The Discussion Of CSR And The Triple Bottom Line

The idea of companies existing in order to make money for their investors is widely accepted as the core business concept. In recent years, the involvement of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the business model can be clearly observed. CSR can be described as the undertaking of initiatives which benefit other members of society. However, there is a great ambivalence and uncertainty about what CSR really means as well as what drives corporate units to pursue it. This part will describe the notion of CSR and present the debate between narrow and broad view of corporate social responsibility, the link between CSR and the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) and examine the shift in paradigms from altruistic standpoint to the strategic standpoint on CSR

Carroll, 1979, Vol. 4, No. 4, p. 500). Carroll’s formulation serves as the base for modern CSR and is clearly reflected through the European Commission’s definition: “enterprises should have in place a process to integrate social, environmental, ethical human rights and consumer concerns into their business operations and core strategy in close collaboration with their stakeholders" (European Union Law, COM(2001)366). Although the concept is widely accepted, many definitions have also been proposed in order to explain the form and the content. CSR is one of the concepts that, being extremely broad and generates a legitimate debate (Lantos, 2001). The exploration back in time for the genesis of the CSR idea made clear the recurrence of two purposes of CSR. Also, over time, the definition itself evolved to address the paradigms of CSR, although they are still not resolved in the recent literature. Those paradigms are affected by the altruistic and strategic purposes (Mohanty, 2010). The altruistic purpose behind CSR stands for voluntarily participating in initiatives, which in most cases even sacrifice part of the business profitability. On