ETHICS AND CSR - BACK TO BASICS

There is a difference between Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility, which is now perceived by both business professionals and academic community. This ambivalence can be perceived from practical proposals for introducing business ethics in big companies that codetermine the culture of society in general. The main characteristics of European approach to 'Corporate Social Responsibility` are (1) going over and above legal requirements by adopting voluntary measures; (2) linking to the European Union "sustainable development" concept; and (3) changing management approaches pursuing changes in the business model. Even though the goals seem to be well specified: going over and above the stated law and beyond duties, the practical incorporation of these ideas is somewhat lagging behind and does not reach the goal. We suggest that there may be a fundamental conflict between the deontological nature of sustainability movement and business goals, which mostly follow the practical short-term oriented best practices. In this paper we attempt to disclose the nature of current CSR practices and show why CSR cannot contribute to achieving the long term goals of sustainability.