The Business of Business Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Business of Business - Literature review Example There are three different schools of thought or approaches on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility. They can be classified as Neoliberal approach Neo-Keynesian Radical Political Economy In the Neoliberal approach, Corporate Social Responsibility is defined as the basic and fundamental set of policies, codes or guidelines which drives the basic running of a business (Lockwood, 2012). It is mainly based on the viewpoint articulated by Friedman that the main social responsibility of a business is to effectively use its resources and employ those activities which increase the profits of the business as long as it engages in free and open competition without any deceptive and fraudulent activities (The Guardian, 2009). In an article, a neoliberal journalist, Ahaner (2012) rightly pointed out that the main flaw of Corporate Social Responsibility is that the businesses justify their existence by acting on higher moral grounds. According to Riley (2011), the main idea of the pursuit of pro fit not being associated with public good simply does not match up. Adam Smith had rightly said that â€Å"it is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest†. Although most of the neoliberal advocates agree that Corporate Social Responsibility hinders the achievement of the primary purpose of the business, they agree that it will be profitable for the companies in the long run if they adopt Corporate Social Responsibility in their policies (Jedrzei, 2007, pp. 669-681). Furthermore, Yuan (2011, pp. 75-92) adds that even if Corporate Social Responsibility hinders the businesses profit-making, it is imperative to note that it can be used as an important insurance strategy to lower the risks of adverse media campaigns, consumer backlash to corporate behavior and government intervention. On the other hand, Cai (2011) defends that the advocates of Neo-Keynesian have a wider approach by recognizing the active role of the business stakeholders. However, there is no general definition of Corporate Social Responsibility and it is mainly construed as having no formal and external set of regulations by both the stakeholders and the state. The Neo-Keynesian theory is different from that of the neoliberal perspective is many ways. The main difference is that the Neo-Keynesian recognizes that market failures or lack of corporate awareness can have negative impacts on corporate behavior (Thomsen, 2010, pp.139-142). Advocates of neo-Keynesian are mostly concerned with the corporate environmental policies, regulations, and policies related to workplace and mainly the environmental and economic consequences of business activity. Marquez and Fombrun (2005, pg. 304) explain that advocates also entertain the thought of a positive role of the state in enforcing regulations and policies of Corporate Social Responsibility. The third school of thought, The Radical political economy h as a skeptical stance on Corporate Social Responsibility by following a different viewpoint on the existence and the abuse of corporate power in terms of both global and local economies.