[5] The exception to this might be the UK’s Co-operative Group, which describes its business as guided by a social mission and is not responsible to shareholders for delivering profit.
[8] CSE was initially described in 2002 in a theoretical working paper published in the Hull University Business School Research Memoranda Series.
[9] The paper argued that personal values could also motivate CSR (and sustainability), along with more apparent economic and macro-political drivers.
The term "corporate social entrepreneur" was first used in a paper presented during the 17th Annual European Business Ethics Network Conference held in June 2004.
[3] The notion was also inspired by Wood, who had previously referred to "Ethical training, cultural background, preferences…and life experiences…that motivate human behavior".
[14][23][24] Alternatively, a deontological viewpoint frames acts of socially responsible behavior as driven by the individual's sense of duty to society, which may be viewed in terms of altruism.
[28] Consequently, the notion of the corporate social entrepreneur is controversial due to arguments about the role of business and whether or not CSR helps financial performance, and because the concept of employee discretion has been considered a key factor in moral character (in the ancient philosophical sense).
[30] Individuals closely related between the financial objectives of a company and public well-being sometimes referred to as Social Intraprenuers.
[33] The value system that is employed within an organization plays a large role in the emergence of corporate social entrepreneurs.