Abstract
Corporate Social Responsability, how far should it go? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is 'the policy and practice of a corporation social involvement beyond its legal obligations for the benefit of the society at large'. CSR aims to make any negative impact small or non existent, and a positive contribution at the same time to shareholders. According to the Down Jones sustainability index, twenty Australian firms are listed in amongst the best sustainable companies in the world. For instance, Australian banks and mining companies are involved in microcredit programs and indigenous workforce development, respectively. Some say it provides irrelevant returns to shareholders, the others think not practicing CSR deserves critics, boycott and no success. This paper argues businesses should adopt CSR because it improves general economic performances of the firm. Three major advantages are presented in the first part namely reputation, financial performances and the global dynamic. The second part will discuss and respond to the major counterclaims namely, research weaknesses, consumer skepticism and the evidence of failures to apply CSR.
