COOPETITION DOCTRINE FOR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract

The term Corporate Social Responsibility has evolved ever since it was coined in second half of 20^th century. Broadly, CSR is a way a business achieves a balance or integration of economic, political, social and ethical dimensions; while at the same time addressing shareholder and stakeholder expectations. CSR is a concept whereby corporate organizations take social responsibility and create products or services for greater good of the society and consistent with the interests of customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment. Most of the time, these activities and actions are considered to be on voluntarily basis to improve society. The way businesses engage/involve the shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, governments, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and other stakeholders is usually a key feature of the concept. However, considering various entities or stakeholders stated above, it is not surprising to note that conflict of interest exists among various stakeholders in respect of activities performed by a particular organization.  Thus, a need arises to rethink the normative approaches to CSR and evaluate other avenues for a better solution. Considering that CSR is interdisciplinary and affects many facets of society simultaneously, it is considered that coopetition may hold the key to solve complex relationship of various stakeholders and their conflict of interests. Coopetition is a promising and challenging perspective to understand cooperation between competing individuals and/or organizations. In the literature, coopetition phenomenon has been connected with strategic alliances, territorial development work, and resource-based view.This Paper aims to relate the coopetition phenomenon with CSR to create a sustainable partnership between various stakeholders.