A Philosophical Tour of CSR So how is it that companies approach CSR from the duty-based philosophy of Immanuel Kant? The German philosopher argued people should act out of moral obligations. Say you see someone begging for money on the street and you don’t feel compassion for that person. You will help anyway, because you feel you have a duty to, or that it is the right thing to do. That’s coming from public pressure, but not from your true respect or empathy for that person. Corporate social responsibility efforts have this disconnect, too.
Via Fouad Bendris
While individual philosophy has been studied and applied to corporate organizations, a newer concept of organizational virtue and how to adapt it to corporate strategy is being explored.
To help understand its potential, a survey was conducted of 2,500 customers and employees of seven British Services . It showed that organizational virtue, represented by integrity, empathy, zeal, conscientiousness, warmth, and courage, is linked to employee and customer satisfaction.