Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an important issue in contemporary business, management and politics, especially since the launch of the United Nations Global Compact in 2000 as an initiative to encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on them. This book examines the theory and practice of CSR in Asia. The philosophical and ideological underpinnings of CSR are rooted in Anglo-American and European principles of liberal democratic rights, justice and societal structures. This book not only considers the impact of Western CSR practices in Asia, but also provides much needed Asian perspectives on this issue. It investigates the operation of CSR in different countries across Asia, including China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh – comparing the different meanings given to CSR, and the varying degrees of success experienced in different national contexts. This book argues if CSR is ever to revolutionize the manner in which we trade then it is needs to open itself up to the full variety of social responsibility as it occurs around the world. The book re-maps and refines debates about CSR as a global phenomenon, and will be of great value to professionals making strategic decisions in the global business environment.

This book presents a rich collection of research studies on the theory and practice of CSR in Asia. It includes valuable contributions of practice-oriented researchers from various Asian countries such as Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore, and from several non-Asian countries, such as Australia, Canada and the USA. The book presents a comprehensive overview of the practice of CSR in Asia. Normally CSR is seen in the Western angles, but here, in this book, Asian philosophies and thoughts are also examined. Touted as the first of its kind, the book also compares Western and Asian perspectives on CSR and presents them in the light of Asian philosophies and thoughts, such as Confucian, Islamic (Koranic), Indian (Vedantic) and other Asian ways of looking at CSR in their own rights and perspectives.​

The idea of corporations exercising corporate social responsibility has spread from the West and is now firmly embedded in Asian countries and in Asian corporations. The latest trend in corporate social responsibility, evident also in Asia, is for corporations to apply corporate social responsibility to local communities and to those at the bottom of the social hierarchy. This book explores corporations’ social responsibility engagement with local communities in a range of Asian countries. It provides examples of corporate social responsibility in a wide range of industrial sectors, focuses extensively on "social enterprises" and on governments’ and corporations’ schemes to encourage them, considers how relations with employees and with local workforces fit into the pattern of corporate social responsibility, and discusses the question as to how far corporations engage with local communities as a way of developing new markets for their products.

The World Guide to CSR is the first book to provide comparable national profiles that describe the evolution and practice of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) for 58 countries and 5 global regions. Each regional and national profile includes key information about the relevant CSR history, country-specific issues, trends, research and leading organizations. The purpose of the book is to give CSR professionals (including managers, consultants, academics and NGOs focusing on the social, environmental and ethical responsibilities of business) a quick reference guide to CSR in different regional and national contexts. The need for the book is premised on the fact that CSR professionals and researchers more often than not have a multinational remit and are required to benchmark performance internationally, but find that country-specific CSR information is ad hoc, limited or non-existent. Even where national CSR research exists, it is often hidden in academic journals that practitioners cannot access or do not have the time or inclination to read. The book is an edited volume, with expert contributors from around the world, all of whom have been screened and selected on the basis of their qualifications and experience in CSR. Each regional/country profile includes the following subsections:CSR in context Priority issues Trends Legislation and codes Organizations Case studies Educational institutions References This unique resource will be an essential acquisition for all organisations who need to benchmark their CSR strategies throughout different regions and cultures and want the best possible intelligence on the key issues and concerns relating to corporate social responsibility in all of the markets in which they operate.

Is profit-making the only goal of a business? Should an unbridled market mechanism drive corporate enterprise? To what extent should corporations compensate for the manifest and hidden costs that are incurred by the society at large? These are some of the questions that have engaged specialist economists, business barons, corporate heads and management experts for decades. A consensus has emerged that corporate practices cannot bypass the fundamental demands of ethical behaviour, that administration and policies of governance have to be more transparent and publicly accountable, and that businesses must be sensitive to the community and environment within which they are established. This has led to the emergence of three key concepts of contemporary businesses, namely, business or corporate ethics, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility.

The global response from business to social and environmental issues during the past decade has created a corporate responsibility movement. But what has been the impact of this movement? The financial crisis that began in 2007 has led more and more people to question the fundamentals of our economic system. Now, some within the corporate responsibility movement are developing a vision and practice of a new form of capitalism, one that will require collective action to achieve. Bendell and Doyle draw on Lifeworth's annual reviews of corporate responsibility and explain how business leaders, stakeholders and related academe now need to experiment with new models that address the fundamental flaws of contemporary capitalism, including monetary systems, enterprise ownership, and regulation. This book will be a fantastic resource for business libraries, as it records and analyses key events, issues and trends in corporate responsibility during the first decade of the 21st century. It is a sequel and companion to Bendell's previous work, The Corporate Responsibility Movement.

Business and human rights has emerged as a distinct field within the corporate governance movement. The endorsement by the United Nations Human Rights Council of a new set of Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights in 2011 reinforces the State’s duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and greater access by victims to effective remedy, both judicial and non-judicial. This book draws on the UN Guiding Principles and recent national plans of action, to provide an overview of relevant developments within the ASEAN region. Bridging theory and practice, the editors have positioned this book at the intersection of human rights risk and its regulation. Chapter authors discuss the implications of key case-studies undertaken across the region and various sectors, with a particular focus on extractive industries, the environment, and infrastructure projects. Topics covered include: due diligence and the role of audits; businesses’ responsibilities to women and children; and the mitigation of human rights risks in the region's emerging markets. The book sheds light on how stakeholders currently approach business and human rights, and explores how the role of ASEAN States, and that of the institution itself, may be strengthened. In doing so, the book identifies critical challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the region in relation to business and human rights. This book will be of excellent use and interest to scholars, practitioners and students of human rights, business and company law, international law, and corporate governance.