The History of Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

This paper looks at the history of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which it identifies as a controversial subject. It acknowledges the fact that some authors think CSR is irrelevant to business, while others think that it is a bad idea for business. However, it takes sides with those who think that CSR is of strategic importance to business. What this paper contributed to the CSR debate is to trace the historical roots of the concept from ancient times to the modern day. The research for this paper was carried out by interviewing individuals, business people, business scholars and thinkers. Considerable effort also went into reviewing a large collection of publications on the subject of CSR. The paper concludes with the suggestion that a more detailed study of the history of CSR is needed. While many authors think that this is a relatively new concept, CSR is perhaps as old as business itself and in some societies one cannot do business without being socially responsible.