The relationship between sustainable development and corporate social responsibility

Abstract

In recent years, the discussion about sustainability has risen above average and a huge amount of different terms have been established. This leads to a very broad and unspecified discussion about this topic, especially in economic science and business management. The aim of this paper is to find out – due to an extended literature study – where the focus in the discussion of Sustainable Development (SD), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and their relationship is. Clusters have been identified which intend to clarify whether CSR correlates with the social dimension of SD as defined by Brundtland and the model of the triple-bottom-line; whether CSR represents SD on a corporate level; whether SD and CSR are used synonymously; or whether articles exist which focus especially on the social dimension of SD but do not use terms such as CSR. A framework is presented in which the relationship between SD and CSR is defined to ease further research in SD and CSR, moreover, to enhance the development of new methodologies and instruments towards the implementation of SD / CSR strategies into companies.