Corporate social responsibility and sustainability in the context of change – influence of the stakeholder theory

As the discourse on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability in business continues to progress, it is becoming increasingly mandatory for business leaders to consider playing a more active role in leading and addressing the socioeconomic challenges business activities might visit on the larger society and its stakeholders. In such a context, the strategic importance of integrating CSR and sustainability initiatives into business operations amidst radical change, heightened stakeholder activism and intense competition cannot be overemphasized. As this shift requires making significant changes to the traditional ways of doing things within the organization, there is bound to be a change resistance. Through a purely narrative review of previous literature, this paper maps out how the pursuit of CSR and sustainability in basic business operations is shaped by organizational change management (OCM) and examines how the stakeholder theory underscores an understanding of the interception between the ethical and economic interests of a business.