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The purpose of this paper is to develop an analytical model for appraising and measuring corporate social responsibility (CSR). The theoretical and conceptual grounds that sustain the model are based on previous approaches.

The utility function, which is the basis of a company's economic dimension, is analyzed in its philosophical and ethical setting, concentrating largely on the Utilitarian and Hedonistic schools and a maximizing agent, the “homo oeconomicus”.

The resulting new approach permits an analytical explanation of the behavior of a company and its owners when incorporating both economic rationality (“homo oeconomicus”) and social responsibility.

The quantitative determination of a global indicator for social responsibility is shown, as is the development of a method for calculating a monetary value of CSR.

Corporate responsibility perceptions from stakeholders are becoming more difficult to manage. This is in part because of large amount of social media being projected to stakeholders on a daily basis. In light of this, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate responsibility framing from the social media perspective firm’s performance as defined by abnormal-return (defined as the difference between a single stock or portfolios return and the expected return) and idiosyncratic-risk (defined as the risk of a particular investment because of firm-specific characteristics).

Hypotheses are developed through agenda-setting theory and stakeholder and shareholder viewpoints. The research model is tested using sentiment analysis from a collection of social media from several industries.

The results provide support that three corporate responsibility social media categories (economic, social and environmental-framing) will have different impacts (delayed, immediate) on abnormal-return and idiosyncratic-risk. This study finds differences between immediate (one-day lag) and delayed (three-day lag) associations on abnormal-return and idiosyncratic-risk.

This study also suggests differences between the amount and sentiment of corporate responsibility social media framing on abnormal-return and idiosyncratic-risk. Finally, results identify interaction effects between different corporate responsibility social media categories.

A royal charter of incorporation imposing public benefit/social responsibilities established the privately owned British South Africa Company (BSAC), in return for power to exploit a huge territory using low-cost local labour. This study explores the dual principal–agent problem of how the BSAC used annual report narratives to report on its conflicting economic responsibilities to investors versus its public benefit charter responsibilities to the British Crown.

Having digitised the dataset, the research analyses narratives from 29 BSAC annual reports spanning a continuous 35-year royal charter period, using computer-aided keyword content analysis to identify economic-orientated versus public benefit-orientated annual report narratives. The research analyses how the annual report narratives shifted according to four key contextual periods by reference to the changing influence of private investors versus the British Crown.

There are two key findings. First, economic primacy. At no point do public benefit disclosures outweigh economic disclosures. Second, the BSAC's meso-corporate context and macro-social/political context can explain patterns in public benefit disclosures. The motivation for producing public benefit information is not altruism. Rather, commercial interests motivate disclosure. The BSAC used its annual reports to sustain what proved ultimately unsustainable – royal charter-style colonialism.

This accounting history study contributes to an understanding of corporate narrative reporting using one of the earliest known cases of such analysis and shows how accounting plays a central role in facilitating a company in sustaining its interests. This 100-year lookback may be a portend of the future for modern-day annual report corporate social responsibility narratives in, say, mining and oil and gas company corporate reports, especially if these natural resources run out.

Revisiting Carroll’s classic corporate social responsibility (CSR) pyramid framework, this paper aims to evolve a novel synthesis of ethics and economics. This yielded an “integrative CSR economics”.

This theory paper examined how to conceptually set up CSR theory, argue its ethical nature and establish its practical, social and empirical relevance. Economic analysis reached out from contemporary institutional economics to Smith’s classic studies.

The paper reconstructed all of Carroll’s four dimensions of CSR – economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities – through economics. The paper discounted a core assumption of much CSR research that economic approach to CSR, including the instrumental, strategic “business case” approach to CSR, were unethical and lacked any foundations in ethics theory. Integrative CSR economics reframes research on viability and capability requirements for CSR practice; redirecting empirical research on links between CSP (corporate social performance) and CFP (corporate financial performance).

The paper focused on Carroll as the leading champion of CSR research. Future research needs to align other writers with integrative CSR economics. Friedman or Freeman, or the historic contributions of Dodd, Mayo, Bowen or Drucker, are especially interesting.

The paper set out how integrative CSR economics satisfies the “business case” approach to CSR and develops practical implications along: a systemic dimension of the market economy; a legal-constitutional dimension; and the dimension of market exchanges.

Integrative CSR economics creates ethical benefits for society along: a systemic dimension of the market (mutual gains); a legal-constitutional dimension (law-following); and the dimension of market exchange (ethical capital creation). Social benefits are not only aspired to but also are achievable as a business case approach to CSR is followed.

The paper’s main contribution is a new synthesis of economics and ethics that yields an “integrative CSR economics”.

The appraisal of corporate reputation based on third-party corporate social responsibility (CSR) indices appears to have been institutionalized. The endorsement of such an approach by sustainability custodians and influencers undermines the uptake of the morality and legitimacy of CSR. This study takes a social realist perspective, which suggests that social phenomena such as CSR and corporate reputation are shaped by social structures and power relations. This study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between CSR and corporate reputation and understand ways in which the constructs are influenced by cognitive factors.

This study surveyed 411 respondents across five shopping malls and analyzed the data using path analysis of the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The mall-intercept survey sought to critically assess expectations of CSR vis-à-vis evaluation of corporate reputation. Based on a case study of three Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed companies, CSR expectations were measured along the philanthropic, economic, ethical and legal dimensions, while evaluation of corporate reputation was based on product quality, financial performance and social responsibility. SEM path analysis was used to extrapolate the predictive outcomes of CSR on corporate reputation.

Reputation for product quality and social responsibility is underpinned by the fulfillment of ethical CSR expectations, while philanthropic gestures enhance the evaluation of financial performance. Legal CSR significantly influences the reputation for social responsibility and product quality. Fulfillment of economic CSR expectations influences the reputation for product quality. However, no relationship was established between economic performance and social responsibility. Involvement in economic, philanthropic and particularly, legal CSR, are not indicative of the reputation for financial performance. Conversely, companies’ involvement in economic CSR does not suggest a higher propensity for social responsibility.

The predictive outcomes of CSR expectations on corporate reputation can reveal situated understanding of actual perceptions of corporate behavior.

Ethical business conduct is synonymously associated with social responsibility while espoused corporate philanthropy signals strong financial performance. The awareness of consumers’ cognitive evaluation of corporate reputation can offer a pathway to corporate communication professionals, policy makers and agencies to rethink and reposition CSR efforts.

Insensitivity to taken-for-granted cultural prescriptions and reliance on market-based reputational rankings undermine mutually beneficial stakeholder relationships and the social license to operate.

This study brings to the fore, cognitively dominated indicators of consumers’ perceptions of the reputation for CSR, to foster nuanced and halo-removed approaches to social responsibility. The authors show for the first time how companies’ skewed focus on corporate philanthropic giving paradoxically signals a capitalistic notion of social responsibility and unethical business conduct. This study offers a halo-removed orientation to the appraisal of CSR and corporate reputation.

This paper aims to examine the factors affecting the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) sustainably in mobile operators in the kingdom of Bahrain.

The research relies on the existing literature as a secondary data source. The primary data was collected through questionnaires distributed to three leading mobile operators in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The research's population numbered 1,689, and the sample size was 313; the simple random sampling method was used for data collection with a response rate of 87.2% out of a total sample size of 273 respondents. In addition, the responses were analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software version 24.0; specifically, Spearman's rank correlation was used to test the hypotheses. The research design was quantitative, so a nonparametric procedure was applied to test the hypotheses.

The research produced positive relationships between the independent variables (economic, legal, ethical, philanthropic and environmental responsibilities) and the dependent variable: CSR implementation by Bahrain mobile operators; therefore, the five proposed hypotheses were accepted; furthermore, the highest positive correlation coefficient was 0.735 for environmental responsibility, and the lowest correlation coefficient was 0.533 for economic responsibility.

The research produced positive relationships between the independent variables (economic responsibility, legal responsibility, ethical responsibility, philanthropic responsibility and environmental responsibility) and the dependent variable: CSR implementation by Bahrain mobile operators; therefore, the five proposed hypotheses were accepted; furthermore, the highest positive correlation coefficient was 0.735 for environmental responsibility, and the lowest correlation coefficient was 0.533 for economic responsibility.

The outcomes of the research mainly suggest that mobile operators assign employees who have been working with the company for more than 7 years to implement CSR; due to their engagement to implement CSR as a sustainable practice more than others with less than 3 years or 3-6 years in Bahrain mobile operators. Besides, the research provides a starting point by which other researchers could investigate CSR in other sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The research provided a framework for Bahrain mobile operators to assist them in enhancing the implementation of CSR in a sustainable manner, which are economic, legal, ethical, philanthropic and environmental responsibilities.

Reviews the development of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept and its four components: economic, legal, ethical and altruistic duties. Discusses different perspectives on the proper role of business in society, from profit making to community service provider. Suggests that much of the confusion and controversy over CSR stem from a failure to distinguish among ethical, altruistic and strategic forms of CSR. On the basis of a thorough examination of the arguments for and against altruistic CSR, concurs with Milton Friedman that altruistic CSR is not a legitimate role of business. Proposes that ethical CSR, grounded in the concept of ethical duties and responsibilities, is mandatory. Concludes that strategic CSR is good for business and society. Advises that marketing take a lead role in strategic CSR activities. Notes difficulties in CSR practice and offers suggestions for marketers in planning for strategic CSR and for academic researchers in further clarifying the boundaries of strategic CSR.

Company stakeholder responsibility considers stakeholder engagement and management as key to long-term firm success. The purpose of this paper is to examine how top managers’ stakeholder responsibility attitudes change and how they balance stakeholder responsibilities and economic interests.

The authors conducted empirical research using the company stakeholder responsibility framework by conducting a repeated cross-sectional survey in Finland in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014.

The study shows how development in the business context influences managers’ attitudes towards stakeholder responsibility. Simultaneously with the expansion of free competition in 1990s Finland, managerial commitment to company stakeholder responsibility strengthened in Finnish industry.

The target group consisting of industrial managers both in a single-country context and the social desirability bias present in survey research may limit the generalisability of the results.

The study contributes to the discussion of the role of situational factors in the development of corporate responsibility by showing that while economic changes have some influence on managerial attitudes, the expansion of free markets, together with increased regulation in certain areas, appears to influence managers’ stakeholder responsibility attitudes to an even greater degree.

From the standpoint of the future of corporate social responsibility, students' perceptions are an important research proposition. Several studies have been conducted to examine this phenomenon, yet sector‐specific studies are rather scant. The primary purpose of this work is to examine students' perceptions regarding social responsibility in the context of the US forest products industry.

A total of 257 graduate and upper level undergraduate students from Oregon State University and University of Montana, pursuing different academic majors, were surveyed to examine the differences in their perceptions of the US forest products industry's success in fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities.

Results suggest that business and forest ecology/environmental science students were least satisfied with industry fulfilling its economic responsibilities. Regarding fulfillment of socio‐environmental responsibilities, forest ecology/environmental science students were significantly less satisfied than any other study major. Additionally, a comparison between male and female students suggested that males and females have a similar level of satisfaction regarding industry fulfilling its economic responsibilities. However, males were found to be more satisfied with industry fulfilling its socio‐environmental responsibilities than females.

Students for the study were not selected randomly and as such the results of the study can, at best, be considered indicative. Study findings have implications for academic curriculum designers as well as for industry policy makers.

This is the first attempt to examine students' perceptions about the social responsibility success of the US forest products industry.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: First, to provide an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic and its holistic impacts and implications for organizations and management. Second, to report what organizations have been doing via their corporate social responsibilities about the pandemic. Research implications for academics are offered.

The approach taken in this article was to survey the literature and news reports about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to summarize results. Further, the approach was to analyze these findings using my four-part CSR construct examining economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic impacts, implications, and responsibilities.

It was found that the COVID-19 pandemic has had important impacts and implications for most spheres or sectors of the business world. Employees, consumers and communities have been the most significantly affected, but other stakeholder groups in societies are being impacted as well. The global pandemic is putting CSR to the test, and the emerging evidence supports the idea that many companies are striving to reset their CSR thinking and initiatives to accommodate this crisis and to meet what the public expects of them.

Much of this paper involved reporting findings that have appeared in the literature and news. The originality involved interpreting and analyzing stakeholders affected, and how managers have been responding to these challenges. Strategic recommendations are offered.