The Managerial Sources of Corporate Social Responsibility

Christian R. Thauer is Assistant Professor in International Relations at the Freie Universität Berlin and Visiting Fellow at the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. He was awarded the International Studies Association International Political Economy (ISA-IPE) Best Dissertation Prize 2010-2011 for his award-winning thesis.

• 1. Introduction; 2. A theory of internal drivers of corporate social responsibility; 3. Corporate social responsibility: an inside-view approach and perspective; 4. Internal driver 1: the human resources dilemma; 5. Internal drivers 2 and 3: the technological specialization and foreign direct investment dilemmas; 6. Internal driver 4: the brand reputation dilemma; 7. Conclusion: internal drivers, corporate social responsibility and the spread of global standards.

'Christian R. Thauer gives us a fresh take on the motives behind corporate social responsibility. Rather than altruism or shamming campaigns, Thauer develops a novel theoretical argument focusing on the self-interests of the firm. He backs up his claim with detailed case studies of companies across a range of developing economies and industrial sectors. The book offers both analytic and empirical bite.' Abraham Newman, Georgetown University, Washington DC