Who Decides on What to Spend in CSR? Moving from Compulsion to Consensus

Abstract

With CSR spending becoming mandatory in some prominent economies, quantum of spend is increasingly becoming a non issue. Instead spending right has acquired prominence. Ever since policy makers mulled the idea of making CSR spending compulsory, there appears to be rush and panic in the business world to spend on CSR activities that gives them the best return on their social investment. The debate is on for decades now, as to who should decide on what to spend and how much? For long in the name of CSR activities businesses have been spending on initiatives that were either a part of owner’s choice or were easy to identify and implement, mostly avoiding the views of stakeholders inside as well as outside. This paper attempts to address broadly the issue of stakeholder confidence and preference in a CSR initiative. The paper suggests a model of engagement of stakeholders both within and outside of a business for the roll out of a CSR initiative.