Are the Corporate Social Responsibility Matters Based on Good Intentions or False Pretences? An Empirical Study of the Motivations Behind the Issuing of CSR Reports by UK Companies, Corporate Governance

The last few years have seen a massive increase in the number of corporate entities around the world purporting to care about the environment, human rights, non-renewable resources and society in general! Have corporate entities suddenly become more moral? What factors can one recognise as contributing to these recent interests in socially responsible behaviours on the part of corporate entities? What actions are corporate entities taking to demonstrate that they are socially responsible? Are the actions taken by these entities to demonstrate responsibility based on good intentions or false pretences? The study looks at answers to these and other pertinent questions which one hopes would enrich our understanding of the motivations behind UK companies' involvement in CSR activities and why they are very keen to publicise their actions in the area. The study reveals that large UK companies started issuing CSR reports in 2000 mainly for the following reasons: in response to an increasing number of stakeholders requesting information in the area, they believe that taking this action is good for business, they also believe that informing their stakeholders of the their CSR activities gives them some positive public relations benefits, the present UK government is requesting them to report on their environmental performance, as a result of the increased necessity for greater transparency and a few other reasons the study reveals