Optimising Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy - An Approach to Sustainable Business Growth

Abstract

Both theory and recent research evidence suggest that a firm’s socially responsible behavior can positively affect stakeholders’ attitude towards the firm’s offer. However, there is also other school of thought that emphasized that in spite of the considerable research into relationship between firm’s social responsibility and sustainable competitive advantage, it has frequently reflected either an ideological bias or limited methodological procedures. Research has also been impeded by the difficulty of adequately measuring and definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR).This paper contributes to the growing body of literature that critically examines the multiple perspectives, potential business benefits and conditions for effective CSR application to manage the entire business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society through social responsible investments. The question of whether firm’s can use CSR to achieve sustainable competitive advantage must continue to engage researchers and business managers.