How companies view their relationships with the causes they support (2014)

This paper explores the ethical challenges to corporate philanthropy and corporate-cause relationships. The study uses Carroll’s (1991) hierarchy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to contextualise changes in how philanthropy is practised today. Based on the original concept and subsequent theoretical enhancements, the article builds upon Carroll’s suggestion that CSR is evolving into corporate citizenship. The study is a qualitative analysis of award-winning corporate-cause programmes investigating if and how successful corporate-cause partnerships fulfil the expectations of the corporate citizen.