The evaluation of CSR and social value practices among uk commercial and social enterprises

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this article is to evaluate the scope of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and ‘Social Value Initiatives’ (SVIs) among corporations. Nowadays, CSR provides firms with an opportunity to provide community social need through discretionary corporate practices. This article contributes to knowledge on how firms approach social and environmental sustainability while maintaining economic responsibility. Research Design & Methods: This article adopts analysis based on secondary data from UK based companies. Fifty companies’ websites and policy documents (30 commercial enterprises and 20 social enterprises) were researched to identify the patterns of practices of SVIs and factors that influence the practices among companies. Findings: The findings suggest that both social and commercial enterprises focus on the adoption of the ‘CSR’ practices based on the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ (TBL) as defined in the ‘Elkington, 1997 framework’ of economic, environmental and social sustainability. The difference is that while the ‘SVIs’ of commercial enterprises develop as an operational strategy at the later stages of the business, the ‘SVIs’ of social enterprises are embedded during the enterprise creation stage. Implications & Recommendations: Based on the findings, this article develops a conceptual ‘Social Value Initiatives’ framework which forms the domain of social value practices. We suggest that future studies should focus on adopting qualitative-ori-ented primary research to explore CSR approaches, which will capture the views of management, customers, employees and shareholders. Contribution & Value Added: Despite its limitations, this article contributes to the knowledge on CSR and social value practices among social and commercial enterprises.