Authors worth reviewing in corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a term that has been defined differently by different experts. There is no consensus on any single definition of CSR. But in general corporate social responsibility refers to the obligation of a business towards various stakeholders including customers, shareholders, employees and society as a whole. Corporate Social Responsibility is a popular subject of research these days. Many researchers are exploring this vast field of study and adding to the existing literature. So there is a vast amount of literature available in this area of research. An effective CSR dissertation involves referring to the works of at least 20-25 authors and another 20-25 of websites, journals and magazines making a total of some 50 references. There are basically three reasons for referring to so many sources;

1. First, it helps to gather a comprehensive view of the CSR dissertation subject
2. Second, it cross-checks the data compiled from different sources and assures data reliability
3. Third, no source whether website or book can alone cover all the possible aspects of the dissertation subject

A few authors worth reviewing for CSR dissertation

1. A.C. Fernando: One of the authors worth referring to while writing on corporate social responsibility is A.C. Fernando. His book ‘Business Ethics and Corporate Governance’ is a very good resource for various topics in CSR. The best part of the book is that the author has used very simple language which makes the concepts easy to understand. The book covers different aspects of CSR like how business and society are inter-related and why a business is accountable to society, making readers understand the basis of CSR. The book further moves on to mentioning and explaining the definition of corporate social responsibility. The concept of CSR has been described in a comprehensive way here. There is another section that describes the various models of CSR. Further, the author mentions the advantages of CSR and scope of CSR activities. There is a very simple and brief explanation of every point. Fernando can be strongly recommended for any dissertation in CSR as he covers almost all the theoretical aspects of this topic.
2. L.J. Spence and M.P. Morland: Spence and Morland’s book ‘Ethics in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: A Global Commentary’ is another good source of information on CSR. The book provides a global perspective on CSR in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are drawing a lot of attention by the researchers hence this book may solve the purpose. The book starts with a general introduction on why CSR is important not only for big firms but also for the SMEs. The authors further provide a global overview by explaining various CSR aspects in Africa, Europe, India, Latin America, New Zealand and many more countries. So if the researcher is exploring the global CSR perspective or belongs to any of the nations considered for research in this book, it can prove to be of great help.
3. A Few Other Relevant Sources Include:
   1. A.B Carroll and A.K. Buchholtz: The Book- ‘Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management 7e.’
   2. C. Gopala Krishna. The Book: ‘Corporate social responsibility in India: a study of management attitudes.’
   3. Liangrong Zu. The Book: ‘Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Restructuring and Firm’s Performance.’