Chapter 2

Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate
Governance and Corporate Regulation

2.1

Introduction

CSR is increasingly an essential issue for companies.1 It is a complex and multidimensional organisational phenomenon that is understood as the scope for which, and the ways in which, an organisation is consciously responsible for its actions and non-actions and their impact on its stakeholders. It represents not just a change to the commercial setting in which individual companies operates, but also a pragmatic response of a company to its consumers and society.2 It is increasingly being understood as a means by which companies may endeavour to achieve a balance between their efforts to generate profits and the societies that they impact in these efforts.3 This chapter discusses these issues. First, it describes CSR and its core principles. Second, it describes CG and narrates CG’s convergence with CSR.
Third, it highlights how different economies are incorporating CSR notions in their corporate regulation.

1
Jeremy Moon and David Vogel, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility, Government, and Civil
Society’ in Andrew Crane et al. (eds), Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility
(2008) 303; David Vogel, The Market for Virtue: The Potential and Limits of Corporate Social
Responsibility (2005); Nada K Kakabadse, Cecile Rozuel and Linda Lee-Davies, ‘Corporate
Social Responsibility and Stakeholder Approach: A Conceptual Review’ (2005) 1(4) International
Journal of Business Governance and Ethics 277, 279.
2
Wilfred Luetkenhorst, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and the Development Agenda. The Case for Actively Involving Small and Medium Companys’ (2004) Intereconomics 157, 166.
3
John Clark, Worlds Apart: Civil Society and the Battle for Ethical Globalisation (2003)
2002–2003; Bridget M Hutter and Joan O’Mahony, ‘The Role of