• See inside
   |   
• BUY NOW

Description

This book aims to explore, inspire and support creative, innovative and strategic CSR. 'Innovation' in this book means new products, services and technologies and, in addition, new organisational and institutional systems, structures and new business models that empower the organisation to advance strategically in an ever more competitive business world.

Both research and practice show that CSR has mainly been approached in terms of value protection and risk management, where the main objective has been to protect companies' existing assets or avoid scandals. Therefore, in many cases where CSR remains at the forefront of business activity, it does not lead to fundamental changes and is not yet integrated as a strategic component where it could create value, generate new ideas and open new opportunities.

How do corporate entities shift their attention from risk management to value creation? This is the key question that this book attempts to answer, both theoretically and empirically as well as through real case studies and experiences.

With contributions from a creme de la creme of scholars from 12 countries, Innovative CSR gathers together a cornucopia of innovative practices that will be essential reading for academics and practitioners alike.

Reviews

Elaine Cohen for CSRwire, 11 August 2010
Insights abound in this packed volume of academic papers from scholars in 12 different countries around the world and how they perceive the modern practice of CSR and, in particular, the ways in which CSR can be leveraged to create strategic value for businesses. It is rare to find an academic textbook that is utterly riveting, highly readable and well-structured, providing a wide range of case studies and commentaries on the practical aspects of CSR in a multitude of companies and organizations. This book does it superbly. Each paper is a gem. Each paper builds effectively around the central theme of strategic CSR innovation, exploring different dimensions of innovative and strategic practice on the part of corporate entities around the globe, offering new ways of thinking about the ways in which CSR is, and sometimes isn't, leveraged to deliver creative, strategic, triple bottom line value for businesses, society and environment.

All in all, despite the academic nature of this book, the sometimes rather tedious descriptions of methodologies applied, and the often repetitive introductory sections to each of the different papers penned by different academics, this book is a delight. The deep-dive into core CSR concepts provide original ways of thinking about how companies have and can make CSR a business-builder rather than a series of bolt-on projects. An essential understanding of what is strategic and what is innovative in CSR terms is a prerequisite, I suggest, for any company engaging in CSR practices. This book is a must-read for anyone considering these themes.


Journal of Consumer Policy 33.4 (2010)
By and large, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gone mainstream: Corporations have realized that by being innovative in all things - including their CSR activities and initiatives - they will add value to the so-called bottom line to the positive contributions they make to society and to how they are perceived by their key stakeholders. However, many criticisms have been made of CSR in its current form, often related to the lack of value that it generates within the enterprise and the fact that it offers only a partial and short-term response to the full challenges of sustainable development. This book aims to explore innovative and strategic CSR: With contributions from 12 countries, it gathers together a variety of innovative practices. "Innovation" in this book means new products, services, and technologies and, in addition, new organizational and institutional systems, structures, and new business models that empower the organization to advance strategically. The book's key question is: How do corporate entities shift their attention from risk management to value creation?


David L. Olson, University of Nebraska; and Desheng Wu, School of Science and Engineering, Reykjavik University/RiskLab, University of Toronto, in Journal of Cleaner Production 18 (2010)
Idowu et al. provide an introduction emphasizing the facets of people, planet and profit, a good set of frames for the topic. These papers may have relevance to both researchers and policy makers ... The collection of papers provides a broad perspective of CSR. Three main future trends identified were:
1. The convergence of international CSR standards,
2. Management of costs in CSR implementation, and
3. Opportunities for innovation.


Like all collections of papers, the treatment is mixed. However, for those with specific interests, the book gathers together some interesting works on the role and potential of corporate social responsibility, with both cases and tools presented. The price is moderate