Organizations today are driven by factors other than profit/wealth maximization. Large companies use up large societal resources. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is about how companies manage their internal and external business processes in order to produce an overall positive societal impact. It is a misconception that CSR is generally considered to be a non-revenue generating area. Companies can use CSR as a core competence to differentiate their firms, which can have a positive impact on their bottom line. This article discusses the road map for achieving this objective and concludes that it is possible to make CSR, a strategic management tool.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines paradigm broadly as a philosophical or theoretical framework of any kind. The concept of corporations as wealth maximizers for shareholders is undergoing a major paradigm change. Organizations today are driven by factors other than profit/wealth maximization. Large companies with global operations and aspirations use up large societal resources. Their continued existence and growth is dependent on transforming an individual into a socially responsible corporate citizen. They must constantly monitor the external environment and align their internal functioning with changes that occur or based on their own assessment provide the necessary change. Such corporate transformation from a wealth maximizing machine to a socially-responsible organization represents a major paradigm shift in management.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is about how companies manage their internal and external business processes in order to produce an overall positive societal impact. More specifically, CSR involves identification of various stakeholder groups, their needs, values and aspirations, incorporating them into the company's strategies and day-to-day decision-making process.`CSR is about businesses and other organizations going beyond the legal obligations to manage the impact they have on the environment and society. In particular, this could include how organizations interact with their employees, suppliers, customers and the communities in which they operate, as well as the extent to which they attempt to protect the environment' - The Institute of Directors, UK.

CSR has its critics as well. `Few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very foundations of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible.' (Milton Friedman, 1962). Even among the industry captains, CSR initially draws a lackadaisical response. To most of them, CSR is only a publicity gimmick. Prof. David Vogel in his book Market for Virtue claims that CSR is not sustainable. In his words, "CSR is sustainable only if virtue pays off. The supply of corporate virtue is both made possible and constrained by the market… while there is a place in the business system for responsible firms, the market for virtue is not sufficiently important to make it in the interest of all firms to behave more responsibly."

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