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Discourses about Righting the Business ← → Society Relationship
Author(s) -
Fyke Jeremy P.,
Feldner Sarah Bonewits,
May Steven K.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
business and society review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1467-8594
pISSN - 0045-3609
DOI - 10.1111/basr.12086
Subject(s) - stakeholder , influencer marketing , corporate social responsibility , business practice , public relations , sociology , business ethics , perspective (graphical) , focus (optics) , key (lock) , political science , business , marketing , relationship marketing , business administration , ecology , physics , artificial intelligence , computer science , optics , biology , marketing management
Abstract This article engages the question— what is the right business‐society relationship ? We consider three perspectives that seek to address the relationship: corporate social responsibility (CSR), social entrepreneurship (SE), and conscious capitalism (CC). We take a macroapproach considering how commentary about these approaches establishes a direction for corporate practice and its relationship to key stakeholder groups. We argue that these perspectives are ‘D'iscourses that provide arguments for and articulations about the direction of corporate practice and the business‐society relationship. To organize our review of each perspective, and focus our critique, for each we highlight (a) drivers and influencers, (b) core assumptions and defining features, and (c) approaches and exemplars. Although distinct, all emphasize effective business practices as key to meeting social needs. CSR suggests legitimizing business practice; SE relocates business practices; and CC seeks to reimagine/rehabilitate business for social good. Ultimately, we conclude that these Discourses lack a clear communicative focus in terms of decision making within these organizations. We attend to this and other implications, and offer avenues for further research.