Evolution Of Corporate Social Responsibility

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EVOLUTION OF CSR “The phrase Corporate Social Responsibility was coined in 1953 with the publication of Bowen's Social Responsibility of Businessmen” (Corporate watch report, 2006). The evolution of CSR is as old as trade and business for any of corporation. Industrialization and impact of business on the society led to completely new vision. By 80’s and 90’s academic CSR was taken into discussion. The first company to implement CSR was Shell in 1998. (Corporate watch report, 2006) With well informed and educated general people it has become threat to the corporate and CSR is the solution to it. 1990 was CSR as a standard industry with companies like Price Warter house Copper and KPMG. CSR evolved beyond code of conduct and reporting it started taking initiative in NGO’s, multi-stakeholder, ethical trading. (Corporate watch report, 2006). The story of corporate social responsibility can be traced back to quite a number of companies during the industrial revolution. Families such as the Cadbury family and the Rown tree family were famous for their philanthropy driven from religious convictions of giving back to society. The Cadburys built schools, houses, green parks and supported their workforce with healthcare. In my view this was not really corporate social responsibility since there was no expectation that this was a corporate obligation, it was a religious obligation for Quakers such as the Cadbury family. A better example of the beginnings of corporate social responsibility is the case of Robert Owen famous as a philanthropic mill owner but ultimately more famous as a father of the British socialist movement, the trade union movement and the development of the co-operative movement. Born in 1771 Owen was a talented child who began his working life as a draper’s assistant in premises at London Bridge. Suffering from ill health he moved to
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