Petter Brunsael

Corporate Social Responsibility: Competitive Advantage and Strategic Necessity Petter Brunsael

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been anincreased concept within the today?s business andthere are different perceptions regarding the meansof the concept. The theories in the area focus on CSRas a possible source of competitive advantage, butalso as a strategic necessity. There is a debateregarding the Stakeholders? importance when it comesto a firm?s CSR activities. Satisfying stakeholdersmay be useful to increase a firm?s competitiveness,as well as it can be seen as a necessity. This studyexplores whether a CSR activity can be seen as asource of competitive advantage, or as a strategicnecessity. The main findings concern CSR as competitiveadvantage and as a strategic necessity, as well asrooted in the firm?s values and beliefs. Further, thefindings show a more detailed categorisation ofsources of competitive advantage and strategicnecessity. In addition, the findings show that thedifferent stakeholder groups: latent, expectant anddefinitive have different perceptions of a CSRactivity. Lastly, the CSR managers? intention and thestakeholders? perception differ in some areas.