Abstract
Debates surrounding the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) suggest organizations need to pursue the objectives of a variety of stakeholders and human resource management (HRM), with its pluralist ideological underpinnings, is well-positioned to help in this endeavour. The dilemma for human resource (HR) practitioners is how best can engagement with the CSR agenda be achieved? This study addresses this question by drawing on data obtained through a systematic review of the literature (SRL). In doing so key roles undertaken by the HRM function as it works towards developing sustainable organizations are identified and the challenges that arise from the pursuit of divergent organizational goals are highlighted. This review concludes by first providing some sage advice to practitioners about how to navigate these contradictory objectives so that they can meaningfully impact on CSR efforts and second, by suggesting some directions for future research.