What is corporate responsibility? Corporate social responsibility, also known as CSR, is the concept that a business has a responsibility to do good. CSR means that a company should self-regulate its actions and be socially accountable to its customers, stakeholders, and the world at large. But what does this really mean in practice?

According to the European Union, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the voluntary integration of companies' social and ecological concerns into their business activities and their relationships with their stakeholders. Being socially responsible means not only fully satisfying the applicable legal obligations but also going beyond and investing 'more' in human capital, the environment and stakeholder relations. This was published in 2001 by the European Union on a Green Paper on Corporate Social Responsibility.