A Thought On the Development of Corporate Social Responsibility

In the process of writing a paper which focuses on the development on corporate social responsibility (CSR), I stumbled across a journal article by Theodore Levitt from 1958 called "the Dangers of Social Responsibility." In it he questions: “are top executives being taken in by pretty words and soft ideas? Are they letting the country in for a nightmare return to feudalism by forgetting they must be businessmen first, last, and almost always?”  

This made me laugh but it also made me think. 

Levitt argues that businessmen should not concern themselves with social responsibility, and that corporate welfare only makes good sense if it makes good economic sense. The article explains that business managers should allow the government to take care of general welfare, so that businesses can take care of the material aspects of welfare and continue with its money making goal. 

Is CSR much different today?

Contemporary consumers rarely question the effectiveness of CSR, often placing equal trust in governments and corporations whilst expecting the market to self-regulate. However, this is rarely the case. Though the concept of CSR has blossomed for at least the good part of half a century, the reality of CSR in practise has rarely evolved.The only difference is that corporations have become better at concealing it: CSR in itself has become a mini-industry. 

So, what does that mean from a PR perspective? As long as the CSR lifestyle consumer segment continues having faith in CSR and buying into it, corporations will continue investing in it and that's where the money is. And maybe "faith" is the real challenge for PRO's: upholding the reputation of CSR as corporate philanthropy, in itself.