Corporate social responsibility in the wake of the Asian tsunami: Effect of time on the genuineness of CSR initiatives

SummaryThis paper reports the findings of a study examining the influences if any, passage of time has on the three attributes of organizational virtuousness; human impact, moral goodness and unconditionality of social benefit. Interview data collected at 11 and 35 months after the Boxing Day Asian tsunami reveal how two leading Sri Lankan private sector organizations, Unilever (Sri Lanka) and Brandix engaged in corporate social responsibility initiatives. This paper explains how genuine intentions of engaging in CSR activities could generate outcomes such as enhanced reputation that improve the profitability of the firms, and consequently, how these are likely to raise doubts about the moral intent of the tsunami related CSR initiatives. This paper concludes by discussing implications and areas for further research.