Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia
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 revolutionise 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.
Author
Kyoko Fukukawa is a Senior Lecturer at Bradford University School of Management, UK. She was a Fellow of the Japan Foundation in 2006, investigating CSR practices in Japan, and co-edited the special issue of Journal of Business Ethics on Corporate Identity, Ethics and CSR (2007).
Reviews
Dr Fukukawa has put together a book that delivers far more than it promises. Upon seeing the title, I expected a delineation of CSR in Asian countries and how it differs from practice in the West. Indeed, it does this, at least for five countries, but it also re-visits the very basic questions of what is the purpose of CSR and what should it be, as well as what should be the relationship between business and society in today’s “hot, flat, and crowded” world. The book is a must read for all of us who have a serious interest in the philosophy and practice of CSR.
Edmund R. Gray, Professor of Management and Chair of the Department of Management, Loyola Marymount University, USA.
