Adoption of social responsibility through the expansion of existing management systems

Purpose – The paper's aims are: to scrutinize International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26000 international guidance standard for social responsibility; to discuss the role of this standard in the adoption of social responsibility in organisations with existing quality management systems in line with ISO 9000. Design/methodology/approach – Building on academic literature and recent resolutions and working documents from ISO, the paper discusses ISO 9000 and ISO 26000 in five areas: general description; scope; approach to supply chain management; principles and content. Findings – Provides a comparison between ISO 9000 and ISO 26000 in each area listed above. Argues for ISO 9000 to provide a structural and infrastructural platform for organisations to develop and adopt corporate social responsibility (CSR) and for ISO 26000 to facilitate a shift from customer focus to stakeholder focus hence creating a business‐to‐society orientation in organisations. Practical implications – A very useful source for those who work in the arena of CSR and those wanting to stay at the cutting edge of the latest developments in CSR and international standardization. Advocates an approach for managers to utilize ISO 26000 to review strategy and management systems in organisations. Originality/value – Provides an analysis of future trends in CSR and ISO standards. Sets areas for future research.