Between Trust and CSR: The Role of Leadership

E. Isaac Mostovicz and Nada K. Kakabadse
Additional contact information
E. Isaac Mostovicz: Janus Thinking Ltd
Nada K. Kakabadse: Northampton Business School, The University of Northampton

Chapter Chapter 10 in Theory and Practice of Corporate Social Responsibility, 2011, pp 159-178 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The aim of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is to restore one of the most critical resources for businesses’ sustainability: trust. However, the current practice of CSR begs the question whether CSR initiatives restore trust or simply relieve mistrust in the marketplace. Because people do not really understand what trust implies, they often use CSR activities as publicity stunts, trying to please the public. In particular, they perceive trust as a means of supporting organisational activities rather than a goal of its own. Following Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, we trust those who fully commit to their goals and are ready to take responsibility for all consequences. Trust is a voluntary and altruistic act and independent of society. Trust, ethics and leadership are interlinked. Leadership requires choosing between two good options according to our Theta-Lambda worldview. Thetas are socially-motivated and seek affiliation and security whereas Lambdas are personally-motivated and seek challenge and achievement. Pursuing these worldviews helps us get closer to the ethical truth, and it is this self-investment in pursuing truth which builds trust.A review of various CSR theories shows that organizational CSR seeks a similar outcome, that is to demonstrate the responsibilities which the organisation is ready to assume.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Stakeholder Theory; Corporate Social Responsibility Activity; Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative; Corporate Social Responsibility Practice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-642-16461-3_10

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783642164613

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-16461-3_10

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().