The Breath of Life

Author(s):  
Gönül Kaya Özbağ

This chapter aims to contribute to the debate about corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainable development (SD) and global corporate citizenship (GCC) that is becoming increasingly an important issue for the human well being as well as that of ecological systems. It contains three sections. The first section looks at the concept of CSR with a historical perspective. The dimensions of CSR and its relationship with ethical theories is investigated in the second section since CSR is an ethical concept. Throughout this chapter three main groups of ethical theories classified by Garriga and Mele (2004) will be presented such as normative stakeholder theory, universal rights, the common good approach. Based on the relationship between common good approach and sustainable development, the author will discuss a requirement for global corporate citizenship approach in the third section.

2019 ◽  
pp. 1574-1592
Author(s):  
Gönül Kaya Özbağ

This chapter aims to contribute to the debate about corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainable development (SD) and global corporate citizenship (GCC) that is becoming increasingly an important issue for the human well being as well as that of ecological systems. It contains three sections. The first section looks at the concept of CSR with a historical perspective. The dimensions of CSR and its relationship with ethical theories is investigated in the second section since CSR is an ethical concept. Throughout this chapter three main groups of ethical theories classified by Garriga and Mele (2004) will be presented such as normative stakeholder theory, universal rights, the common good approach. Based on the relationship between common good approach and sustainable development, the author will discuss a requirement for global corporate citizenship approach in the third section.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-145
Author(s):  
Jolanta Żukowska

The concepts of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility are intended to humanize activity. However, are the existing concepts sufficient for them to fully realize their place in the world and its ecosystems, and to fulfill these roles? Is it necessary to seek a new concept of human organizational development, one which would strengthen the roles of creator, innovator and coordinator with total respect for the laws of nature? The author points to the contemporary threats and the need to search for new ideas and a more sensitive interaction with the environment, organizations, society and nature. This is necessary not only in meeting the goals of sustainable development, but also for development that is renewable, energy-efficient, closed loop, coordinated with nature and respecting its laws – and even using them. International organizations should not only prevent violence and preserve human rights, but also support the integrated development of individuals, communities and societies. They would thus help prevent stratification while increasing awareness and stimulating creativity. Integral development covers everything and everyone, is complete and respects the constant changes occurring in dynamic space. The concept of integral development seems now closer to modern humanity. Integrity means the interplay and interaction between all the elements of a set (organizations, communities, businesses, workers, the environment, nature) and the common good. This is not merely an idea but an actual necessity. Integral development is human development, and its organization is compatible with nature. This means being aware of coexistence and need to improve. In the absence of one or the other of these, it would not be possible to speak of integral development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7242
Author(s):  
María Lourdes Arco-Castro ◽  
María Victoria Lopez-Pérez ◽  
Sara Rodriguez-Gomez ◽  
Raquel Garde-Sánchez

Corporate philanthropy, as an expression of commitment to the common good, can contribute to the creation of social value in companies. This corporate philanthropy can be managed in various ways. The choice of how to channel corporate philanthropy could be, in accordance with stakeholder theory, the result of companies’ interactions with key stakeholders and, in accordance with the theory of signaling, a signal that companies use to respond to their demands. This approach contributes to the literature on bottom-up initiatives (stakeholder–managers) as opposed to top-down strategies (board–stakeholders) in relation to corporate social responsibility, which is becoming increasingly important in a society where networks of communication, cooperation and interaction are established. To this end, a study was conducted on 221 European companies indexed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices in the year 2018. The findings have several practical implications: The management of corporate philanthropy should take into account the stakeholders’ requirements, and stakeholders show greater affinity and trust with the company when philanthropy is channeled through foundations. By contrast, donations are not associated with stakeholder attitudes. As a theoretical implication, this paper supports the theories of stakeholders and signaling by explaining the role of philanthropy in the relationship with stakeholders.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9186
Author(s):  
Simona Šarotar Žižek ◽  
Matjaž Mulej ◽  
Amna Potočnik

The purpose of this study is to introduce Sustainable Socially Responsible Society 6.0 as a new concept that is supposed to extend ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ to the entire society for humankind to gain a new chance to survive beyond the dangerous neoliberalism that abuses the market and democracy to the benefit of very few humans—the richest one percent and a few around them—and beyond Society 5.0. This study aims to define the framework conditions of ‘Well-being Society 6.0’, where humans can both achieve and define their targeted quality of life, including work–life balance, etc. Mulej’s Dialectical Systems Theory provides requisite (i.e., sufficient and necessary) integrity/holism of approach that leads to a Sustainable Socially Responsible (SSR) Society without overlooking the necessity of personal, including managerial, responsibility. Most humans try to satisfy their basic survival needs by management, which is requisitely holistic; it can and shall contribute to setting the framework conditions, foremost with non-technological innovation management. The Economy for the Common Good can contribute to SSR Society 6.0, including ‘Well-being society’. In addition, in 2019–2021 humankind is experiencing the ‘new Corona Virus’ crisis, killing millions, but also enabling a crucial step toward a well-being society by returning worldwide economic governance from neoliberalism to Keynes-based state capitalism with no loud objections.


2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grahame F. Thompson

This article investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility and a phrase that is fast becoming a preferred description of much the same thing but now set in an international context, namely global corporate citizenship. It is argued that the distinction between these two has not been clearly enough made in the literature. In clarifying the difference, the political nature of the idea of citizenship is focused upon and the politics of introducing triple-line considerations into the activity of transnational corporations is explored. An engagement with a wide range of civil society actors by corporations to further the ‘ethical’ agenda, a reconsideration of ‘corporate democracy’ in an international context, and the idea of a ‘progressive capitalist’ group of companies that might spear-head genuine corporate citizenship are concentrated upon in this assessment. Finally, the politics of an alliance for global corporate citizenship is broached that would take companies well beyond the limited agenda of just noting and attending to their social and environmental responsibilities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-245
Author(s):  
Patrick Nullens

Hope is a complex and multifaceted syndrome, an emotion as well as a virtue. It requires attention in a Christian economic paradigm oriented at justice and human flourishing. This article makes a case for this type of interdisciplinary research. Our focus lies on hope with a high (aspirational) agency and prudence. In recent economics, with increasing appreciation for relationships, well-being, and the common good, there is an openness to motivational concepts such as hope. Positive psychology has also given attention to hope as a form of well-being and resilience. We stress the importance of embedding hope in a Christian worldview in the tradition of Abraham Kuyper’s Pro Rege and the work of Nicholas Wolterstorff. Christian thinking fosters the relationship between hope, faith, moral orientation, and worship as imagining a different future. Hope as a prudent art of potentiality is a transformational power, creating a society where humans can flourish and fight off anxiety and despair.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaya Kobayashi

This manuscript explores the relationship between positive psychology and political philosophy, revealing an inter-disciplinary approach that speaks to the concerns of the common good. Since positive psychology has been expanding its reach into social and political spheres, its relationship to philosophical arguments has been worthy of exploration. Positive psychology is associated with utilitarianism, and aspects of hedonic psychology. However, an alternative concept of eudaimonic well-being has enabled this psychology to have links to other political philosophies. Therefore, this manuscript provides an overview of contemporary political philosophies: first, it discusses the debate between liberalism and communitarianism, and secondly, it summarizes the subsequent developments of liberal perfectionism, capability approach, and deliberative democracy. Then, the configuration of these political philosophies is indicated by the figure of two axes of “individual/collective” and “ethical/non-ethical.” The following section compiles the inter-relationships between the conceptions of citizenship, justice, and well-being, regarding the main political philosophies: egoism, utilitarianism, libertarianism, liberalism, communitarianism, and conservatism. Utilitarianism is associated with happiness, while liberalism and libertarianism rely on the concept of rights, which is almost equal to the idea of justice. Accordingly, utilitarianism is a philosophy of well-being, while liberalism and libertarianism are philosophies of justice. However, there is little connection between well-being and justice in these philosophies because the two kinds of philosophies are incompatible. The latter kind criticizes the former because the maximization of happiness can infringe on people’s rights. Moreover, these philosophies do not particularly value citizenship. In contrast, communitarianism is intrinsically the political philosophy of citizenship most attuned to increasing well-being, and it can connect an idea of justice with well-being. The final part offers a framework to develop an inter-disciplinary collaboration. Positive psychology can provide the empirical basis of the two axes above concerning political philosophies. On the other hand, the correspondence makes the character of political philosophies clearer. While libertarianism and liberalism correspond to psychology as usual, utilitarianism and communitarianism correspond to positive psychology, and the latter can be regarded as positive political philosophies. This recognition leads to the interdisciplinary framework, enabling multi-disciplinary collaboration, including work with the social sciences, which could benefit the common good.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4532
Author(s):  
Rumpa Roy ◽  
Hesham El Marsafawy

Universities foster a collaboration with industry with their commitment towards society. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of organizations facilitate implementation of the recognition of prior learning (RPL) in higher education, while creating long-term opportunities for sustainable development. The researchers of this study come from two different disciplines, and aim to embed sustainable development strategies for transforming education by utilizing the capacity of educators and industry professionals, while also contributing to the community and economy. The researcher with a specialization in economics identified the well-being of the community and economy, and another researcher with a design and ergonomics background brought the concept of service design. Results of the conducted surveys imply that a skill gap exists in the labor market and participants from the community are interested in receiving hands on training from the industry. The researchers introduce a model focusing on the significance and implementation of RPL, allowing youth and adults to accumulate credit through non-formal and informal learning experiences. The model reflects how the university assesses the current skills and needs of the target communities, how they are communicated to industry by identifying potential areas of development, how industry responds to the needs by providing training, and how the university acknowledges prior learning and promotes potential candidates to contribute towards industry.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Maria Ledstam

This article engages with how religion and economy relate to each other in faith-based businesses. It also elaborates on a recurrent idea in theological literature that reflections on different visions of time can advance theological analyses of the relationship between Christianity and capitalism. More specifically, this article brings results from an ethnographic study of two faith-based businesses into conversation with the ethicist Luke Bretherton’s presentation of different understandings of the relationship between Christianity and capitalism. Using Theodore Schatzki’s theory of timespace, the article examines how time and space are constituted in two small faith-based businesses that are part of the two networks Business as Mission (evangelical) and Economy of Communion (catholic) and how the different timespaces affect the religious-economic configurations in the two cases and with what moral implications. The overall findings suggest that the timespace in the Catholic business was characterized by struggling caused by a tension between certain ideals on how religion and economy should relate to each other on the one hand and how the practice evolved on the other hand. Furthermore, the timespace in the evangelical business was characterized by confidence, caused by the business having a rather distinct and achievable goal when it came to how they wanted to be different and how religion should relate to economy. There are, however, nuances and important resemblances between the cases that cannot be explained by the businesses’ confessional and theological affiliations. Rather, there seems to be something about the phenomenon of tension-filled and confident faith-based businesses that causes a drive in the practices towards the common good. After mapping the results of the empirical study, I discuss some contributions that I argue this study brings to Bretherton’s presentation of the relationship between Christianity and capitalism.


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