As said by Elkington (1997), sustainability is regarded as following the “Triple Bottom Line” (environmental, economic, and social). This represents the idea that businesses do not have to focus on one single goal pertaining to adding economic value, but it is expected to meet the extended goal set of adding social and environmental value too.
According to Davis (1973), social responsibility refers to the obligation on decision makers to implement actions that protect and improve the society’s welfare as a whole, along with their own interests. Thus, this rationale suggests two active aspects of protection and improvement of social responsibility. Protection of the welfare of society calls for avoidance of negative impacts on the society. Improvement of the welfare of society calls for the creation of positive benefits to the society. Accordingly, the concerns to be addressed include corporate governance (which is related to top-level decision-making), risk management, accountability, and the remuneration of executives; treatment of employees in a fair manner, environmental management and the concept of sustainability; operating ethically in the marketplace, in dealings with suppliers and customers; along with ethical investment and social reporting.
As per the tenets of corporate social responsibility, the company must consider its acts in context of the whole social system. It would be held responsible for the consequences of its acts anywhere in the system. Thus, corporations must take social responsibilities for the self-interest. Corporations which are socially responsible are rewarded with a good brand image and extra customers. Similarly, if they are irresponsible, they may be confronted with decreased sales and customer boycotts. In several cases, employees are attracted to work for corporations which are perceived as being socially responsible.
埃尔金顿（1997年），可持续发展被视为“三重底线”（环境，经济和社会）。这代表企业的想法，没有集中在一个单一的目标，有关创造经济价值，但预计增加社会和环境价值，以满足扩展的目标集合。
据戴维斯（1973年），社会责任是指决策者采取行动，保护和改善社会的福利作为一个整体，并与自己的利益的义务。因此，这个理念提出了两个积极承担社会责任方面的保护和改善。社会福利的保护要求，避免对社会的负面影响。改善社会福利的要求为社会创造正面效益。因此，关注包括：（这是关系到顶层决策）企业管治，风险管理，问责和管理人员的薪酬;员工待遇以公平的方式，环境管理和可持续发展的概念;在市场经营道德上，在与供应商和客户打交道以及道德规范，投资和社会报告。
根据企业社会责任的原则，公司必须考虑其行为背景下，整个社会系统。这将是在系统中的任何地方，其行为造成的后果负责。因此，企业必须承担社会责任，为自身的利益。这是对社会负责的企业获得良好的品牌形象和额外的客户。同样，如果他们是不负责任的，他们可能会面临下降的销售和客户的抵制。在一些情况下，被认为是对社会负责的公司员工被吸引到工作。
