operational management will help policy makers in promoting sustainable practices by integrating social and environmental activities in the day-to-day operations of SMEs.

Originality/value – The chapter makes a contribution to academic theory in the area of CSR in SMEs by examining the phenomenon through a social capital lens using a multi-layered approach from a developing country's perspective.

This chapter explores the CSR conceptual framework, with a particular focus on the CSR policy diffusion and integration in the corporate banking in India. In a nutshell, the research has threefold objectives, it explores: the dynamics of the CSR conceptual development, sketching out the main contextual drivers leading to CSR policy importance in developed/developing countries; the CSR evolution in Indian scenario, pointing out India’s cultural and institutional contextual factors; and the context of banking sector regulations on CSR policy and guidelines. The analysis is supported by a comparative multiple case study analysis, on three leading public banks: State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank. The rationale for case selection is based on the social and environmental implications of banking financial decisions on the matter. The banking sector is still at the initial stage of integrating CSR policies in their regulations. The findings reveal increasing attention among the banks towards the adoption of social banking regulations. There is a substantial body of empirical evidence showing that the newly CSR core values and guidelines at international level have often had little effect on CSR practice in the banking sector at the country level. The research shows that it is important to look at the CSR evolution through an integrated model of analysis, based on conceptual and empirical evidence. It pointed out an integrated model of analysis of the banking sector through the lens of comparative case studies.

The chapter aims to explore the corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy domain at EU decision-making level, aiming to understand the nature of the participation shaping the CSR policy agenda co-design.

Building on a conceptual framework of participation, the chapter highlights the literature and policy views around the importance of EU CSR policy and how EU envisage the framework of the CSR policy co-design. By highlighting conceptual dimensions of the participatory governance, different levels of participation that shape the policy are evidenced. In particular, a case analysis emphasising the predominant role of the consultation approach in the decision-making process of the CSR policy is undertaken.

The findings shed light on the shift from the traditional passive participation in EU CSR policy decision making, based on purely communications towards consultation and multi-stakeholders participation. From the multi-stakeholder perspective, the EU Multi-Stakeholder Forum’s strategic relevance is observed, however, with no clear mechanisms to enforce its aims. Although the CSR policy is a core priority on the policy agenda, its voluntary approach justifies its early stages of implementation and fragmented use.

The research is qualitative, based on literature review and policy view. Further research directions could enrich the chapter.

The research contributes to the theoretical discussion around participation in a supranational context. Our insights shed light on the levels of participation and CSR policy goals and call for a critical debate on the EU policy co-design processes. Furthermore, through the lens of a case analysis, it sheds light on how EU CSR forum fits in with the current EU structure and its ‘principle of subsidiarity’, which states that decisions must be taken close to its citizens.

Over the last several decades, businesses have faced mounting pressures from diverse stakeholders to alter their corporate operations to become more socially and environmentally responsible. In turn, many firms appear to have responded by implementing more sustainable practices — measuring, documenting, and publishing annual CSR or sustainability reports to showcase how they are addressing important issues in this area, including: resource stewardship, waste management, greenhouse gas emission reductions, fair and safe labor practices, amongst other stakeholder concerns. And yet, research in this domain has not yet systematically examined whether businesses have, on the whole, changed their practices in tandem with the important changes in its institutional context over time. Have corporate CSR initiatives, in fact, been growing over the last 25 years or has the increased attention to CSR actually been much ado about nothing? In this chapter, we review the empirical literature on CSR to uncover that common measures of CSR such as the KLD do not support the concept that CSR practices have increased substantively over the last 25 years. We supplement this historical review by modeling the growth curves of CSR implementation in practice and find that the pace of positive change has indeed been glacial. More alarmingly, we also look at corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR) and find that, contrary to expectations, businesses have become more, not less, irresponsible during this same time period. Implications of these findings for theory are presented as are suggestions for future research in this domain.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a practical review of topical developments in corporate social responsibility (CSR) perspective within Pakistani business environment.

To investigate the concept of CSR in Pakistan, this chapter primarily draws on secondary sources including extant literature on CSR, government reports, publications of international agencies, industry reports, companies’ CSR/sustainability reports, and newspaper articles.

The findings of this research reveal that the concept of CSR is relatively underdeveloped in Pakistan. There is a general perception among business practitioners in Pakistan that CSR relates to altruism or philanthropic activities. However, only few large local companies and multinational enterprises hold a well-defined CSR policy. Small and medium enterprises limit their CSR engagement to comply with codes of conduct set by foreign buyers.

The discussion in this chapter is based on the secondary data, therefore the empirical research is needed to validate the findings of this study. Further, this chapter presents a generic reflection about how CSR is practiced and perceived in Pakistani business environment. Thus, industry-specific research would illustrate a much clearer picture on how different sectors in Pakistan are promoting CSR principles.

The findings of this research would help businesses and policy makers to recognize the current state of CSR progress and potential CSR challenges in Pakistan. These findings may assist the government, private sector, and civil society to devise future CSR agenda in Pakistan.

The authors contend that this is one of the few studies in Pakistani context which attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of CSR-related developments in Pakistan.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is often characterized as a voluntary approach, but CSR policy is on the rise: Governments have started to promote CSR by raising awareness, launching partnerships and platforms, providing financial incentives and requiring environmental and social reporting (Albareda, Lozano, & Tamyko, 2007; Gond, Kang, & Moon, 2011; Steurer, 2010; Steurer, Martinuzzi, & Margula, 2012). This chapter describes how the German government facilitates CSR, that is it analyses the main instruments at the national level and takes a look at the motivation of the German government.

Based on the framework of CSR policy developed by Steurer, Margula, and Berger (2008) and Steurer (2010), the chapter examines CSR initiatives in five areas: informational or endorsing instruments, partnering instruments, hybrid instruments, financial or economic instruments and soft legal instruments. The analysis rests on a documentary review of various sources referencing German CSR initiatives.

German CSR policy comprises all sorts of instruments, whereas hybrid instruments play an important role: the Strategy for Sustainable Development, the National CSR Forum and National Action Plan on CSR as well as the National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights.

This chapter contributes to the rising literature on public policies on CSR by discussing the manifold measures that the German government has developed to support CSR.

Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility.

This case is suitable to be used in advanced undergraduate and MBA/MSc level.

This case demonstrates the dilemma of a team of students who initiated a CSR project under the supervision of their Business Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability (BERS) course lecturer Dr Qanitah at Azman Hashim International Business School, UTM. The team faced challenge in getting sufficient sponsorship from the outside parties involved. In order to create awareness about CSR issues among general public, the team came up with a project plan and named it as You Only Live Once (YOLO). Two weeks before the YOLO project, one of the main sponsors withdrawn the agreement to sponsor the event. Lack of sufficient funding could contribute to the failure of the YOLO project. Dr Qanitah and the team were in a dilemma to sort out this issue.

By utilizing this case, the students will be able to:

• understand the need for undertaking CSR initiatives;

• expose to the obstacles faced by organizer with regard to the sudden withdrawal of sponsorships; and

• understand the importance of building awareness about CSR among general public.

understand the need for undertaking CSR initiatives;

expose to the obstacles faced by organizer with regard to the sudden withdrawal of sponsorships; and

understand the importance of building awareness about CSR among general public.