The Responsibility Paradox: Multinational Firms and Global Corporate Social Responsibility

41 Pages Posted: 28 Apr 2006

See all articles by Gerald F. Davis

Gerald F. Davis

University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Marina V. N. Whitman

University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Mayer Nathan Zald

University of Michigan - Department of Sociology

Date Written: April 2006

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of multinational firms' increasingly blurred geographical and institutional boundaries on the nature and definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It begins with a brief history of CSR, describes changes in the global corporation and the pressures impinging on it over the past 25 years, and analyzes the resulting mismatch between the contemporary corporation and traditional concepts of CSR. It then dissects some of the issues raised by this new concept of CSR, and speculates on future trajectories for CSR in multinational corporations as globalization continues to exert pressure for convergence of national standards into a more universal definition of Global CSR.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, multinationals

JEL Classification: G35, M14, F23

Suggested Citation

Davis, Gerald F. and Whitman, Marina V. N. and Zald, Mayer Nathan, The Responsibility Paradox: Multinational Firms and Global Corporate Social Responsibility (April 2006). Ross School of Business Paper No. 1031, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=899112 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.899112

Gerald F. Davis (Contact Author)

University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business ( email )

701 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
United States
734-647-4737 (Phone)
734-936-0282 (Fax)

Marina V. N. Whitman

University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business ( email )

701 Tappan Street
Ann Arbor, MI MI 48109
United States

Mayer Nathan Zald

University of Michigan - Department of Sociology ( email )

500 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
United States

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