Routledge The World Guide to CSR: A Country-by-Country Analysis of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility

The World Guide to CSR is the first book to provide comparable national profiles that describe the evolution and practice of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) for 58 countries and 5 global regions. Each regional and national profile includes key information about the relevant CSR history, country-specific issues, trends, research and leading organizations. The purpose of the book is to give CSR professionals (including managers, consultants, academics and NGOs focusing on the social, environmental and ethical responsibilities of business) a quick reference guide to CSR in different regional and national contexts. The need for the book is premised on the fact that CSR professionals and researchers more often than not have a multinational remit and are required to benchmark performance internationally, but find that country-specific CSR information is ad hoc, limited or non-existent. Even where national CSR research exists, it is often hidden in academic journals that practitioners cannot access or do not have the time or inclination to read. The book is an edited volume, with expert contributors from around the world, all of whom have been screened and selected on the basis of their qualifications and experience in CSR. Each regional/country profile includes the following subsections:CSR in context Priority issues Trends Legislation and codes Organizations Case studies Educational institutions References This unique resource will be an essential acquisition for all organisations who need to benchmark their CSR strategies throughout different regions and cultures and want the best possible intelligence on the key issues and concerns relating to corporate social responsibility in all of the markets in which they operate. Review ... wherever you are in the world, the World Guide to CSR will prime you on what is most important to know about CSR. ... The impressive list of contributors to this volume, 87 in all, are the crème de la crème of CSR knowledge and include leading academics, business people and practitioners from all over the global village. The country profiles are of a exceedingly high quality ... The profiles are superbly edited to give consistency of scope and depth, country by country. ... Why is this book useful? It serves as a start-point for any study of CSR anywhere in the world, as each profile contains an impressive list of links and references. It is a learning aid because the local case studies provide outlines of the key CSR activities by key corporates – the leading edge of CSR around the world. It serves as a guide for those wanting to develop their own CSR programs. Read the full review - CSRwire, 17 August 2010 - Elaine Cohen This book offers a very useful, quick to access, reference guide for the differing approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) found around the world. The consistent formatting of the book lends itself to easy readability, with easily accessible quick "takeaway lessons" by country. However, this can also be a shortcoming as one could argue this runs the risk of feeding the reader (who is likely to be a practitioner looking for a quick solution) with an oversimplifications of CSR in the form of overly high level generalizations. CSR is inherently complex, and inherently cultural. This book takes a step in the right direction in acknowledging there are many differing approaches to CSR, and it does so in an interesting way that will hopefully help to encourage industry to engage with and be a bit more sensitive to the differing needs of stakeholders across the planet. It will perhaps help to support Wayne Visser's call at the conclusion of his foreword to "make sure that business lives up to its potential as a force for good in the world." - Journal of Consumer Policy 33.4 (2010) About the Author WAYNE VISSER is Founder and Director of the think-tank CSR International. NICK TOLHURST is a Fellow of the Institute fo