Toward a ‘harmonious society’ through corporate social responsibility

• Published date: 01 May 2014
• Date: 01 May 2014
• Author: Maria Lai‐Ling Lam
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1515

■Special Issue Paper

Toward a ‘harmonious society’through

corporate social responsibility

Maria Lai-Ling Lam*

School of Business and Leadership, Malone University, Canton, Ohio, USA

The objective of this paper is to examine how corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of foreign multinational

enterprises in China contribute to China’s national priorities, by discussing the relationships between CSR and the

building of a ‘harmonious society’in China. This paper is based on personal reflections, extensive literature review,

and 8 years of experiential field work in China by the author. Many CSR programs are found to superficially

complement China’s harmonious society policy. Only four exemplars out of 20 multinational enterprises surveyed

are committed to fostering green growth, improving livelihood, developing outwardly into the west, and promoting

a general integration of Chinese business into global markets through social innovations and collaborative projects.

The paper posits that it is possible to use CSR as a change agent in China when enlightened public concerns are

brought back to business operations through the involvement of non-government organizations, local government,

and local citizens and a greater degree of transparency of information. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

The Chinese leaders’aspiration of ‘building a

harmonious socialist society’(jianshe hexie shehui)

as a sustained process to resolve social disparities

in China was strongly advocated in the document,

Resolution on Major Issues of Building a Harmonious

Socialist Society, during the Sixteenth Central Com-

mittee of the Communist Party to China session on

11 October 2006 (CCCPC, 2006). A ‘harmonious

society’was defined by the previous Chinese presi-

dent Mr. Hu (2005) as a society ‘that is democratic

and ruled by law, fair and just, trustworthy and

fraternal, full of vitality, stable and orderly, and

maintains harmony between man and nature’.A

society with vitality is full of positive energy gener-

ated from the satisfaction of people in the commu-

nity. Within the recent 20 years of rapid economic

growth in China, rampant social contradictions,

protests, rural poverty, income inequality, environ-

mental degradations, and corruption have devel-

oped. The Chinese leaders are very sensitive to the

social disorder (i.e., luan) that has been shown to

throw away the lessons of many dynasties and

governments in the history of Chinese civilization.

All segments of society are called upon to share

responsibility to finance, monitor, and deliver social

services to build a modern and harmonious China

(World Bank, 2013). Since 2005, the business sector

has been recognized as a key sector to deliver better

social services through corporate social responsibil-

ity (CSR). Corporations that are able to foster a

harmonious society are recognized as responsible

corporate citizens in China. Their citizenship behav-

ior role can be compared with that of CSR or

sustainable behavior in the Western literature.

There is a close relationship between CSR and a

harmonious society in China. The most important

driver of the development of CSR in China is the

Chinese government (Lam, 2009; Zadek et al.,

2011). The Chinese government is interested in

establishing competitive business environments,

promoting social cohesion, and fostering collective

responsibility for the betterment of society through

business practices. Chinese policy makers have

encouraged more corporations to practice CSR in

China through the provision of a better institutional

environment and numerous environmental and

*Correspondence to: Maria Lai-Ling Lam, School of Business and

Leadership, Malone University, Canton,Ohio, USA.

E-mail: mlam@malone.edu

Journal of Public Affairs

Volume 14 Number 2 pp 105–115 (2014)

Published online 8 April 2014 in Wiley Online Library

(www.wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pa.1515

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.