Corporate philanthropy by the socially unacceptable firms: Evidence from multiple case studies

Abstract

A remarkable growth regarding corporate philanthropic activities by socially unacceptable firms has been observed in the last few decades. The main aim of the paper is to examine whether it is ethically and morally appropriate for corporations which operate in socially unacceptable industries or have socially unacceptable business practices to also partake in philanthropy and claim to be socially responsible. After thoroughly examining the subject area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate philanthropy, it was concluded that the answer to the above question varies according to and is dependent upon a number of factors, namely: the industry a company operates in, the stigma or negativity surrounding a company, how socially unacceptable the industry is, how socially unacceptable the company is, how socially unacceptable the company’s business practices are, what types of philanthropy or CSR program a company follows at whom or what the philanthropy is directed, the motivations a company has for being socially responsible and the individual’s moral scale.