Corporate Social Responsibility – ett samtidsfenomen : Uttryck, intryck och avtryck

CSR is a far reaching concept and practice, whose popularity and diffusion has increased rapidly in recent years. Research indicates that CSR has made an evolutionary journey from primarily being characterized by reactiveness to develop into a risk minimizing and proactive competitive advantage and should be looked upon as an answer to heightened societal pressure and awareness. Based on a review regarding different relevant theoretical perspectives, this master thesis discusses CSR as a concept and practical matter in relation to various strategically chosen representatives of a selection of professions. Moreover, the data were collected through in-depth semi structured interviews. The findings show that CSR is a contemporary and highly context dependent phenomenon whose inherent multiplicity brings a distinct aspect of uncertainty to it, in terms of both meaning and practice. And in some parts there is a reluctance to communicate CSR due to a fear of missing out of important aspects. Furthermore, additionally findings tell us that profitability in a CSR context is a wide continuum of meaning. Moreover, in terms of future research it would be of interest to see more comparative studies between specific businesses and/or cultures to examine how CSR as a management idea is perceived and implemented