Contrasting Instrumental Views on Corporate Social Responsibility: Short-term Versus Long-term Profit Orientation Approach

Abstract

The theoretical debate over the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been proliferated with the rise of diverse approaches during the last decades. The current study focuses particularly on the instrumental theories on CSR, which are grouped by Garriga and Melé’s under three diverse approaches, and discuss how and why we need a new configuration over this group of theories as short-term profit oriented approach and long-term profit oriented approach to adapt to the task environment. In order to investigate whether the proposed theoretical distinctions between short-term and long-term orientation affects the CSR involvement, a survey was conducted over a sample of Turkish managers of business organizations. The results of study demonstrate that while short-term thinking of CSR negatively affects the CSR involvement to employees, government, community, and ethical issues; affects positively to CSR involvement to environment. In contrast to this result, the long-term thinking of CSR positively affects the CSR involvement to employees, environment, government, community, and ethical issues.