Embedding Ethical Practices: Overcoming the Challenges of Corporate Social Responsibility Implementation

1. Introduction

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to the ethical guidelines and directions that businesses, organizations or even individuals accept in order to ensure an equal outcome for numerous stakeholders, including society at large, ecology and the economy. According to Bowen (1953), corporate social responsibility is “the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action that are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society” (p. 6). This means that businesses should act in ways that benefit society, such as protecting the environment, supporting local communities, and treating employees fairly. Companies should also take responsibility for their actions and be held accountable for any harm they cause. Additionally, CSR focuses on sustainable practices that are undertaken when related to the environment, as well as community involvement and proper communication to create understanding among stakeholders so that trustful relationships can be ensured in long-term relationships. There are many definitions and ideas regarding CSR, but the definition provided by the International Organization for Standardization, ISO, gains the widest acceptance and recognition (Nguyen et al., 2022). Carroll (1991 & 2016) presented the Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility, which included four main responsibilities that he considered for corporations and described specific functions and obligations for these organizations. These four responsibilities included economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary responsibilities (Carroll, 1979). Carroll argued that corporations should strive to fulfill each of these responsibilities in order to achieve the highest level of corporate social responsibility. Carroll (1979) argued that corporations should strive to fulfill each of these responsibilities in order to achieve the highest level of corporate social responsibility. Various frameworks and concepts, for example, corporate sustainability and corporate social performance Corporate citizenship shared value creation Environmental CSR and environmental SNS criteria may be used to undermine global progress towards the development of CSR schemes or as a method through which they allocate public attention toward some other areas (Agudelo et al., 2019). This could potentially lead to a decrease in public support for CSR initiatives, as well as a decrease in the willingness of companies to invest in CSR programs. Therefore, it is important to maintain a balance between the different frameworks to ensure that CSR stays at the forefront of global development.

In the last thirty years, with rising stakeholder pressure and complex international competition in business, socially responsible measures have been adopted in many industries, regions and scales of companies (Jamali et al., 2009; Surroca et al., 2013; Mosca & Civera, 2017). CSR is a form of business management with an emphasis on the responsibility that for-profit enterprises have to not only create shareholders but also respect society and protect the environment. CSR is understood to be the company’s activities complementing what cannot be achieved through state legislation (Gatti et al., 2019). In the service industry, CSR has become a widely recognized business imperative (Glavas, A.; Kelley 2014). Companies involved in CSR consider ethical factors when running their businesses, wanting to be socially responsible as well as financially profitable. With CSR now a necessary component of the modern corporation, it reflects concern about how much an organization can affect society and its environment.