Over Fifty Years of Corporate Social Responsibility in Management Decision: Review and Future Agenda

Abstract

This review contributes to the “Over a Half-Century of Management Decision (MD)” call, showing the impact that MD has had on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) research. We conducted a systematic literature review of 145 CSR articles published in MD from the ’70s to 2025. We focused on forward citations to shed light on how these articles impacted CSR research. Then, we thematically analyzed the articles using the Gioia method and detected influential backward citations to highlight MD contributions. The bibliometric analysis reveals influences on the CSR debate in high-ranked journals. The thematic analysis locates seven main branches of CSR research that MD contributed to. We present a framework outlining the theoretical advancements of MD in CSR research and propose directions for future studies. The work systematizes the MD CSR debate, preventing it from appearing unconnected and fragmented. The work prompts further investigation of the CSR concept in line with the journal’s aims.