Corporate social responsibility: Practice models for building business-community collaborations

Recent years have seen a considerable increase in the phenomenon of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Some scholars posit that CSR includes four main aspects: economic growth, ethical marketing, environmental sustainability, and community involvement (Muthuri, Matten, & Moon, 2009; Udo and Pawlowski, 2011). This chapter deals with the fourth aspect of the business-community relationship. Exploratory qualitative research was conducted among ten community social workers who are involved in CSR activities. The findings indicate four main models of CSR relations: (1) the organizational, (2) the multi-organizational, (3) the municipal, and (4) the national model. These are described in terms of four comparative measures: (1) definition of the parties involved in the relationship, (2) characteristics of the relationship, (3) advantages of the model, and (4) disadvantages of the model. The chapter offers a new theoretical framework for business-community collaborations, which can increase the chances of success for collaboration on the practical level.