Back to the future? A theoretically inspired musing on the concept of Product Stewardship and its implications for Corporate and Social Responsibility

Abstract

The concept of corporate and social responsibility (CSR) has gained increasing momentum and importance in business operations today and companies have globally responded to this philosophy. To what end though? Product Stewardship (PS) and the corporate, social and environmental responsibilities associated within this term are a key part of a business’s CSR agenda. In the extant literature, it is a challenge to clearly identify the boundaries of responsibility for PS - who sets these boundaries for governance and what are the actions taken under the guise of PS. This paper aims to start the process of demystification in responding to the title of this work, stimulate further musings and outline a future research agenda.