CSR and Stakeholder Theory: A Tale of Adam Smith

This article leverages insights from the body of Adam Smith's work, including two lesser-known manuscripts—the Theory of Moral Sentiments and Lectures in Jurisprudence—to help answer the question as to how companies should morally prioritize corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business ethics 2013-01, Vol.112 (2), p.301-312
Main Authors: Brown, Jill A., Forster, William R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altruism
Beneficence
Business and Management
Business Ethics
Business management
Business strategies
Business structures
Commutative justice
Corporate responsibility
Corporate social responsibility
Costs
Distributive justice
Economic theory
Education
Ethics
Ethics and moral life
Jurisprudence
Justice
Legitimacy
Management
Morality
Morals
Philosophy
Property rights
Public speaking
Quality of Life Research
Smith, Adam
Social ethics
Social responsibility
Society
Sociology
Sociology of knowledge and ethics
Sociology of knowledge and sociology of culture
Sociology of organizations and enterprises. Bureaucracy and administration
Sociology of work and sociology of organizations
Stakeholder
Stakeholder management
Stakeholders
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article leverages insights from the body of Adam Smith's work, including two lesser-known manuscripts—the Theory of Moral Sentiments and Lectures in Jurisprudence—to help answer the question as to how companies should morally prioritize corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and stakeholder claims. Smith makes philosophical distinctions between justice and beneficence and perfect and imperfect rights, and we leverage those distinctions to speak to contemporary CSR and stakeholder management theories. We address the often-neglected question as to how far a company should be expected to go in pursuit of CSR initiatives and we offer a fresh perspective as to the role of business in relation to stakeholders and to society as a whole. Smith's moral insights help us to propose a practical framework of legitimacy in stakeholder claims that can help managers select appropriate and responsible CSR activities.
ISSN:0167-4544
1573-0697
DOI:10.1007/s10551-012-1251-4