CSR - The Case Against CSR

Aneel Karnani’s article in the WSJ back in 2010 is well worth a read for colleagues and students looking for a bit of balance in the debate about whether CSR is worthwhile for profit-maximising firms.

Karnani argues that where firms appear to be meeting society’s needs with products and services which are a win-win, the motivation for this is simply profit maximisation. So fast food chains which try to boost sales with ranges of healthier food alternatives, or firms like GE which have sold $bns of products which offer improved energy efficiency do so simply because of the profit motive.

What should firms do in cases where doing what’s best for society means a firm sacrificing profits.  For example, Karnani argues that society might expect firms to pay their employees higher wages or to address the social costs of pollution.  Where this happens, firms rarely act in society’s best interests, because managers are wedded to their ultimate responsibility to maximise profits for shareholders.

Karnani argues that there is a compelling case for government intervention to address market failure. The argument is that, despite their inadequacies, governments are a far more effective protector of the public good than any campaign for corporate social responsibility. Self-regulation is unlikely to work - companies are unlikely to voluntarily act in the public interest at the expense of shareholder interests.

A detailed look inside Apple’s Foxconn factory [24 Apr 2012]
Apple under fire for e-book deals [17 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Business Ethics [7 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Corporate Social Responsibility [6 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Business and the Environment [6 Apr 2012]
CSR - Tesco leads firms having second thoughts about unpaid work experience scheme [22 Feb 2012]
Video starter - Inside the iPad factory [21 Feb 2012]
The story of a failed takeover - Fred Goodwin, RBS & ABN-Amro [6 Feb 2012]
CSR - Growing public support for responsible capitalism [28 Dec 2011]
Is this CSR Champion Acting Like Scrooge? [11 Dec 2011]
International operations decisions - Adidas trainers for $1? [26 Nov 2011]
Olympus Epic Fail [9 Nov 2011]
CSR - 40 Years of Upsetting Big Business [15 Sep 2011]
The Case for Transformation [29 Jul 2011]
New study shows CSR pays dividends [11 Jul 2011]
Shareholder revolt over executive pay at Burberry [7 Jul 2011]
CSR - £20m extra annual profit for M&S from Plan A [18 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 6 [18 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 5 [18 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 4 [18 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 3 [18 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 2 [17 Jun 2011]
BUSS4 CSR Research Bullet 1 [17 Jun 2011]
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Or who guards the guardians? Primark and The BBC. [16 Jun 2011]
CSR & Strategy - Why the Cooperative Group changed to survive [16 Jun 2011]
CSR - Evidence of Failure to “Walk the Talk” when it comes to Carbon? [15 Jun 2011]
CSR - Should Apple Pay More for its Geniuses? [14 Jun 2011]
CSR - Greenpeace takes on Barbie by recruiting Ken [13 Jun 2011]
CSR - The Top UK Businesses for CSR in 2011 [13 Jun 2011]
CSR - The Business Case For CSR - Superb Data for BUSS4 [13 Jun 2011]
Crisis? What Crisis? [31 May 2011]
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CSR - Is it time for McDonalds to ditch Big Ron? [22 May 2011]
CSR - Puma first to publish environmental impact costs [16 May 2011]
CSR - Has Social Responsibility Failed? Insights from Dame Anita Roddick [12 May 2011]
CSR - Chocolate the Bitter Truth [12 May 2011]
CSR - Can better social responsibility boost the UK economy by £17bn? [12 May 2011]
CSR - Can we trust CSR claims or is it greenwash? [12 May 2011]
CSR in 3D [12 May 2011]
CSR - Sustainable Fish Needs a Packaging Boost [5 May 2011]
CSR - The PPI Scandal - so much for being socially responsible [5 May 2011]
CSR and Business Legislation - The Bribery Act comes to town [5 May 2011]
CSR - Evidence on the Greenhouse Gases of the top 300 European Firms [26 Apr 2011]
Private firms that grow big! [26 Apr 2011]
CSR - Picture Quiz [22 Apr 2011]
CSR - A responsible company from day one? [21 Apr 2011]
CSR - Apple: Big Profits but Dirty Data? [21 Apr 2011]
CSR - Evidence that Sustainability Works as a Business Strategy [19 Apr 2011]
CSR - Ikea’s Never Ending List… [25 Mar 2011]
CSR - Adidas restate’s its CSR objectives [25 Mar 2011]
CSR - Sport and Business Rediscover the CSR Buzz [25 Mar 2011]
CSR - Visioning the Future (Great Lesson Videos) [23 Mar 2011]
CSR - Corn: A Matter of Life or Death? [23 Mar 2011]
CSR - Responsible Jeans?  Its a Blast… [22 Mar 2011]
AQA BUSS4 Toolkit on CSR now available [15 Mar 2011]
CSR - Insights from the Leader of the Revolution [14 Mar 2011]
CSR in the Ad Break - Dettol [14 Mar 2011]
CSR - Meet ISO 26000 - the new standard for social responsibility [13 Mar 2011]
CSR - All Change at BP: New Era, New Responsibilities [12 Mar 2011]
CSR - Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan [11 Mar 2011]
CSR - An Interview with Paul Polman (Unilever) [11 Mar 2011]
CSR - Greenwashing & Carbon: Consumers Just “Don’t Believe It”! [10 Mar 2011]
CSR - Awesome Research Data on the Issue of Corporate Trust [6 Mar 2011]
CSR - Is Social Responsibility Vital for Business Survival? [6 Mar 2011]
CSR - How Transparent are the World’s Oil Companies? [6 Mar 2011]
CSR - How Companies Avoid Paying Tax [6 Mar 2011]
CSR - McDonalds and the Case for the Defence [5 Mar 2011]
CSR - What is going on at 250-266 Ecclesall Road? [5 Mar 2011]
CSR becomes the Strategy for Co-operative [5 Mar 2011]
BUSS4 - Research Theme for 2011 - CSR [26 Feb 2011]
CSR - Links to PLC Corporate Social Responsibility Reports [26 Feb 2011]
Stunning Video - CSR, Ethics and Milton Friedman [26 Feb 2011]
CSR - The Key UK CSR Organisations [25 Feb 2011]
CSR - Green Growth Case Studies from UK Businesses [25 Feb 2011]
CSR - The Mega Dairy, Economies of Scale and Cornflakes [25 Feb 2011]
CSR - the Essential Economist Podcast [25 Feb 2011]
CSR - Costing the Earth & Reporting Sustainability [24 Feb 2011]
CSR - BBC One Planet on Coca-Cola & Sustainability [24 Feb 2011]
CSR at the Movies - Capitalism a Love Story [23 Feb 2011]
CSR at the Movies - Thank You for Smoking [23 Feb 2011]
CSR at the Movies - Black Gold [23 Feb 2011]
CSR - The Word Cloud [23 Feb 2011]
CSR - Project Shakti [22 Feb 2011]
BUSS4 Section A Research Briefing Days - 2011 Research Task [22 Feb 2011]
CSR - Comic Relief, Crisps and Cause-Related Marketing [22 Feb 2011]
CSR - Cooperative Group invites you to join a revolution [21 Feb 2011]
BUSS4 2011 - Introducing the tutor2u Twelve [20 Feb 2011]
CSR at the Movies - The End of the Line [20 Feb 2011]
CSR at the Movies - Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price [20 Feb 2011]
CSR at the Movies - Supersize Me in 7 Minutes [20 Feb 2011]
Introducing a new kind of business organisation - the benefit corporation [17 Feb 2011]
CSR - What is “Creating Shared Value”? [16 Feb 2011]
CSR - Lesson Video: Primark on the Rack [16 Feb 2011]
CSR - Lesson Video: Child Labour in Bangladesh [16 Feb 2011]
Michael Porter - Shared Value and the Limitations of CSR [15 Feb 2011]
CSR - Michael Porter speaks on Creating Shared Value [15 Feb 2011]
CSR - Apple audits the supply chain [15 Feb 2011]
CSR - Avoiding the child labour hotspots [15 Feb 2011]
CSR - Salad Slaves - Supermarkets and Corporate Irresponsibility? [8 Feb 2011]
CSR - Branson, Paphitis and Meaden Turn into Eco Warriors [7 Feb 2011]

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