This book comprehensively describes social responsibility and sustainable development with
contributions from scientists and representatives from industry working in the field. The
papers are innovative cross-cutting and many share practice-based experiences some of which
may be replicable elsewhere. Prepared by the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research
Programme (IUSDRP) and the World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre (WSD-RTC)
it reiterates the current need to promote social responsibility. Social responsibility and
sustainable development are two different concepts whose integration over the years has led to
significant advances in the way enterprises see and perceive their operations. It is not only
about policies or steps taken to meet legal requirements but is also about social equality and
environmental accountability also bearing in mind the links with eco-efficiency innovation
and the health and wellbeing of workers. According to ISO 26000 social responsibility is the
responsibility of an organisation for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society
and the environment through transparent and ethical behaviour that: a) contributes to
sustainable development including health and the welfare of society b) takes into account the
expectations of stakeholders c) is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with
international norms of behaviour d) is integrated throughout the organisation and practised in
its relationships. But even though the relations between social responsibility and
sustainability are strong it is still necessary to encourage organisations to adhere to or at
least follow the principles of sustainable development in their operations giving something
back to the community. As such there is a need for a better understanding of how social
responsibility is related to sustainable development and of the identification of processes
methods and tools that may help the integration of these two important elements. There is also
a real need to showcase successful examples of how to structure behaviour and institutional
practice in line with the sustainability challenges we face today. Chapter [Reviewing the
Stakeholder Value Creation Literature: Towards a Sustainability Approach] is available open
access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
