CSR as a Model for Business Sustainability

Business operate in its own sets of values and strategies, and value maximization is often associated with economic value and financial gains. With the introduction of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), organizations and associations have started labelling themselves to catch the wave. The buzz is around green business, sustainable business, social enterprise, and responsible business. There are certification and labeling processes and numerous frameworks for organizations to integrate and practice sustainability standards. A term often used with varying degree of annotation is corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable business. Reference to sustainable business is not only associated with being financially sustainable, but also along the lines of social and environmental sustainability as an integrated approach. CSR is often used synonymously as corporate sustainability, but what could be a responsible practice such as giving to charity or sponsoring an event, may not necessarily have sustainable impact. This paper describes the basics of CSR, explores some cases on how despite acting responsibly companies faced reputational loss, how being socially responsible can be a value-driver, and explore a model on developing a CSR-model for integrating sustainability into core business values and strategies.