Positioning Stakeholder Theory within the Debate on Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

Companies engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) mainly because they can reap some kind of benefits from such engagement. It is thus necessary to have a CSR notion which is able to address this important feature. The differing views regarding the role of business in society are often presented as being placed within the stakeholder-shareholder debate. This article tries to show that a useful notion of CSR should be based on a stakeholder view and should be capable of addressing both its normative and instrumental aspects. Companies are seen as having an obligation to consider society’s long-run needs and wants, which implies that they engage in activities that promote benefits for society and minimize the negative effects of their actions, so long as the company is not preju-diced by engaging in such activities. Keywords Corporate social responsibility; shareholder perspective; stakeholder perspective