Tensions of Corporate Social Responsibility

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    Abstract

    I engaged with the top management team (TMT) and employees of American
    Cafes Corporation as an action/intervention researcher in the 20 months
    immediately following the TMT’s decision to formalize the company’s corporate
    social responsibility (CSR) activities. This led to the establishment of a “CSR
    bureaucracy” at American Cafes. I explore why the TMT decided to formalize its
    CSR activities and how the establishment of a CSR bureaucracy affected
    activities. I employ the Weberian distinction between formal and substantive
    rational to identify and describe tensions that become apparent when CSR agenda
    is considered, which brings with it a multiplicity of substantively rational ends for
    which the corporation could pursue. I show the CSR bureaucracy can create a
    space for reflection in which the multiplicity of substantively rational ends can be
    considered, negotiated, and selected, and formally rational tools like key
    performance indicators (KPIs) can be developed and employed in service of the
    selected substantively rational ends. I show how these KPIs can serve to highlight
    tensions between substantively rational ends. As such, I argue the CSR
    bureaucracy can create a space for reflection within the corporation. But I also
    show tensions can arise from the establishment of the CSR bureaucracy itself.
    This suggests the CSR bureaucracy itself resides in a tension.
    OriginalsprogEngelsk
    Publikationsdato2012
    StatusUdgivet - 2012
    BegivenhedThe 2012 Annual Meeting of the Society for Business Ethics - Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston, USA
    Varighed: 2 aug. 20125 aug. 2012
    https://sbeonline.org/conference/2012/

    Konference

    KonferenceThe 2012 Annual Meeting of the Society for Business Ethics
    LokationFairmont Copley Plaza
    Land/OmrådeUSA
    ByBoston
    Periode02/08/201205/08/2012
    Internetadresse

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