theory of accounting

Journal of Management Studies 43:1 January 2006
0022-2380

Guest Editors’ Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility:
Strategic Implications*

Abagail McWilliams, Donald S. Siegel and
Patrick M. Wright
College of Business Administration, University of Illinois at Chicago; Department of
Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; School of Industrial and Labor Relations,
Cornell University
 We describe a variety of perspectives on corporate social responsibility
(CSR), which we use to develop a framework for consideration of the strategic implications of CSR. Based on this framework, we propose an agenda for additional theoretical and empirical research on CSR. We then review the papers in this special issue and relate them to the proposed agenda.

INTRODUCTION
In recent years, scholars and managers have devoted greater attention to the strategic implications of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Consistent with
McWilliams and Siegel (2001), we define CSR as situations where the firm goes beyond compliance and engages in ‘actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law’. However, this is just one interpretation of CSR. Numerous definitions of CSR have been proposed and often no clear definition is given, making theoretical development and measurement difficult. CSR activities have been posited to include incorporating social characteristics or features into products and manufacturing processes
(e.g. aerosol products with no fluorocarbons or using environmentally-friendly technologies), adopting progressive human resource management practices (e.g. promoting employee empowerment), achieving higher levels of environmental performance through recycling and pollution abatement (e.g. adopting an aggresAddress for reprints: Donald S. Siegel, Department of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 3506
Russell Sage Laboratory, 110, 8th Street, Troy, NY 12180-3590,

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