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Owing to the changing roles of business enterprises in social life, the term “corporate social responsibilty” has received growing interest both in the related literature and in practical applications. Although the framework of the term is still debatable, it is acknowledged that the issues involved in the concept have significant functions for society as a whole and for the business enterprises involved.

The purpose of this chapter is to examine how a multinational enterprise (MNE) makes sense of the ‘wicked problem’ of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

We analyse the single case of an acknowledged leader in CSR, Unilever. We undertake an interpretive textual analysis of how Unilever has accounted for its progress towards greater social and environmental responsibility in its annual social and environmental reports published between 2000 and 2012.

We identify enduring themes as well as what has changed in this 12-year period. We conclude that while Unilever has made definite progress, becoming more confident and ambitious in its plans and achievements, it potentially runs the risk of reducing CSR to a ‘tame problem’ that can be solved through technical solutions that offer win-win solutions and do not challenge the economic theory of the firm.

We show the value of using the perspective of ‘wicked problems’ to understand the complexity of the CSR challenge facing the MNE.

We suggest that the current approach of measuring CSR progress has limitations and potentially negative side effects.

Our chapter offers a novel conceptualisation of CSR, as well as empirical evidence of CSR as a process of corporate sensemaking in the face of ‘wicked problems’.

The demand for social responsibility accounts are not limited to corporations nor are reporting practices limited to disclosures in annual reports. Organizations such as the World Bank, with lending activities in excess of $22B yearly in at least 64 countries, exert significant influence over how social responsibility is defined and accounted for. The current study examines the provision of social responsibility accounts within the context of World Bank lending activities. Beginning from an in-depth examination of a single World Bank lending agreement in the area of basic education in Latin America as well as 40 semi-structured interviews with field participants, and a series of participant observations, we examine not only how the demand for accountability and social responsibility is satisfied via a complex of written and verbal “accounts” but also the micro-politics of such processes. This analysis highlights how the intersection between World Bank demands and existing information technologies impact on the nature of the provided written and verbal social responsibility accounts.

This chapter provides an overview of local government auditing in New Zealand by outlining the nature of local government, particularly the legislative requirements in respect to financial and service performance reporting and those for external audit. It also summarises the role and powers of the Controller and Auditor-General and their office in respect to local government audit in New Zealand.