REIVIEW - Book Report/Review Example

Carroll traces the emergence of CSR to the concerted efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency and occupational health bodies such as OSHA, EEOC and the consumer protection agencies such as the CPSC. Therefore, Carroll links emergence of CSR to the efforts made towards environmental protection, the need to maintain a healthy working environment for employees, and the measures taken to cushion consumers against rogue businesspersons. Carroll marks this as a shift in management where managers were not concerned with increasing returns to the shareholders through profitability only, but had to strike a delicate balance between economical, ethical and legal considerations in all their operations.

Interestingly, as Carroll noted, though CSR debate has been in the corporate world for the last forty years, there lacks a comprehensive definition of CSR. However, as Carroll suggests, there is an amorphous definition of CSR based on what organizations have to achieve. The description was formulated in 1971, and uses three concentric circles, whereby the inner circle stands for the economic functions of the organization, while the second circle illustrates that the economic issues have to be approached with sensitivity to the changing social conditions in the market.

The outer circle encompasses the concepts that the organization has to take towards improving the social environment. Carroll offers a comprehensive relationship of organizational responsibilities towards CSR using a pyramid. On the bottom of the pyramid is the need for an organization to be profitable, followed by obeying laws, acting ethically and finally at the top, an organization has some philanthropic responsibilities to meet (Carroll 42). The pyramid suggests that a CSR policy has many components to be met in a hierarchical approach, from the most important to the least important at the top.

An organization that meets all the four components has advanced CSR policies that makes it recognized in the corporate world. Carroll is however quick to note that though the society expects firms to contribute to the social welfare; an organization that does not meet the philanthropic level of the pyramid, which is not necessarily unethical (Carroll 42). This suggests that there are no forces requiring a firm to meet the last part of the pyramid, though with increased competition in the market, companies have to ensure positive consumer perception, which drives them to philanthropy.

Carroll suggests that the use of the word social implies belonging to a society, such as the group of stakeholders. In making such CSR policies, stakeholders are a group of people with interests the operations of the business (Carroll, 43). The stakeholders might have a legal or a moral claim to the company, and it is usually the role of a business executive to sort out the types of claims that the business has an obligation to meet. Carroll suggests the importance of utilitarianism in identifying and evaluating the ethical responsibilities of a business (Carroll, 44).

As a result, Carroll stressed on three main moral approaches that a manager might embrace, which have different implications to stakeholders. These are the immoral management that focuses on maximizing managers’ comfort at the expense of others, while a moral management does not give any