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I remember reading, some time ago, a short story by Lord Dunsany. It was about a rather improbable young man invited to hear the first performance of a setting of a modern poem (incomprehensible, of course!) who mistook the tinkering of the piano tuner for the real performance. All very funny, no doubt, and only about twenty‐odd years out of date!

This chapter discusses the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the context of the container liner shipping industry. It looks at the current practice of CSR in this industry and outlines the framework, the reasons and the drivers for companies to adopt and implement a CSR strategy. These include, among others, the increasing commitment to fostering CSR in the private sector at EU level, the changing expectations of customers — that is shippers — with regard to social and environmental standards of their contractors and suppliers, and the improving situation with regards to guidance and tools for adopting CSR and identifying and implementing the relevant measures (e.g. ISO 26000 and the European Commission's communication on CSR). The authors take the position that in an industry, which is as strongly consolidated as container liner shipping, the adoption and implementation of effective CSR strategies by a few companies at the top can have a profound impact on the industry as a whole. The Japanese NYK Group's CSR strategy is discussed in more detail to illustrate one of the best — if by no means perfect — examples in the current market. The chapter closes with a sector-specific definition of CSR for the container shipping industry.

Corporate social responsibility is one of the earliest and key conceptions in the academic study of business and society relations. This article examines the future of corporate social responsibility. Bowen's (1953) key question concerned whether the interests of business and society merge in the long ran. That question is assessed in the present and future contexts. There seem to be distinctly anti‐responsibility trends in recent academic literature and managerial views concerning best practices. These trends raise significant doubts about the future status of corporate social responsibility theory and practice. The vital change is that a leitmotif of wealth creation progressively dominates the managerial conception of responsibility. The article provides a developmental history of the corporate social responsibility notion from the Progressive Era forward to the corporate social performance framework and Carroll's pyramid of corporate social responsibilities. There are three emerging alternatives or competitors to responsibility: (1) an economic conception of responsibility; (2) global corporate citizenship; and (3) stakeholder management practices. The article examines and assesses each alternative. The article then assesses the prospects for business responsibility in a global context. Two fundamentals of social responsibility remain: (1) the prevailing psychology of the manager; and (2) the normative framework for addressing how that psychology should be shaped. Implications for practice and scholarship are considered.

THE first of the Islington Public Libraries, opened on September 21st, has proved a phenomenal success, and, at the same time, has thrown an interesting light on several modern theories in librarianship. It is, as our readers know, the fust of a system of five libraries, towards the erection of which Dr. Carnegie has given £40,000. The building itself is, as many librarians had an opportunity of judging at the “private view” described in our last number, of an exceedingly well‐lighted and attractive character. The arrangement and accommodation provided present several novel features. On the ground floor, opening from the Central Hall, is the Children's Lending Library and Reading Room. This is stocked with about 3,000 volumes for lending purposes, including French and German juvenile literature, and the reading room portion has seating accommodation for about a hundred children. A representative selection of children's magazines are displayed here, and there are special study‐tables for girls and boys equipped with suitable reference collections. A feature of this room is a striking dado of pictures illustrating scenes from English history, which goes far to make the room interesting and attractive.

The Lending Division of the British Library continues to assemble at Boston Spa as comprehensive a collection as possible of the world's worthwhile serial literature in all languages and subject fields. Its current holdings are listed in its annual directory Current Serials Received. For the last few years there has been a remarkably uniform net increase of 4% in the number of titles received, and in August 1978 the total exceeded 50,000 for the first time. The graph (Figure 1) shows how the collection of current serials has grown over the years. The relatively steep parts of the curve around 1967 and 1972 are the result of a broadening of the library's scope to include firstly social science and secondly humanities. 37% of the titles come from just two countries — the USA (20.3%) and GB (16.8%). Only two other countries, Germany (8.3%) and the USSR (6.4%), are responsible for more than 5%. The complete breakdown is shown in the following table.

In our last number we presented an article by Mr. J. C. Harrison of the Manchester School of Librarianship on “The Library Schools and a Historical Dilemma” in which professional education and examination policy were reviewed. The following comments are to hand on the article.

Argues that stakeholder theory may be an appropriate model to describe firm behavior and replace the dominant paradigm, the economic model of the firm. However, current conceptualizations of stakeholder theory do not meet the requirements of scientific theory. Thus, looks at the historic roots of stakeholder “theory”, critiques its current form, and suggests steps that may be taken for stakeholder theory to satisfy the conceptual requirements of theory. Specifically suggests that contractual interests may underlie stakeholder relationships just as they do the agency relationship between managers and stockholders as prescribed by traditional economic theory.

POLITICIANS preach it, businessmen contemplate it and pundits spend much of their time trying to identify it.

INDUSTRY'S managers have been criticised for being amateurish; of continuing to place reliance on the old‐boy network instead of adopting the meritocratic approach of their US and European counterparts.

New facilities at Hoechst UK's northern headquarters of Holywell Green were officially opened by Donald Thompson MP on May 19, marking the completion of a major phase in a long‐term programme of reconstruction and redevelopment.