Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was once an exotic interest and ambition of 'alternative thinkers' and corporate 'do-gooders'. It is now commonplace and it is almost impossible to find organisations, especially multinational companies, not expressing a CSR commitment. Websites are replete with such phrases as "a desire to put something back", "committed to being a global citizen", "investing in communities", etc. The wording may be slightly different, but the themes remain somewhat constant - we may be giant organisations, even involved in not very environmentally-friendly operations, but we care for more than just our profits and bottom line. Companies not only have CSR statements, but also managers and can be based in various parts of organisations, including as separate units or in PR and HR departments.

CSR can be known by a variety of other names and terms, such as corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship and a mix of terms such as responsible, sustainable and ethical business. CSR is a nebulous and elastic concept than can mean very different things to various people and constituencies. It is also one of those 'motherhood and apple pie' concepts, seen as, a priori 'a good thing'. After all, not many organisations would propound that they did not have any CSR. As such, it is one of the most popular, fashionable areas of management today.