Fairbrass Jenny, O'Riordan Linda, and Mirza Hafiz
Corporate Social Responsibility: Differing Definitions and Practices?
Fairbrass Jenny, O’Riordan Linda, and Mirza Hafiz
School of Management
University of Bradford
Bradford
BD9 4JL
E-mail: j.fairbrass@bradford.ac.uk
Telephone: ++44 (0)1274 234435
Abstract
In recent years, the corporate policies and actions of several of the largest, most well-known and respected business organisations in the world have come under the spotlight of critical attention. One of the criticisms levelled at them is an alleged failure to behave in a ‘socially responsible’ manner. Business managers have found that they disregard their corporate social responsibilities at their peril. This has become especially vital as key stakeholders including consumers, employees, national government bodies and international organisations such as the European Union (EU) increasingly demand that businesses behave in a (more) socially responsibly manner. Nevertheless, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) remains an elusive concept, as evidenced by the lack of consensus about what it is and why it might be a worthy objective. This paper contributes to the debate by exploring CSR (or CR) definitions and practices adopted by selected firms located within the Europe, namely pharmaceutical firms registered in the United Kingdom (UK), Germany and Switzerland. The paper presents preliminary findings from the study and makes proposals for further research.
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