Integrating and Unifying Competing and Complementary Frameworks: The Search for a Common Core in the Business and Society Field

In the field of business and society, several complementary frameworks appear to be in competition for preeminence. Although debatable, the primary contenders appear to include (a) corporate social responsibility, (b) business ethics, (c) stakeholder management, (d) sustainability, and (e) corporate citizenship. Despite the prevalence of the five frameworks, difficulties remain in understanding what each construct really means, or should mean, and how each might relate to the others. To address the confusion, the authors propose three core concepts—value, balance, and accountability—that might be used to better integrate the five frameworks and potentially provide the basis for further discussion and theoretical development of the business and society field.

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