Comparative Critical Review of Corporate Social Responsibility Business Management Models

Background. Today’s turbulent economic reality characterised by market distortions, financial and economy crises and increasingly frequent business scandals question the validity of current business models, including also those concerning the notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).Research aims. The aim of this article is the comparative critical review of the most common CSR business models and criticism of the current CSR rhetoric. We hypothesise that the CSR business model should have grounded institutional foundations that the majority of them lack.Methodology. As a methodology in our research we use a critical management studies. We base our analysis on the profound literature review. Following the ethical-normative theory of Hopwood (Hopwood Miller, 1994) and acknowledging stakeholders approach, legitimacy theory, and social contract theory as foundations of our motivation we critically compare 7 conceptual CSR business models. These business models are described based on the positive theory.Key findings. The general conclusion indicates that the reviewed CSR business models do not consider institutional factors and pragmatic realism of business activities. Moreover, those models are embedded in unrealistic economic conditions. They have many shortcomings and weaknesses that as for now remain a challenge both for the academic research and practice.