The problem with an approach that lets business define corporate responsibility is that it is not grounded in a set of principles about what it means to be a responsible business. Corporate social responsibility is whatever companies want it to be, and often, what is most convenient...

...In short, corporate compliance with human rights standards must be an end in itself rather than a path to making more profit. The late Milton Friedman’s famous 1970 New York Times editorial, “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits”, is best known for the articulation of the libertarian economist’s doctrine that  “the business of business is business”. There is a lot to disagree with in the article. But one line still rings true: "...in practice the doctrine of social responsibility is frequently a cloak for actions that are justified on other grounds rather than a reason for those actions.” There is nothing wrong with making money, but there is when it harms people in the process and, worse, is camouflaged by the ‘cloak’ of CSR...