Reimagining Corporate Social Responsibility in the Era of COVID-19: Embedding Resilience and Promoting Corporate Social Competence

The debate over corporate objectives and how companies deal with amplified existing societal inequalities and vulnerabilities has received increasing attention in recent years, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic encouraged companies and policy makers to consider ways to deve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2021-06, Vol.13 (12), p.6548
Main Author: Zhao, Jingchen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Business models
Business plans
Coronaviruses
Corporate objectives
COVID-19
Environmental impact
Innovations
Law
Literature reviews
Medical research
Pandemics
Risk management
Social responsibility
Society
Stakeholders
Strategic management
Sustainability
Sustainable development
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Summary:The debate over corporate objectives and how companies deal with amplified existing societal inequalities and vulnerabilities has received increasing attention in recent years, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic encouraged companies and policy makers to consider ways to develop a more enabling institutional environment, not only to tackle the ongoing crisis but also to prepare for similar future tests. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the significance and effectiveness of ex ante corporate social responsibility (CSR) law approaches in tackling the challenges brought by the pandemic. We investigate the uniqueness of the sustainable development challenges in the era of the pandemic, and introduce “corporate social competence” as a compliance principle in response to the need for forward-looking approaches to risk management and strategic planning. We use two ex ante legislative approaches in company law, namely mandatory CSR policy and legally recognised inclusive business models, as examples to illuminate the contribution of company law to navigate the pandemic beyond philanthropic CSR actions.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su13126548