Corporate Social Responsibility

the 1950s saw the emergence of the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as we know it today. In the past few years, businesses have demonstrated unique ways to support antipoverty efforts beyond just financial support, including collaborating to share antipoverty business practices and developing business models or products that accommodate the needs of individuals living in poverty.In 1953, Howard R. Bowen, often referred to as the “Father of Corporate Social Responsibility,” published Social Responsibilities of the Businessman. This book cited a 1946 Fortune magazine poll that revealed that 93.5% of business executives at the time believed they had a social responsibility in their work. Proponents of CSR suggested that corporations not only had the responsibility of producing innovative goods and services, maximizing shareholder wealth, and fulfilling economic and legal obligations, but also had an assumed social contract to act as a good neighbor, giving back to society in a way that was commensurate with their wealth and power. In 1975, S. Prakesh Sethi explained that not only did businesses have a “social responsibility” but also a “social responsiveness,” to anticipate and meet social needs. Today, some common CSR initiatives include financial giving to nonprofits, employee giving and volunteering, job training and deliberate hiring practices for underserved populations, donation of goods for disaster relief, etc.