Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility is a strategic decision whereby an organization undertakes an obligation to society, for example in the form of sponsorship, commitment to local communities, attention to environmental issues and responsible advertising. The impact of organizational decisions on society in the wider sense has been in evidence in the agricultural and food industries in association with merger and takeover activity, environmental pollution, intensive livestock production, hygiene, health and international marketing practices. Social responsibility has been given credibility through the attention given to social issues by the Confederation of British Industry, the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management and is of immediate relevance to the UK food sector because of the recent initiative of the Institute of Grocery Distribution. First considers social responsibility within a corporate strategy framework and subsequently deals with some theoretical and practical issues in the context of the UK food and agricultural sector.