Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the responsibility of an enterprise for its impacts on society and the way it integrates social, environmental, ethical, consumer, and human rights concerns into strategy and operations. It includes obeying applicable law while identifying, preventing, addressing, and accounting for impacts linked to the business.
In simple terms
CSR is broader than charitable donations or employee volunteering. It concerns how a company earns revenue, treats people, buys goods, designs products, manages environmental effects, and responds when harm occurs. The responsibilities can extend through business relationships and value chains, even where the company did not directly cause an impact. Practices vary by organization and jurisdiction, but credible CSR connects policies with due diligence, governance, stakeholder engagement, remedies, targets, and transparent reporting rather than relying on isolated campaigns.
Why it matters
A company's societal effects often occur through everyday commercial decisions, not separate community programs. A responsibility-based approach helps leaders prevent harm, respect rights, maintain trust, and understand expectations that can exceed minimum legal compliance. Corporate sustainability can frame long-term outcomes, while ESG and CSR often overlap with it, so users should examine conduct rather than labels. It also gives stakeholders a basis for comparing stated values with the company's conduct, incentives, and response to adverse impacts.
Example
For example, a clothing brand's CSR program can include worker-safety due diligence, responsible purchasing terms, grievance channels, remediation, chemical controls, and public reporting across suppliers. A donation unrelated to those operating impacts would not by itself demonstrate responsible business conduct.
How it differs
Corporate sustainability
Corporate social responsibility centers on an enterprise's responsibility for its impacts on society. Corporate sustainability commonly frames the same operating questions within long-term environmental, social, and economic resilience; the terms can overlap.
Environmental, social and governance
Corporate social responsibility centers an enterprise's responsibility for its societal impacts and conduct; ESG is a broader organizing lens used for environmental, social, and governance information in management, reporting, and investment analysis.