CSR in the UK Water Industry: ‘Doing the Right Thing’? A Case Study

All large business organisations consider corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an important part of business strategy. While this is not disputed, there are doubts over the effectiveness of these strategies and their contribution to a more sustainable development. For, despite all progress, environmental and social problems still exist or seem exacerbated (Meadows et al. , 2004) and there are calls for new analytical lenses and approaches (Gladwin et al. , 1995; Bebbington, 2007) to disentangle the interrelationships between CSR and sustainable development as a business practice. This paper presents selected key issues, which emerged from comprehensive grounded analysis within a UK water company as a manager and provider of a resource that is a necessary ‘social good’ whose availability and supply is increasingly affected by climate change. The case study consisted of an intra-organisational analysis but also included extensively the stakeholders involved in a wider analysis on the drivers and barriers to corporate sustainability. The analysis revealed that undoubtedly there has been progress in promoting sustainable development in the regulated water industry in which the organisation is based. This is evident in requirements for the preparation of 25-year strategic direction statements by water companies, aimed specifically at promoting a more long-term strategic (business) approach and the need to include substantial sustainability targets to demonstrate, for example, how they are responding to the challenges posed by climate change. In order to do so, the industry has not broken with a ‘business as usual’ ideology. It is necessary therefore to engage critically with business organisations in order to advance the agenda for sustainable development. Further, this paper suggests, it is essential to incorporate the complex interdependencies and conceptual ambiguities into analytical frameworks as individual companies seek to address sustainable development through CSR activities. Significantly, it seems evident that more leadership is necessary by government and regulators to ensure that more sustainable business organisations are not impeded by the business case for CSR.