Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society

Volume 24, 2013

Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Meeting

Virtuous CSR
Blending Positive Organizational Scholarship and Social Responsibility

Theory development surrounding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been ensconced in a rational economic logic, exploring both financial and ethical justifications (Basu & Palazzo, 2008; Margolis & Walsh, 2003). Venturing outside of this logic and viewing corporations as organizations from a positive organizational scholarship (POS) perspective provides an opportunity to broaden the exploration of CSR. Within POS, organizations are assumed to be driven by a need to contribute to human flourishing and well-being (Cameron, Dutton, & Quinn, 2003). This viewpoint does not preclude the importance of organizational performance or survival, but rather provides a reorienting perspective to the study of organizations (Margolis & Walsh, 2003). In this paper, the concept of Virtuous CSR is proposed as part of a continuum of CSR theory ranging from strategic to virtuous. Virtuous CSR changes the lens through which organizations and CSR are studied. Specific attributes of Virtuous CSR are proposed.