Stakeholder initiatives for promoting corporate social responsibility: a four-country study

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has undergone many stages of evolution around the world and different models exist in different countries. The focus and priorities of CSR also vary from one country to another, being rooted in the social, economic, cultural, political and historical landscape of each region. This, combined with pressures exerted by the expectations of an increasingly aware and connected world, is shaping the way different stakeholders respond to the CSR agenda of a country. Governments, corporations, non-governmental organisations, consumers and other important entities are coming together to design and implement effective CSR policies and practices, aimed at solving social and environmental problems. This paper looks at such stakeholder responses to the CSR agenda of four countries - Brazil, Germany, India and Canada - to understand existing CSR models and how they are being promoted and implemented.