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BUS 308: Ethical Issues in Business : CSR Research

A guide to help students navigate library resources for their assignment.

What is Corporate Social Responsibility? 

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) or corporate social impact is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in, with, or supporting professional service volunteering through pro bono programs, community development, administering monetary grants to non-profit organizations for the public benefit, or to conduct ethically oriented business and investment practices. 

Librarian

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Morgan Stansell
Contact:
706-233-2938
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Gather Background Information 

Stumped on finding a topic? Ask ChatGPT or use Google to discover important ideas that can help you narrow down your topic. Remember that ChatGPT and other AI tools should be used as a tool to gather general information on a topic rather than using it to identify specific source material or asking it to do research assignments for you due to potential inaccuracy, bias, diversity of sources, and academic integrity concerns. 

Ask ChatGPT: "what are some different types of issues related to corporate social responsibility?"

Keywords and Subject Terms

  • corporate social responsibility or corporate social impact
  • environmental sustainability, green business
  • ethical labor practices, fair wages, safe working conditions
  • human rights, non-discrimination, community engagement, indigenous rights
  • product responsibility, safety, transparency
  • philanthropy, charity, community 
  • diversity and inclusion, equitable opportunities 
  • consumer protection, honest advertising, privacy 
  • ethical sourcing, conflict minerals, conflict zones
  • economic impact, fair trade

Start Searching 

Use keywords to search in various databases depending on the information you need! 

            TIP: use the term "social responsibility of business" and change the drop-down menu to read SU Subject Terms

            Enter additional keywords into the second box (company, product, industry, person) and press Search

            View the results and filter them using the options on the left

  • ABI/INFORM Collection includes international coverage and provides researchers a complete picture of companies and business trends around the world. 

            TIP: look for company-specific results by using ti(company name) and adding in a keyword related to your topic 

  • Google Scholar is a freely available research database from a variety of publishers, universities, and repositories.   

            TIP: Go into My Settings in Google Scholar to add Berry College Memorial Library to the Library Links option, which will prompt Google Scholar to search the library's catalog for availability through your local library.