From Value Chain to Responsibility Chain: The Social Responsibility of Multinational Corporations

Abstract

This article tackles the nature and the scope of the social responsibility of multinational corporations towards men, the world and the natural environments in which they operate. We use the representation of the Porter value chain to address the question of corporate social responsibility. We show that there is a gap between the formal and visible commitments of multinationals and the actual reality of their practices and effects. After having explained the reasons that account for this gap, we propose the “footprint portfolio” concept as the cornerstone of the multifaceted and global corporate social responsibility of multinationals.