Multinationals And Corporate Social Responsibility

The 'corporate social responsibility' ('CSR') movement has been described as one of the most important social movements of our time. This book looks at what the CSR movement means for multinationals, for states and for international law. International law is often criticized for being too 'state-centred', and ill-equipped to deal with the challenges of globalization. However, drawing from many and varied examples of state, NGO and corporate practice, this 2006 book argues that, while international law has its limitations, it presents more opportunities for the CSR regulation of multinationals than many people assume. The main obstacles to better regulation are, therefore, not legal, but political.

The control of multinational corporations is an area of law that has attracted immense attention both at national and international level. In recognition of the importance of the subject matter, the United Nations Secretary General has appointed a special representative to work in this area. The book discusses the current trend by MNCs to self regulate by employing voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. Olufemi Amao argues that the CSR concept is insufficient to deal with externalities emanating from MNCs’ operations, including human rights violations. Amao maintains that for CSR to be effective, the law must engage with the concept. In particular, he examines how the law can be employed to achieve this goal. While noting that the control of MNCs involves regulation at the international level, it is argued that more emphasis needs to be placed on possibilities at home, in States and host States where there are stronger bases for the control of corporations. This book will be useful to academic scholars, students, policy makers in developing countries, UN, UN Agencies, the African Union and its agencies, the European Union and its agencies and other international policy makers.

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Business economics - Business Ethics, Corporate Ethics, grade: 2,0, University of Augsburg, language: English, abstract: This essay is concerned with the empirical question whether Corporate Social Responsibility of Multinational Companies has an impact on its financial performance. Currently, the widely spread debate about the importance of responsible and sustainable behavior of firms leads to different positions in the business world and requires explicit generally excepted answers. The multitude of already existing studies shows that it is almost impossible to find one commonly accepted definition and one perfectly fitting level of CSR. This study works out two widely accepted measures of CSR and its relation to financial performance in the context of a company ́s reputation. The results of these studies show that a positive relation between social and environmental awareness and the accounting-based financial performance of a company do in fact exist. By using data from already analyzed meta-studies, the phenomenon can be explained by the importance of reputation in today ́s business world.

"At present, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for some may not be more than an attitude. Can it be more? What degree of commitment can we reasonably expect of corporations in the struggle to eradicate poverty, promote human rights, halt climate change and reverse ongoingenvironmental destruction? It is not a question of power; more than half of the worlds top 100 economies are corporations, not nation-states. Whatever can be done to "fix" the world's problems, corporations are in the best position to do [it]."--Back cover.

An investigation of the potential and limitations of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the oil and gas sector.

Business in a globalised world is no longer only about profit. Companies that operate globally are increasingly being called to account over their social responsibilities to the workforce, local communities and the environment. Companies that take these responsibilities seriously are faced with a plethora of problems and dilemmas. For example, how can companies navigate the sea of tension between observing international rules of conduct and responding to specific local cultural circumstances? How can they ensure social responsibility in the product chain(s) in which they operate? And how can they best contribute to the local economy of developing countries? This book helps companies with good intentions but little experience to find answers to these questions and many others. The book offers concrete guidelines, step-by-step plans and practical examples based on the experiences of 20 diverse, large, medium and small companies that participated in the three-year Dutch programme "Corporate Social Responsibility in an International Context" organised by CSR Netherlands. Corporate Social Responsibility and Globalisation constitutes a guidebook and action plan to enable companies of all sizes to manage risk and seek out opportunities for engagement in their overseas operations.