Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

CSR as managerial process: The first three perspectives attempt to identify the factors 
that persuade businesses to undertake CSR initiatives. An additional view concerns CSR 
in terms of organisational processes (sometimes called ‘corporate social responsiveness’) 
( Ackerman, 1975 ). One view advocates that ‘issues management’ and ‘environmental 
assessment’ constitute managerial processes relevant to working towards a proactive 
responsibility stance ( Wood, 1991 ). Others suggest the type of sequential management 
process useful to systematic development of CSR initiatives ( Ackerman, 1975 ): moni-
toring and assessing environmental conditions; attending to stakeholder demands; and 
designing plans and policies aimed at enhancing the firm’s impacts. Carroll earlier 
described the managerial processes of response to social responsibility as involving plan-
ning and social forecasting, organising for social response, controlling social activities 
and developing corporate social policy ( Carroll, 1979 ).
The importance of Maignan and Ferrell’s integration of these disparate conceptualisa-
tions of CSR is that it provides us with an overview of the issues likely to be raised by CSR 
initiatives, and suggests the importance of developing appropriate organisational processes 
for managing CSR. Scoping the existing and likely future impacts of the diverse pressures 
towards CSR is becoming an important challenge for management. In this context, Porter 
and Kramer (2006) suggest that management attention should focus on: 
● 
Identifying the points of intersection between the company and society – including the 
ways in which the business impacts on society in the normal course of business (such as 
transport emissions), but also the way in which social conditions impact on the business 
(for example, regulatory standards). This involves mapping the social impact of the value 
chain, and also the social influences on the company’s competitiveness.
●