Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to policies and programmes corporations adopt in order to better the conditions of their workers in their factories (Bair & Palpacuer, 2012). It includes various methods of ensuring ethical behaviour, including audits, codes of conduct, programmes, and guidelines on ethical behaviour (Blowfield, 2005). These methods aim to acknowledge that: companies are responsible for the impact they have on society and the environment; companies are responsible for those they conduct business with; companies must regulate its relationships with society (Blowfield & Frynas, 2005).
For example, in response to the bad publicity during the anti-sweatshop movement of the 90s, Levi Strauss introduced their ‘Terms of Engagement’ (Jenkins, 2005), with stated requirements for their factories, covering issues such as child labour and discipline (Levi Strauss & Co, 2017).
Sources:
Bair J. and Palpacuer F. (2012) ‘From Varieties of Capitalism to Varieties of Activism: The Anti-sweatshop Movement in Comparative Perspective’, in Social Problems, 59(4) pp.522–543.
Blowfield, M. (2005) ‘Corporate Social Responsibility: Reinventing the meaning of development?’, International Affairs, 81(3), pp. 515-524.
Jenkins R. (2005). ‘Globalization, Corporate Social Responsibility and Poverty’, International Affairs, 81(3), pp. 525-540.