The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business

Stefan Markovic (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark), Adam Lindgreen, François Maon , Cristina Sancha

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English

Routledge
22 August 2025

Economics; Business ethics; Sales & marketing management; Business mathematics & systems; Sales & marketing

Series: Routledge Companions in Business, Management and Marketing

Contemporary companies are expected to behave ethically and responsibly toward their stakeholders and to provide social and environmental good. Key stakeholder groups, including employees, consumers, investors, and public authorities, increasingly demand that companies deliver products and services in responsible yet economically sound manners and act in accordance with moral obligations and financial requirements. Such mounting societal expectations and institutional pressures relate to complex concerns, including environmental and climate impact, working conditions, and human rights, both locally and oversees. In this context, as companies now appear to commit to comprehensively tackle ethical, social, environmental, and economic challenges, concerns increasingly are raised as to whether most companies in the end can indeed contribute to societal and environmental good and transform how they operate to create value responsibly, considering the success and impact of so called corporate social responsibility or sustainability policies.

In recent decades, while some companies have advanced on their social and environmental responsibility journey, other companies have engaged in ethical, social, and environmental initiatives in manipulative and insincere way, or merely as a rhetorical tool to maintain legitimacy. Together with governments and business partners, these companies are largely failing to deliver for society and the environment. Subsequently, more than ever before, understanding what it means to do business responsibly and how business actors can engage constructively in ways that support the development of resilient business practices, forms, and organizations that contribute to generate positive impact for society and the environment and generate the type of economic value needed to address the key challenges of this century is central.

On this background, this edited volume sheds light on different crucial themes and approaches spanning historical, conceptual, operational, critical, practical, and prospective considerations that have animated the field of business and society in the last decades, and that are instrumental or have the potential to drive constructive research discussions and business efforts.

The central aim of the book is to set the research agenda for the next five to seven years, to redefine existing areas within the context of international research, and to highlight emerging research areas in need of further investigation, representing a prestige reference work providing an overview of the subject area of responsible business, primarily for academics, researchers, postgraduate students, as well as reflective practitioners.

Edited by: Stefan Markovic (Copenhagen Business School Denmark), Adam Lindgreen, François Maon, Cristina Sancha
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 254mm, Width: 178mm,
Weight: 1.080kg
ISBN: 9781032446424
ISBN 10: 1032446420
Series: Routledge Companions in Business, Management and Marketing
Pages: 452
Publication Date: 22 August 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Part 1. Genealogizing: Past and Future 1.1 From Good Government to Responsible Business: A History of Corporate Social Responsibility 1.2 The Intergenerational Responsibility of Organizations Part 2. Delineating: Maps and Plans 2.1 Prioritizing Sustainability: Balancing Ethics and Business Profit in a Changing World 2.2 Social by Name, Corporate by Nature: The Myopic Business Case Narrative of Responsibility 2.3. Sustainable Development Goals and the Responsible Business Part 3. Governing: Designs and Alternatives 3.1 Responsible Leadership and Sustainability: The Interplay of Modes and Models of Corporate Governance 3.2 Alternative Ways of Organizing a Responsible Business 3.3 Corporate Sustainability and Quality of Financial Reporting: The Moderating Effect of Sustainability Committees 3.4 Governance of Business Responsibility in Areas of Limited Statehood 3.5 Corporate Governance in a Sustainable World Part 4. Renovating: Functions and Systems 4.1 How Management Accounting and Control Practices Can Contribute to Solving Sustainability-related Grand Challenges 4.2 Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Linking International Law to National through Human Rights Due Diligence 4.3 Fostering a Socially Responsible Marketing 4.4 Shareholder Complicity Part 5. Innovating: Shifts and Transformations 5.1 Managing Circular Business Model Innovation 5.2 Stakeholder Engagement in Environmental Innovation 5.3 Responsible Business in the Context of Industry 5.0, Workplace Innovation, and Social Innovation 5.4 Rationalizations and Institutional Deflection on the Ground: Combatting Modern Slavery in Supply Chains Part 6. Partnering: Engagement and Collaboration 6.1 Opportunity Creation with Nonhuman Stakeholders in Ecological Entrepreneurship 6.2 Deliberation and Contestation in Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives: A Multi-Level Perspective 6.3 Fostering Sustainable Business Models: Public Policies, Strategies, Barriers, and Enablers 6.4 Micro-CSR: Everyday Managerial Practice on the Inside Part 7. Envisaging: Path and Openings 7.1 Responsible Business and the AI Challenge 7.2 Responsible and Sustainable Use of AI: Human Dignity in Business Strategy 7.3 Responsible Business Practices for a Degrowth Transition

Stefan Markovic is Full Professor of Marketing and the Head of Department of Marketing at NEOMA Business School, France. Adam Lindgreen is Professor of Marketing at Copenhagen Business School, where he led the Department of Marketing from 2016 to 2024. François Maon is Full Professor at IESEG School of Management in France, where he teaches courses on business ethics, sustainability strategy, change management, and hybrid organizations. Cristina Sancha holds a Ph.D. in Management Sciences (cum laude), a Master of Research in Management Sciences, and a Bachelor and Master in Business Administration from ESADE Business School, Universitat Ramon Llull, Spain.

Reviews for The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business

“The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business gives substance and life to an important issue facing managers everywhere. Its breadth and innovative ideas are an impressive contribution and make fascinating reading.” David Aaker, Vice Chairman at Prophet and E.T. Grether Professor Emeritus of Marketing and Public Policy, Berkeley Haas, U.S.A. “The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business is an essential contribution to the ongoing discourse on corporate responsibility, sustainability, and ethical business practices. Edited by esteemed scholars, this volume brings together a rich collection of perspectives that critically examine the evolving role of business in society. With its interdisciplinary approach, rigorous analysis, and thought-provoking insights, this book not only deepens our understanding of responsible business but also offers practical pathways for organizations navigating the complex challenges of sustainability and governance. A must-read for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers committed to shaping a more responsible and sustainable future.” Wim Vanhaverbeke, Professor Digital Strategy and Innovation, University of Antwerp, Belgium “In an era where responsible business is both an imperative and a contested notion, The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business offers a comprehensive exploration of its complexities. By examining responsible business across historical, conceptual, and practical dimensions, the book provides critical insights into how organizations can navigate business, social, environmental, and ethical challenges. A must-read for those seeking a nuanced understanding of responsible business in today’s evolving landscape.” Professor Marcel Bogers, Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands “The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business explores various themes related to business responsibility, offering critical insights and new research directions to help businesses navigate these challenges and create positive impacts for society and the environment. The volume is a helpful resource for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers working to navigate the evolving landscape of responsible business and striving to build more sustainable and ethical organizations.” Professor Frank de Bakker, IESEG School of Management, France “The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business is an excellent compilation, featuring top notch editors and scholars, and tackling the various facets of responsible business, through a historical lens, a pragmatic lens, a futuristic lens, an innovation lens, a governance lens, and a partnership lens. An interesting read for all those who wish to delve more into the fascinating responsible business paradigm, and to learn more about its complex intricacies, latent potential and possibilities, and future pathways with anticipated shifts and transformations.” Dima Jamali, VP Academic Affairs, Canadian University Dubai, United Arab Emirates “The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business offers a comprehensive exploration of corporate responsibility, spanning history, governance, and innovation. With insights from leading scholars, the volume unpacks sustainability challenges, stakeholder engagement, and ethical business transformations. This volume is essential for academics and practitioners seeking to navigate the evolving landscape of responsible business. A must-read for those shaping the future of corporate sustainability.” Peter Lund-Thomsen, associate professor at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark “The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business is an essential and inspiring read that offers fresh perspectives on the challenges businesses encounter in fulfilling their responsibilities to their diverse stakeholders and our ’home planet’. The authors highlight the shortcomings of the practice of corporate responsibility, but also show how new ways of thinking and doing can shift the dial and help address today's urgent problems.” Professor Nicholas Ind, Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, Norway “This book renews thinking about responsible business at a time when our communities face significant challenges. These are environmental, geo-political, ideological, and social. Looking back helps us to understand the genesis for responsible business and this book does an outstanding job of envisaging new paths and opportunities against this historical background. But it does so much more than that – it offers new thinking about the components of responsible business too. The new directions (and options), alternative designs for organising responsible business, and asking some hard questions about stakeholder complicity, human rights in supply chains, and accounting systems. This is a must read for those seeking to understand responsible business and to build the pathways forward.” Professor Colin Higgins, Co-Editor-in-Chief with Business & Society and Deputy Dean, Deakin Business School Australia, Australia “The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business offers a comprehensive and insightful exploration of the increasingly complex landscape of corporate responsibility and sustainability – a valuable resource for students, researchers, and practitioners alike.” Professor Ralf Barkemeyer, KEDGE Business School, France