52
The adoption of the 10-year framework of programs on sustainable consumption
and production patterns was confi rmed. In the additional document (UN 2012c ),
several functions are listed to be included, amongst others “Promoting the engagement of the private sector in efforts to achieve a shift towards sustainable consumption and production, particularly sectors with a high environmental and social
impact, including through corporate environmental and social responsibility . ”
Furthermore, the resolution itself is explicit on “renewing political commitment”
and calls for the engagement of major groups and other stakeholders, inter alia the
private sector. Therefore, the General Assembly of the United Nations states, e.g.:
“We support national regulatory and policy frameworks that enable business and
industry to advance sustainable development initiatives, taking into account the
importance of corporate social responsibility. We call upon the private sector to
engage in responsible business practices…”
2 Taking Up Social Responsibility in the Value Chain
2.1 About Social Responsibility of Organizations
2.1.1 Historical Context
The modern concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR), born in the USA, has
developed over more than the last century. It can be traced back in a series of business practices in the late nineteenth century such as the philanthropy of some particularly rich capitalists and its development into a doctrine during the twentieth
century that began to be theorized in the 1950s (Pasquero 2013 ). Many authors
agree that the book by H. Bowen in 1953 ‘Social Responsibilities of the Businessman’
is the seminal contribution to this fi eld that has shaped its development for several
decades. He offers an initial defi nition that reads: “Social responsibility refers to the
obligations of the businessman to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or
to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and
values of our society.” (Bowen 1953 ). During the sixties and seventies, there was a
proliferation of defi nitions which built on Bowen’s work. Joseph W. McGuire
( 1963 ) brought some more precise elements about the extension of the responsibility by writing “The idea of social responsibility supposes that the corporation has
not only economic and legal obligations but also certain responsibilities to society
which extend beyond these obligations.” (McGuire 1963 ). However, these new
visions of the role of businessmen were strongly challenged by liberal thinkers such
as Milton Friedman, see his paper in the New York Times Magazine ( 1970 ) “A
Friedman doctrine – The social responsibility of business is to increase its profi ts”
(Friedmann 1970 ). This illustrates rather clearly the opposition between the fundamental vision of neoclassical economics, where business corporations contribute to
the general interest, and the new managerial vision developed through CSR, where
business has also a social and/or societal mission. The stakeholder theory, initially
developed by Freeman ( 1984 ), had the ambition to provide managers with a
B. Mazijn and J.-P. Revéret
The adoption of the 10-year framework of programs on sustainable consumption
and production patterns was confi rmed. In the additional document (UN 2012c ),
several functions are listed to be included, amongst others “Promoting the engagement of the private sector in efforts to achieve a shift towards sustainable consumption and production, particularly sectors with a high environmental and social
impact, including through corporate environmental and social responsibility . ”
Furthermore, the resolution itself is explicit on “renewing political commitment”
and calls for the engagement of major groups and other stakeholders, inter alia the
private sector. Therefore, the General Assembly of the United Nations states, e.g.:
“We support national regulatory and policy frameworks that enable business and
industry to advance sustainable development initiatives, taking into account the
importance of corporate social responsibility. We call upon the private sector to
engage in responsible business practices…”
2 Taking Up Social Responsibility in the Value Chain
2.1 About Social Responsibility of Organizations
2.1.1 Historical Context
The modern concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR), born in the USA, has
developed over more than the last century. It can be traced back in a series of business practices in the late nineteenth century such as the philanthropy of some particularly rich capitalists and its development into a doctrine during the twentieth
century that began to be theorized in the 1950s (Pasquero 2013 ). Many authors
agree that the book by H. Bowen in 1953 ‘Social Responsibilities of the Businessman’
is the seminal contribution to this fi eld that has shaped its development for several
decades. He offers an initial defi nition that reads: “Social responsibility refers to the
obligations of the businessman to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or
to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and
values of our society.” (Bowen 1953 ). During the sixties and seventies, there was a
proliferation of defi nitions which built on Bowen’s work. Joseph W. McGuire
( 1963 ) brought some more precise elements about the extension of the responsibility by writing “The idea of social responsibility supposes that the corporation has
not only economic and legal obligations but also certain responsibilities to society
which extend beyond these obligations.” (McGuire 1963 ). However, these new
visions of the role of businessmen were strongly challenged by liberal thinkers such
as Milton Friedman, see his paper in the New York Times Magazine ( 1970 ) “A
Friedman doctrine – The social responsibility of business is to increase its profi ts”
(Friedmann 1970 ). This illustrates rather clearly the opposition between the fundamental vision of neoclassical economics, where business corporations contribute to
the general interest, and the new managerial vision developed through CSR, where
business has also a social and/or societal mission. The stakeholder theory, initially
developed by Freeman ( 1984 ), had the ambition to provide managers with a
B. Mazijn and J.-P. Revéret