Reimagining Corporate Social Responsibility in the Era of COVID-19: Embedding Resilience and Promoting Corporate Social Competence

Jingchen Zhao
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Jingchen Zhao: Centre for Business and Insolvency Law, Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG1 4FQ, UK

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-28

Abstract: The debate over corporate objectives and how companies deal with amplified existing societal inequalities and vulnerabilities has received increasing attention in recent years, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic encouraged companies and policy makers to consider ways to develop a more enabling institutional environment, not only to tackle the ongoing crisis but also to prepare for similar future tests. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the significance and effectiveness of ex ante corporate social responsibility (CSR) law approaches in tackling the challenges brought by the pandemic. We investigate the uniqueness of the sustainable development challenges in the era of the pandemic, and introduce “corporate social competence” as a compliance principle in response to the need for forward-looking approaches to risk management and strategic planning. We use two ex ante legislative approaches in company law, namely mandatory CSR policy and legally recognised inclusive business models, as examples to illuminate the contribution of company law to navigate the pandemic beyond philanthropic CSR actions.

Keywords: corporate social reasonability; corporate social competence; ex ante legislative approaches; company law; CSR policy; strategic agility; benefit corporations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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