Doing good by doing well: a MCDM framework for evaluating corporate social responsibility attractiveness

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility is a multidimensional concept with an imprecise nature. Evaluation of the degree of corporate social performance is one of the most discussed questions among academic researchers and practitioners. In this paper, we are concerned with devising an integrative overall indicator of corporate social performance. Fuzzy logic procedures appear as the adequate tools for the evaluation of corporate social responsibility, taking into account the multiple social responsibility dimensions and available information from different sources. The obtained fuzzy measure will be integrated into a general method for the evaluation of firms. This general framework will guide the investor in his investment decision process taking account of the available information and investor’s level of confidence in it. The definition of desirable and undesirable firms will depend on the investor’s preferences. Our proposal, based on a Fuzzy-AHP-TOPSIS approach, will allow us to rank firms based on how well they are doing good.