Using a Strategic Sustainable Development Approach to Corporate Social Sustainability

Abstract: The awareness of the unsustainable path we are heading and the pressing need to act has been growing for the last few decades. Organisations, in particular corporations, play an important role in the necessary changes and they are increasingly being obliged by a growing range of stakeholders to play a positive part in society as corporate citizens. This has led to the current proliferation of initiatives and standards on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and has created confusion and misunderstanding about what is a strategic corporate responsibility approach. We found that current CSR lacks principles of sustainability and a universal ethical guideline. This paper argues that current CSR can be made strategic by considering a scientifically relevant whole systems approach of sustainability as its fundamental objective. We present some implementation guidelines for CSR based on principles of sustainability and on the universal ethical principle of non-harm. Analysis of selected organisations in Brazil and Malaysia using the proposed guidelines provided recommendations and insights on how these organisations can contribute towards a sustainable society.