Encouraging CSI in Italy: The Enabling Role of Government in Mandating, Motivating, and Supporting Responsible Business Practices

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns into their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (CEC, 2001), has clearly attained a high degree of relevance for a large number of companies of all sizes. Moving from an initial, vague awareness of the necessity to actively contribute to the development of society as a whole, CSR is now increasingly associated with a new managerial model centered on the voluntary integration of economic, social and environmental responsibilities into the entire value chain and all company functions, and on the relationships with the stakeholder network. CSR is a discipline that progressively aligns shareholder and stakeholder interests, able to shift between short- to long-term objectives.