The institutionalization of the domain of corporate social responsibility

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not just a dimension of an ethical management system. It is now a major institutional field that has emerged over several decades. The CSR institutional field and movement are sustained by a very large international network of individuals and organizational actors. Business organizations face globalization processes and related economic competition, technological change as well as new cultural models, notably, those related to sustainable development, the dynamics of social networks and the knowledge society. They are not only at the forefront of numerous social transformations but are also compelled to change their own perspectives and to integrate, either voluntarily or under external pressure, new concerns, such as CSR and sustainable development, which are now widely recognized at the international level. The first section of this chapter identifies the main sources of CSR institutionalization since the beginning of the nineties, the individual and corporate actors involved, and, as a result of this dynamic process, the structural components of the CSR institutional field such as the cognitive (i.e., academic production) and normative referents (i.e., principles and standards) and procedural elements for CSR implementation (i.e., codes of conduct, certification and audits). The second section provides an overview of the different chapters and their contributions to our understanding of (1) several theoretical issues and debates; (2) new forms of involvement by international and national public and private organizations; (3) corporate strategies in the face of new issues; and finally, (4) CSR implementation processes and the roles of a variety of social actors.