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The corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an essential topic of both life and sociocybernetics. It requires businesspersons and other decision makers to be broad and hence to apply inter‐disciplinarity incorporating many, mutually partly different and therefore interdependent, viewpoints for requisite holism. To do so, they should use systems thinking. But the modern diversity of systems theories, including cybernetics, opens the issue: which systems theory and/or cybernetic should one use? Aims to discuss the dialectical systems theory (DST), its definition of holism and its definition of the seven principal groups of notions making systems thinking possible, when applied in a synergy. This may lead to a requisite holism, and hence to efficiency and effectiveness of the work on and of the CSR; it has often been done so in the 30 years of DST.

Desk research and indirect field research were used. The concept of CSR is a rather soft topic. It demands a holistic treatment and hence a plural theoretical foundation following recent trends in economics (business and environmental), management as well as systems thinking. The problem was investigated empirically from the systems‐oriented perspective supported by DST, because it tackles human personality and impacts over it and by it, rather than offers tools for people to use for whatever purposes.

The CSR concept belongs in sociocyberbetics linking cybernetics, systems theory and social aspects of the reality. The definition of CSR requires humans to think, decide, and act on a very broad basis rather than to reduce their horizons to the narrow habit of businesses to find profit only essential. CSR links the hard‐systemic and soft‐systemic versions of modern systems theories. It could be seen as an attribute of human personality and as a process between humans and organisations.

As CSR has many dimensions (economic, environmental and social ones, at least), the research focused on the requisitely holistic performance of an organisation being aware of diversified needs of multi‐stakeholders (including its own employees, as well).

The research findings and conclusions can support endeavors to implement the CSR concept in practice: in organisations, among different stakeholders and broader public audience (including governmental institutions and communities).

The paper provides the theoretical foundation to raise and improve socially responsible activities by supporting a maturing management philosophy approaching the viable, balanced organisation.

Issues concerning society are everybody's business. Therefore, individuals, larger or smaller groups, formal or informal entities, public or private firms, governmental or non-governmental organisations who are key stakeholders of society must always aspire to champion societal concerns. Society's welfare should be everybody's business. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a broad sense can be viewed as the relationship of organisations with society as a whole, and the need for organisations to align their values with societal expectations (Atuguba & Dowuona-Hammond, 2006). In reality, it is a set of standards by which organisations can impact their environment with the potential of creating sustainable development (Helg, 2007). It is critical that society educates everyone to be responsible. From all societal actors, universities are the ones educating the future elites of a country. What they teach and do not teach may make or break a nation's future and well-being. As noted by Dashwood and Puplampu (2010), there is a greater need for crafting a sustainable, strategic and mutually beneficial set of responsible actions in embracing the right approaches to CSR. According to them, such actions should emanate from a genuine recognition of, and attention to, economic, traditional, historical, as well as business arguments from the perspectives of the stakeholders and interest groups.

The study suggests that the prominent driving force behind corporate social responsibility (CSR) is companies’ long‐term profitability, supported by company leadership and efficiency, competitiveness, and the ability to anticipate the future. The long evolution of Finnish companies since the 18th century has created fertile ground for responsibility. Despite the absence of significant moral or ethical guidance, the thinking of the participating companies was for the most part business‐oriented. The management and organization of CSR appeared to be professional and efficient. CSR was found to be optimal at the highest level of the organizations studied, and the commitment of the top management unquestionable. The present status of CSR seemed to exist more on the theoretical than the practical level. Implementation was seen as a major challenge for the future. The jungle of standards and measurement instruments is a serious problem. Communication was narrowly viewed and technical, and the prevailing paradigm was rather mechanistic.

This paper aims to explore the general question: Is corporate social responsibility (CSR) a business duty, as many contend, or really just a benign delusion?

To provide an answer to the question the CSR literature is examined from both theoretical and practical perspectives. This paper offers a broad general review and practical assessment of contemporary thinking about CSR. It investigates three precise questions. These are: who pays for CSR, who makes decisions about CSR, and what are the long‐term, potential implications of CSR?

The three most relevant theoretical frameworks are each found wanting. In particular, none offers managers clear operational guidance. So, although CSR is recognised as morally attractive, it is judged unhelpful to force it on business through regulatory or legislative means. From the questions posed it is revealed that answers to the first two questions are quite clear. The answer to the third is conjecture. The paper finds that none of these questions has yet received adequate attention. The paper offers three main findings: that CSR has costs which may go unrecognised; that it draws managers into decisions which may lie outside their competence; and, if it were widely adopted on a major scale, CSR would have implications for government and civil society which we have scarcely begun to think about.

At the same time, the proven capacity of business to contribute to society through discretionary expenditure is huge. The paper therefore concludes that it is sensible to encourage business to do more. It follows that CSR should be popularised but not imposed.

The paper provides useful information on CSR as a business duty.

The purpose of this empirical case study is to apply several existing frameworks to consider the notion of integrating corporate social responsibility (CSR) with a brand leadership strategy. The investigation focuses on two main questions: What are the core components for the development of a CSR brand? What capabilities are necessary to implement a CSR‐related brand strategy?

Five firms provide input for a multiple case‐based approach.

Intuitive and intended approaches for CSR brand leadership emerge from the multiple case study results. Different capabilities are required at each stage of the development and implementation process for CSR brand leadership.

This research extends three prior studies – Aaker and Joachimsthaler's brand leadership framework, Maon et al.'s proposed integrative framework for designing and implementing CSR, and Beverland et al.'s capabilities view on the development of global brand leadership – and fills a theoretical gap.

Managers can use the proposed integrated and implementable framework to determine the impact of dynamic factors, such as ownership, culture, executive leadership, and the specific context of product and corporate branding, on the development and implementation of their CSR brand.

No studies examine how to leverage CSR in brand‐building activities. Specifically, no empirically grounded research examines the required path to create and manage CSR brands and associated benefits, nor is the number of capabilities required to develop a credible CSR brand clear. Comprehensive models of the processes for developing and implementing CSR brands and the capabilities that underlie them are needed. The proposed model emphasizes the contextualized need to rely on different capabilities at different stages of this development process to generate constructive and sustainable outcomes.

This paper aims to examine how to further embed CSR thinking and practice into corporations, particularly in emerging markets, by reviewing and drawing similarities between key issues faced by all senior managers, namely ethics, leadership, personal responsibility and trust.

This paper presents a conceptual exploration of global CSR practices using social psychology and overlays this concept with strategic and institutional theory in order to encourage new ways of thinking about CSR adoption, especially in emerging markets.

The paper reveals the importance of shareholder needs on global corporate decision making and applies alternative conceptual models to help businesses to devise better CSR practices and individuals to align their actions to their own values.

This paper strongly argues for blending different theoretical foundations from the management and organization literature in order to draw comparisons between current global CSR practice and the potential for its further adoption in emerging markets.

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce and provide an overview of the topic of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The approach is to present an introduction to the importance of the topic and a review of the concept’s evolution and development which includes an exploration of the topic’s meaning and competing and complementary frameworks which are related. Among these related concepts are the following: business ethics, stakeholder management, sustainability, corporate citizenship, creating shared value, conscious capitalism, and purpose-driven business. These concepts are frequently used interchangeably with CSR, and they have more in common than differences. At their core, each embraces value, balance, and accountability. The chapter also explores a number of key research avenues that are quite contemporary. Among these, the following topics are addressed: political CSR; the CSP–CFP relationship and business case for CSR; upstream/downstream CSR; CSR in emerging economies, corporate social activism, and corporate social irresponsibility. In the final analysis, it is argued that the topic of CSR continues to be on an upward and sustainable trajectory in both conceptual development and practice.

The purpose of the paper is to highlight the opportunity that exists within the ambience of peace in the Niger Delta precipitated by the amnesty deal; particularly for the oil‐multinationals that operate there, to re‐invent the delivery of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to maintain peaceful relations with their hosts and therefore optimize their business potentials.

The method is purely a review of extant literatures and deductive arguments that will give insights to how conflict situations arising from denial of rights can be resolved through the CSR and stakeholder's perspective.

The paper concludes that the oil‐multinationals operating in the Niger Delta region ought to take advantage of the ambience of relative peace which has been created by the amnesty initiative to re‐invent their relationship with their host‐communities.

The oil‐multinationals must seize the opportunity of a peaceful operating environment precipitated by the amnesty deal to engage with their host‐communities more objectively. This move will contribute to a healthy relationship between both parties and contribute to sustainable peace, which is a requisite to the sustainable exploitation of oil resources in the region, sustainable development of the resource, region and country.

The paper draws upon the hypotheses in extant literature that argue that there is a link between the local expectations of oil‐multinationals CSR, its actual delivery and violent conflicts in the Niger Delta region. It however moves the discourse forward by highlighting the window of opportunity that the federal government's amnesty initiative has opened to reassess CSR thinking, strategies and implementation.

This paper aims to explore corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the Indian context, focusing on the banking sector. This is of particular importance at this time given the financial industry's pivotal role in driving forward India's growth; this paper contributes to the literature on the operationalisation of CSR within one of the world's fastest growing economies.

The paper presents empirical, on-the-ground qualitative evidence from the Indian finance sector with regard to CSR operations and motivations. Data are based primarily on a series of semi-structured interviews with “elite” participants; senior officials operating in the banking sector.

The paper offers insight into four levels of CSR engagement which currently exist in the day-to-day operations of Indian companies. Of significance to debates on CSR trends and strategies, the paper presents evidence to suggest that western CSR initiatives are influencing executives in India; ultimately causing a reactive response of an ad-hoc nature.

While the focus of this paper is the Indian finance industry, the trends within this sector and emerging practice, one must be cautious about making broad generalisations about CSR in India based on the data presented here.

A focus on responsible project finance and CSR is imperative at this time of major infrastructure growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) economies; indigenous financial institutions have a crucial role to play in social and economic development. Through a focus on four modes of engagement, which emerged from empirically grounded data collection, this paper highlights multiple forms of commitment and motivation which are often overlooked when reviewing CSR primarily through reporting methods.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR), marketing/branding, strategic management.

The case can be used in master, MBA and executive programs in courses on the following topics: CSR; strategic management; or strategic marketing.

The case describes the CSR initiatives at the Slovenian mobile phone operator Si.mobil d.d., with the two pillars of taking care of employees and taking care of the environment. The main protagonists describe the process of initiating, developing and communicating the initiative, as well as the individual actions taken. In a strategy meeting, Si.mobil's top management set out to discuss the strategic challenges that the company was facing, trying to find ways out of the potentially deadly price war and commoditization spiral. Specifically, the discussion in the management meeting revolved around how Si.mobil can position itself in the market, how it can find a sustainable USP and whether and if yes, how the company's CSR initiatives can play a significant role therein.

To foster critical thinking about the reasons for and effectiveness of CSR initiatives; to be able to assess the role that CSR initiatives can play in brand building and differentiation; to understand how CSR affects company performance through its effect on and feedback reactions from different stakeholder groups; to critically discuss the preconditions for effective CSR initiatives, and to see exemplarily how they can be initiated and managed; to understand the crucial role that leadership and communication are playing in CSR initiatives; to identify the vital links between internally oriented (employee-focused) and externally oriented (societal-focus) CSR strategies and actions.

Teaching note