Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility: Public Value and the Business of Politics

Abstract

Recent accounts of the changing role of business have identified a shift from corporate social responsibility to
specifically political roles. This paper examines the relevance of Mark Moore’s theory of Public Value (1995) as
a decision-making framework for these new roles. After providing an account of the original theory, we explore
how it can be deployed as a prescriptive tool based upon Moore’s (1995) account of public goods, virtue ethics
and an account of civic virtue we derive from the theory. The discussion invites critical reflection upon the
changing roles of business, specifically the distinction between public and private organisations.