Corporate Social Responsibility Orientation: Theorizing through the Williamson Framework

9 Sparked by a relatively simple idea that corporations have obligations to society that extend beyond mere profit-making activities – scholars and practitioners have struggled to achieve a clear paradigm for corporate social responsibility (Godfrey and Hatch, 2007). This is largely driven by the lack of substantial empirical findings that can emphatically support or refute the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and a firm’s financial performance (Godfrey and Hatch, 2007). Margolis and Walsh (2001) catalogued over 90 empirical studies seeking to establish a link between CSR and improved financial performance, with mixed results. Despite this inadequacy, CSR has continued to have pragmatic and normative appeal for business professionals, academicians, and governmental policy makers alike.