Corporate social responsibility: a myth? The example of the 'Round Table Codes of Conduct' in Germany

Abstract

This paper is concerned with why and how multinational companies (MNCs) voluntarily engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), especially in social standards. The first part describes the prevailing perspectives on the CSR debate. Then, with the New Institutionalism in Sociology, an alternative view on CSR is discussed. The third part develops the argument that the ‘traditional’ rational institutional myth developed by Meyer and Rowan should be replaced or supplemented by a CSR myth. After that, the case study of “Round Table Codes of Conduct” provides an example of how MNCs deal with this emerging CSR myth