Transparency is usually seen as integral to corporate responsibility best practice. It allows closer scrutiny of those firms claiming CR credentials. But, if we want optimal outcomes in terms of industry wide adoption of CR practices, it may pay to tolerate a little hypocrisy at times – rather than highlighting the difference between what a firm says about CR and what it actually does.
Article first published on 01.12.2016 / Updated on 12.03.2021 with the new version of the research paper A Bait-and-Switch Model of Corporate Social Responsibility.