The New Political Role of Business in a Globalized World: A Review of a New Perspective on CSR and its Implications for the Firm, Governance, and Democracy

2010/05/01 by Andreas Georg Scherer, Guido Palazzo · 2,074 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · #Business #Corporate Law and Human Rights #Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting #Corporate governance #Corporate social responsibility #Democracy #Economic system #Economics #Global trade, sustainability, and social impact #Globalization #Law #Management #Market economy #Perspective (graphical) #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Public relations #State (computer science)

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00950.x

published in Journal of Management Studies 48(4), 899-931 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 2010/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

abstract Scholars in management and economics widely share the assumption that business firms focus on profits only, while it is the task of the state system to provide public goods. In this view business firms are conceived of as economic actors, and governments and their state agencies are considered the only political actors. We suggest that, under the conditions of globalization, the strict division of labour between private business and nation‐state governance does not hold any more. Many business firms have started to assume social and political responsibilities that go beyond legal requirements and fill the regulatory vacuum in global governance. Our review of the literature shows that there are a growing number of publications from various disciplines that propose a politicized concept of corporate social responsibility. We consider the implications of this new perspective for theorizing about the business firm, governance, and democracy.

Citations

• Misery Loves Companies: Rethinking Social Initiatives by Business
• Is There a Market for Virtue?: The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility
• Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Implications*
• The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders

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Related

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