Abstract

Building on insights from the strategic management and marketing literatures, we look at how corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy is internalized as a core business area within international organizations, by employing an approach that simultaneously addresses the domains of strategy and social responsibility. Extant research is almost exclusively dominated by studies attempting to confirm the link between social responsibility and financial performance, in domestic settings. We depart from this debate to look at how CSR strategies are made in international contexts (i.e., multinational enterprises), together with their antecedents and consequences. In doing so, we start by outlining circumstances in which CSR can be called strategic, and then move on to develop propositions and a conceptual framework that can guide the CSR strategy-making process. Our conceptual study contributes to the international CSR literature by providing much needed clarifications on the ways in which CSR strategies are not only formulated, but also implemented and adjusted over time.