The Concept and Development Tendencies of Corporate Social Responsibility

The expression Corporate Social Responsibility was first used in the United States of America in the 1960s. This triggered a nationwide debate about the responsibilities corporations have towards societies. The most criticized statement belongs to Milton Friedman, a Nobel prize winner, who said, "The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits."[1] This means that there is only one responsibility of business, namely to use its resources and to become engaged in activities in order to target increases in profits. The past few decades have brought about a lot of changes. According to a survey published recently, which encompassed over 100 countries, the majority of managers polled said it was not enough if corporations generated high returns to investors but this should be balanced with contributions to the broader public good. [2] In the background of the empirical results lies the fact that growing numbers of corporations realise that the business world is not an isolated area, but is closely linked with, and strongly related to, its narrower and wider environment and ultimately to societies and the natural environment.