1. Background to the ongoing discussions on CSR

In the background of the latest debate on CSR, which evolved out of traditional debates on “corporate social responsibility,” lie the following developments.

One salient change is the globalization of economic and corporate activities. As a result, global environmental problems have emerged, and individual corporations are being called upon to operate as “global citizens” who put priority on social justice and sustainable development.

Another development is the broadening of stakeholders, which has progressed in parallel with globalization. With the multinationalization of corporations, the scope of stockholders, customers, business partners and employees, has expanded on a scale never before imagined. In particular, in the areas of employment and labor relations, a sharp increase in atypical and indirect employment has led to new problems regarding labor standards, human resources development and communications.

2. Two currents regarding CSR

The current situation surrounding CSR involves, on one hand, progressive approaches by pioneering firms for environmental conservation, or toward the establishment of CSR committee within their corporate organizations. On the other hand, we have also witnessed many corporate scandals, cover-ups of accidents, frequent disasters and accidents involving companies, disregard of occupational safety, rampant unpaid overtime work, and industrial disputes triggered by corporations going overseas.

In other words, there are two competitive rules, which are mutual contradictory: one is fierce cost-cutting competition, which disregards safety and human rights, and the other is competition aimed at becoming the top runner, which takes into consideration the sustainability of society as a whole.

3. Lack of consistency in concepts of CSR

 The actual practice of CSR differs widely among corporations grappling with the concept. At some, it is trivialized into the production of corporate environmental reports and social action programs such as corporate philanthropy. At such firms, employment and labor issues tend to have a low position in the practice of CSR. In addition, CSR is not subject to disclosure requirements as part of the financial information of listed companies, and there is no common standard or data, so the contents of CSR reports produced by individual corporations differ markedly.

The scope of the debate on CSR has shown a tendency to broaden, but this should not be used as a cover for corporate practices that run afoul of compliance.

4. Attitude of trade unions

Looking at the interest of trade unions in CSR, while some affiliates and united fronts of industrial federations have presented pioneering approaches, overall concern among trade unions as a whole has not been at all adequate. As demonstrated by recent corporate scandals and troubles on safety issues, it is undeniable that there have been cases where trade unions have become so wedded to corporate interests that they have failed to perform adequate monitoring of corporate behavior from the standpoint of consumers or community residents.