Friday, May 31, 2013

Book on Corporate Social Responsibility

I just started reading the Market for Virtue, which is a book on corporate social responsbility (CSR) by David Vogel, a prominent professor at the UC Berkeley business school (Haas).

It basically is an overview of CSR and an analysis of its strengths as well as shortcomings.

...an important shortcoming of CSR is its failure to appreciate the critical role of public policy in promoting more responsible corporate behavior

In contrast, it cites examples of several prominent companies who have supported public policies that would apply to all firms so that the large companies wouldn't be at a competitive disadvantage or always be bearing the brunt of activism.

1. Starbucks supporting national health care
2. Wal-Mart backing raising minimum wage
3. Nike supporting internationally binding labor standards

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