Chapter 2 Thesis Example
Chapter 2
Literature Review This chapter presents a brief history regarding social responsibility. Moreover, the nature of corporate and small business social responsibility will be discussed, as well as the advantages and disadvantages behind socially responsible activities.
Brief History Corporate social responsibility is primarily a twentieth-century invention, though its ancient and venerable roots can be traced easily to Biblical sources. The concept is evident, for example, in Deuteronomy 24:10-13 and 25:13-16. The twentieth century has seen an unprecedented growth in the size, importance, and power of the corporation. Moreover, corporations have proven to be extremely efficient at producing goods and services. It is then this success of the corporation that has necessitated the development of the idea of CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility (Krausz; Pava, 1995).
Corporate Social Responsibility Business social responsibility refers to the obligation of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action, which are desirable in terms of objectives, and values of our society (Anderson, 1989). There are four theories behind social responsibility and these are classical, stakeholder, social demandingness, and social activist theories. (Karake-Shalhoub, 1999). Classical theory is grounded on classical economic theory. This theory states that business executives are said to be primarily responsible to the shareholders of the corporation, and their primary goal is to promote efficiency and to secure effective economic performance. It also states that managers are said to be responsible to respond to the shareholders' demands. On the other hand, the stakeholder theory assumes that corporate executives are responsible to stockholders but also insists that there are other groups directly affected by the conduct of the firm, such as employees, consumers, creditors, etc.
Literature Review This chapter presents a brief history regarding social responsibility. Moreover, the nature of corporate and small business social responsibility will be discussed, as well as the advantages and disadvantages behind socially responsible activities.
Brief History Corporate social responsibility is primarily a twentieth-century invention, though its ancient and venerable roots can be traced easily to Biblical sources. The concept is evident, for example, in Deuteronomy 24:10-13 and 25:13-16. The twentieth century has seen an unprecedented growth in the size, importance, and power of the corporation. Moreover, corporations have proven to be extremely efficient at producing goods and services. It is then this success of the corporation that has necessitated the development of the idea of CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility (Krausz; Pava, 1995).
Corporate Social Responsibility Business social responsibility refers to the obligation of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action, which are desirable in terms of objectives, and values of our society (Anderson, 1989). There are four theories behind social responsibility and these are classical, stakeholder, social demandingness, and social activist theories. (Karake-Shalhoub, 1999). Classical theory is grounded on classical economic theory. This theory states that business executives are said to be primarily responsible to the shareholders of the corporation, and their primary goal is to promote efficiency and to secure effective economic performance. It also states that managers are said to be responsible to respond to the shareholders' demands. On the other hand, the stakeholder theory assumes that corporate executives are responsible to stockholders but also insists that there are other groups directly affected by the conduct of the firm, such as employees, consumers, creditors, etc.