Working with values: an alternative approach to win-win

In this paper we offer an alternative perspective on the business case for why organisations should embrace the arguments for corporate social responsibility (CSR). In particular we look at the ‘win-win’ scenario often posited by both internal and external agencies where it is not only the business who wins by adopting a CSR agenda but also the environment, ‘save money – save the planet’. Using a case study of a group of SME managers belonging to a Green Business Network in the UK, we offer a different approach to relying on the traditional win-win scenario that assumes businesses and managers are motivated largely by financial gain. Instead, we show how a series of workshops were used based on Schwartz’s value system with the aim of helping the managers to, firstly understand their own values and motivations toward CSR and, secondly, how they could translate this to better understand the values of their own managers and colleagues with regard to embedding CSR practice. The aim of the paper is to highlight the value of taking a perspective on CSR at the individual level as well as offering a tool that managers could use in their own practice.