An Inquiry to Consider CSR in Integrated Management Systems

Although there is an unprecedented need to make the activities of companies more sustainable, many companies still face difficulties in managing sustainability. The paper proposes an integrated management systems approach based on the assumption that is consideration of external requirements such as CSR better succeeds when linked to existing management systems. The main issues addressed in this paper are: the suitability of the high level structure for the integration of CSR aspects and a four-step model that may provide guidance how to integrated CSR. The paper is more theoretical and conceptual rather than an empirical study. It is targeted to an audience of practitioners and SME managers and builds on an extensive literature survey and own experience from hands-on integration projects and consulting to SME.