**4. CSR: a moral obligation**

Focusing on CSR from a moral viewpoint implies that managers have a duty/ obligation towards their stakeholders to act in a responsibly way. The moral duty to be socially responsible can be derived from religious or ethical principles of a moral philosophy. According to Kant's moral philosophy, these actions must be driven by a sense of duty to be morally valuable. To further discuss the CSR's moral perspective, it is imperative to explore the Kantian moral philosophy.

#### **4.1 CSR according to Kant's moral philosophy**

Morally speaking, CSR is an act of reciprocity according to which the firm has duty/obligation towards its stakeholders. Kant considers duty or doing what is right for its own sake as the foundation of morality. He argues that only actions that emanate from a sense of duty can be considered as having a moral worth. According to the Kantian moral philosophy, moral criteria are categorical imperatives. They are also unconditional, absolute and irrespective in consequences [38].

As a result, moral actions do not have to be justified by any reasons or theirs consequences except for their own sake. So, firms should simply show societal concerns because it is just the right thing to do and not because they would like to enhance their business fortunes or reputation. According to Kant, every human being has moral rights and everyone should be well treated and have the correlative duty to treat others in a good way.

Consequently, the responsibility to engage in CSR may lose its moral value if it is achieved because it brings beneficial returns or because society or governments require it. It must be driven by the sense of duty and must not be imposed by orders or legislations. Thus, enforcing CSR would be considered immoral since it would violate the moral rights of the decision maker to freely choose whether to consider societal issues and solve society's problems or not. Kant pinpoints the freedom of human beings and considers that everyone's existence as a rational and free person should be promoted. He defends the idea according to which humanity should be treated as an end and not as a means. Therefore, enforcing CSR may lead to its manipulation to achieve economic goals and self-interest motives and, consequently, CSR would shift from morality to immorality.

However, Kant's moral philosophy is criticized for being narrow and inadequate to deal with different issues morally [39]. According to Kant being ethical is following a set of absolute moral rules without alternatives for exceptions, neglecting moral emotions like sympathy.

#### **4.2 Moral CSR**

As a moral duty, CSR should be accepted as an ethical obligation rather than any other consideration. This perspective is based on values that highlight the right thing to do or the obligation to create a good society. Therefore, the intrinsic motives enhance the CSR behavior as long as managers perceive CSR as a moral duty they should fulfill [40].

Besides the economic and legal responsibilities established by Caroll 1979, firms have an ethical responsibility by doing what is moral, just and fair and philanthropic to benefit society by voluntary, educational, social and cultural projects. However, managers do not carefully consider the consequences of an action before taking decisions (whether it is good or not); rather, their values, gut feelings and affective reactions are also involved to shape their moral judgments [41].

Moral psychologists have focused on the role of reasoning (cognition) when facing social dilemmas [42]. In fact, managers' responses to moral and ethical issues depend on their individual characteristics in interpreting and dealing with societal problems whenever cognition is involved. Kohlgerb [42] considers reasoning as the principle foundation of a moral judgment. When investigating social behavior, Crilly et al. [43] explore four types of reasoning drawing on Kohlberg's [42] and Carroll's [3] studies such as: economic, legal, moral and reputation-based reasoning.

However, moral reasoning differs from other forms of reasoning since it is guided by moral rules and knowledge that have been stored in the memory as moral schemas [44]. Prior research highlights that moral reasoning influences significantly ethical decisions [45] and decreases cheating [46]. A study conducted by Crilly et al. [43] reveals a positive and significant association between CSR behavior and moral reasoning. In fact, managers who respect moral rules and ethical principles are more likely to act in a responsible way. A moral decision is a response to a moral dilemma according to which a response choice is required for a situation to which moral rules are attached [44]. Furthermore, Jones [47] argue that an ethical decision emanates from an emotional component that is essential to admit a moral issue. Moral decisions are stimulated by moral affect including shame and sympathy [43].
