Business responsibility for sustainable development

Abstract

"Development agencies and actors concerned with promoting sustainable development have been joined in recent years by another player big business. Increasing adherence on the part of senior managers to concepts like corporate citizenship or corporate social responsibility suggests that this sector of business is beginning to recast its relationship with both the environment and its multiple stakeholders. This evolving situation stands in sharp contrast to the scenario of the past when big business was seen to be insensitive to the needs of certain stakeholders and responsible for much of the environmental degradation of the planet. This paper assesses the reality behind the claims of some sectors of business that an increasing number of large firms are adopting policies and practices conducive to the promotion of sustainable development, particularly in developing countries. After describing various institutional developments that have occurred in the 1990s and that appear to be promoting corporate social and environmental responsibility, the paper assesses the current state of play, highlighting in particular the incipient and piecemeal nature of change. It goes on to examine whether there are forces or an enabling environment in place that might permit a scaling up of initiatives associated with corporate responsibility. Some of the more powerful forces that drive corporate responsibility are identified. The question of why some sectors of business are changing reveals an answer that has less to do with a new-found ethical concern among corporate executives for the environmental and social condition of the planet, than with economic, political and structural factors. These include so-called win-win opportunities, the possibility of enhancing competitive advantage, reputation management , pressure group and consumer politics, regulation or the threat of regulation, and changes in the way production and marketing are being organized globally. While such drivers may encourage corporations to be more responsive to environmental and social concerns, it is argued that the process of change is likely to remain fairly fragmented, spread unevenly in terms of companies, countries and sectors, and, from the perspective of sustainable development, fraught with contradictions. What amounts to a fairly minimalist and uneven agenda is not simply a reflection of the fact that the process of change is of recent origin; it also derives from the way in which companies choose to respond to the economic, political and structural drivers of change responses that often involve imagery, public relations and relatively minor adjustments in management systems and practices, as opposed to significant changes in the social and environmental impact of a company s activities."(pg vii)