Corporate Social Responsibility ( Csr ) Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a very controversial topic. A question that has been debated for the past few decades is; is it corporately viable to introduce social responsibility as a proposed addition to the work ethic of business organisations. As well as, if adopting the framework of corporate social responsibility would yield positive improvements for those organisations.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is something that affects all companies and should be an active factor in the company’s decision making. It is something all corporations need to care about. CSR is when business’ or corporations take part in an initiative or campaign for a cause that will benefit society and/or in some way make the world a better place (Taylor, 2015). Initially, Corporate Social Responsibility started to take shape around the 1950’s, but some say that it dates all the way back to the 1800s, the idea of CSR was seen (Carroll, 2007). One may think that because it is dated so long ago, it doesn’t have an important impact today nevertheless, it is proven that Corporate Social Responsibility is a pathway for entities to self benefit as they are in the process of benefitting society.

Corporate social responsibility according to Henderson (2001) can be defined as the commitment of organizations to help society by improving working and living conditions of employees, their families, and the community as a whole.

After investigating the current situation, I found that the poor working conditions and underpayment reduce loyalty and employees’ satisfaction, employees feeling pressure with high workload and poor working conditions, substandard waste disposal methods caused the pollution which resulted in damage the image of Brico Devices’. There is a need to create an audit system for reporting our performance. This corporate social responsibility (CSR) report will contribute to improve Brico Devices’ social reputation and increase employees’ satisfaction.

The Warehouse Group Ltd is a typical half-hearted company that does not do what it preaches in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility. From the Warehouse Annual Report and Social and Environment Report 2009, I found that the company is not only focusing on its financial performance, but also on social and environmental external effects. A critical analysis of this reporting practice suggests that the Warehouse is not truly responsible socially and environmentally but more a public relation exercise of the company.

Last spring, I worked for Special Olympics New York as an office volunteer, assisting with the preparation of the incoming Game and recording volunteer information. When examining the sign-up information for volunteers, I found it impressive, seeing numerous private company groups in the New York State register as volunteer groups and some of them had done such work for many years. When talking about the reasons for their actions, many companies considered that their volunteer behaviors would not only build employee solidarity but also demonstrate their care about disabled groups. This realization stimulated my interests in the corporate volunteerism, the idea of social corporate responsibility, and the often ongoing relationships between for-profit corporations and non-profit organizations. Building on this experience, I decided to examine this topic as a senior thesis for my sociology major thesis project. This project is expected to last for six months and recently, I have already begun a preliminary literature review by reviewing previous academic research in corporate social responsibility. In my thesis, I primarily focus on questions like how do firms and nonprofits collaborate and maintain social networks for mutual benefit, why is corporate social responsibility an important mission for private companies, as well as how does it influence a company’s financial performance, employee selection and performance, and corporate reputation.

Leading community businesses and governments admit Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as an official policy objective. Those companies who apply CSR are able to maintain sustainable progress. This development covers social, economic and environmental influence in how they run (Clegg, 2011, p. 216). Three areas are the bases of the triple bottom line (TBL) approach (Elkington, 1994). CSR itself has various meaning but in more simple way it can be defined as firms’ obligation to act ethically and to facilitate elaboration. Thereby they try to make employees’ life better and likewise help to demonstrate a positive impact on local society. Therefore businesses are responsible for two factors of how they operate. Firstly, they should be concerned about the quality of management including people and operations. Secondly, they have to consider the character and amount of their effect on community in different fields. External stakeholders take a huge concern on how an organisation acts whether they perform well in their products, services, and society or not. Moreover they take an interest in how they care towards the workforce (Baker, 2004). The following paper demonstrates the major reasons of why businesses should take CSR seriously and what advantages does CSR have when they use it. First aspect will be related to reputation and brand image. Then it will be followed by strategy of cost reduction. Third aspect will explain the approaches to gain a competitive

Chapter 3: Define corporate responsibility (CSR). Describe the benefits. Why do some executives support CSR while others find it troublesome and argue against it?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in its most simple of terms is a vision. More specifically, it is a vision that in a way almost minimizes what may be better for a company’s shareholders and investors, and increases its focus on things including the environment, its employees, its role in benefiting the surrounding communities and society, and more importantly making sure that we can continue to grow, thrive, and be self-sustaining. In short, it is a business model that puts an emphasis on the future over its profits. CSR comes from an evolving view that current and future generations deem it unacceptable for businesses and corporations to conduct business under a blanket of secrecy. All the written, and unwritten laws concerning competition as well as sustainability are being rewritten.

“Corporations today are under a microscope. Virtually every aspect of operations is subject to scrutiny by consumers.” According to Ogilvy, If CSR issues are managed well, there will be opportunities for a company to build its reputation and differentiate itself. In today’s society, what you stand for as an organization matters way more than what you produce, sell or what services you provide.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is about how businesses align their values and behavior with the expectations and needs of stakeholders - not just customers and investors, but also employees, suppliers, communities, regulators, special interest groups and society as a whole. CSR describes a company's commitment to be accountable to its stakeholders.

Organizations realize that it is important to attract highly skilled and qualified employees, because these employees are a necessary component of the competitive advantage that organizations want to achieve (Greening & Turban, 2000). Corporate Social Responsible actions of an organization can be a manner to attract highly skilled and qualified employees, because prior research assumes that organization’s CSR activities comprise a legitimate and compelling way to attract them (Bhattacharya et al., 2008).

The above discussion has shown the importance of corporate social responsibility for a company. There are many challenges which multinational firms face while fulfilling their corporate social responsibilities especially in developing countries. Griffin and Pustay (2007) assert that CSR requires engagement with internal and external stakeholders so it enables enterprises to anticipate better and take advantage of fast-changing expectations in society as well as operating conditions. This means it can also act as a driver for the development of new markets and create real opportunities for growth (Van Tulder and Kolk 2001).

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‘Corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) means that the firm has wider responsibilities in relation to objectives and people apart from the owners or shareholders (Beal and Goyen 2005). These responsibilities are achieved when the firm adapts all of its practices to ensure that it operates in ways that meet, or exceed, the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. Objectives often associated with CSR include a responsibility to manage natural assets sustainably and not to pollute by chemical discharge, smell, noise, dust or other irritants; fair treatment of employees and ethical attitude towards clients. The other people include employees, customers, suppliers,