Corporate Social Responsibility Programs

            This paper will analyze two voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility programs, the first program being Responsible Care ®, and the second being International Organization for Standardization14001. These programs will be explored through the various typologies outlined by G. Auld, S. Bernstein and B. Cashore in their article, "The new corporate social responsibility, " as well as through the work of J. Bork and C. Coglianese in "Voluntary Environmental Programs: Assessing their Effectiveness. " Furthermore, this paper will be compare and contrast both of these voluntary CSR programs, concluding if Corporate Social Responsibility programs have a marginal or significant impact on society and the environment. .
             To begin, we can address why corporations and firms have began to engage in voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility programs The amount the government has been able to regulate corporations has hit a limit, since corporations have been able to operate in a global agreement, where they are under some sort of jurisdiction in one way or another. Though corporations are under some form of jurisdiction, it is hard for the government to regulate them when they are able to freely move their assets from one location to another. Government regulations are not what concern corporations and firms anymore, due to the globalization of civil regulations firms and corporations have found themselves politically vulnerable (Vogel, 2007, pg. 9). They are politically vulnerable, because the impact civil societies have on firms has grown to be much more significant. Civil regulations can influence corporations to make decisions through the state, markets, or directly through individuals. .
             In the article "The new corporate social responsibility, " by G. Auld, S. Bernstein and B. Cashore, a systemic approach to how individuals can assess if corporations are partaking in voluntary CSR endeavors is introduced.