Compassion and Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

The gap between the efforts of corporations to be socially responsible and the perception of those efforts in society is seen to result from a corporate reliance on specific responses to stakeholder needs and formal rules. This paper argues that societal expectations about social responsibility can be better aligned with corporate social performance by creating a compassionate organizational culture, where compassion manifests itself as a concern within the organization for those adversely affected by the organization or those disadvantaged in society. It is argued that compassion is the missing ingredient in aligning Corporate Social Performance with the expectations of society. Creating a compassionate organization is seen to result from authentic leadership which works to create an ethically positive organization. The attributes of an ethically positive organization release the internalized values of employees and decision makers to more effectively address the real issues involved in the social perception of the organization. Authentic leadership is needed to move away from the traditional metrics of Corporate Social Responsibility and unleash tacit unspoken assumptions embedded in organization culture which recognize that accomplishing what is good for the long term sustainability and success of organization can only be obtained by striving for the larger social good.
Keywords: Corporate social responsibility,Corporate social performance, Corporate citizenship, Corporate ethics.