BEST ARTICLE AWARD 2019

CSR Needs CPR: Corporate Sustainability and Politics

We are pleased to announce that "CSR Needs CPR: Corporate Sustainability and Politics" by Thomas P. Lyon, Magali A. Delmas, John W. Maxwell, Pratima (Tima) Bansal, Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, Patricia Crifo, Rodolphe Durand, Jean-Pascal Gond, Andrew King, Michael Lenox, Michael Toffel, David Vogel, and Frank Wijen is the winner of the 2019 Best Article Award.

Each year, California Management Review recognizes the article published during the preceding year that has made the most important contribution to management practice. This article was selected as a finalist based on its performance and distribution, and the final selection was made by members of the California Management Review Editorial Board and International Advisory Board in April 2019.

This article draws on research in the field of corporate social responsibility, and suggests that, for proper assessment, firms must be held accountable for their political actions (like lobbying and campaign funding) which could have an even greater impact on their environmental performance. To enable these types of assessments, firms must become as transparent about their corporate political responsibility (CPR) as their corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Core Concepts

Corporate Political Responsibility (CPR)
Of the Fortune 500 companies, 80% now issue sustainability reports, and interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been growing. But CSR is not enough. Today's companies must learn to operate transparently in the political arena.