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AbstractThis paper draws attention to several corporate social responsibility (CSR) questions in developing countries. (1) Illustrations from, for example, South America and Africa, including African voices critical to foreign aid, show that societies are different in many respects. This implies different capacities of organizations and their managers to understand and address pressing CSR issues in different cultural contexts. (2) Weak institutional environments, such as in developing countries, often harbor illicit financial outflow from poor countries to rich ones. This strips developing nations of critical resources and contributes to failed states, a point hardly ever discussed in the CSR literature. We argue for corporate actions in areas such as enhancing capacity in detecting tax fraud, antitrust and the unveiling of corruption cases. Obviously, legislation is a task of politicians, governments and international governmental bodies. However, if business enterprises can 'legally misuse' the system, then the matter should be seen as a CSR issue also. There is thus an urgency for concerted efforts by the private sector, public sector and non‐governmental organizations to develop structures and institutions that contribute to social justice, environmental protection and poverty eradication. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

This paper draws attention to several corporate social responsibility (CSR) questions in developing countries. (1) Illustrations from, for example, South America and Africa, includ- ing African voices critical to foreign aid, show that societies are different in many respects. This implies different capacities of organizations and their managers to understand and address pressing CSR issues in different cultural contexts. (2) Weak institutional environ- ments, such as in developing countries, often harbor illicit fi nancial outfl ow from poor countries to rich ones. This strips developing nations of critical resources and contributes to failed states, a point hardly ever discussed in the CSR literature. We argue for corporate actions in areas such as enhancing capacity in detecting tax fraud, antitrust and the unveil- ing of corruption cases. Obviously, legislation is a task of politicians, governments and international governmental bodies. However, if business enterprises can 'legally misuse' the system, then the matter should be seen as a CSR issue also. There is thus an urgency for concerted efforts by the private sector, public sector and non-governmental organiza- tions to develop structures and institutions that contribute to social justice, environmental protection and poverty eradication.

This special issue and the editorial article focus on the issues of context and consequences of corporate responsibility (CR), to which CR research has not given the attention these issues would warrant. Although norms, practices and outcomes of CR depend on socio- political, cultural, national and other contextual factors, the phenomenon has primarily been studied with theories and concepts originating from the USA. We will show that this has lead to a lack of attention to many local aspects and varieties of CR, particularly those of the emerging economies and developing countries. The latter part of the article discusses the outcomes and consequences of CR, including those that are unintended. We point out that many positive expectations and trust is placed on CR as an ideology and as an instrument for contributing to the resolution of many global and environmental ills although little is known about the social consequences and impacts of CR on society. In connection to both discussions, we review the related papers in this special issue. The editorial ends with propositions for future research.

AbstractThe past decade has seen a proliferation of suggestions for market‐based solutions to global poverty. While research emphasises that sustainability innovation aimed at poverty alleviation must be grounded in user needs, few studies demonstrate how to study the poor for purposes of early phase innovation in business enterprises, especially in multiple locations comparatively. This study suggests that the necessary understanding of low‐income users and their practices can be gained through multi‐sited rapid ethnography. We exemplify how the process moves from an understanding of the needs of the poor towards innovation and offer a general framework for evaluating the success of these types of projects. The paper describes the challenges and solutions found in a multi‐sited rapid ethnography research in urban base of the pyramid (BOP) contexts in Brazil, India, Russia, and Tanzania. It suggests businesses can learn about the poor with the help of this method and conduct sustainability innovation on the basis of the needs of the poor, rather than start with existing products. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.