Leading Community Businesses And Governments Admit Corporate Social Responsibility

In this review, the primary subject is the ‘business case’ for corporate social responsibility (CSR). The business

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.

The benefit to business of good Corporate Social Responsibility is difficult to quantify as it varies depending on the nature of the enterprise. Some scholars believe that there is a business justification for CSR. That is, what is good for the environment and society will be good for company profitability. And studies have shown a slightly positive correlation between CSR and financial gain (Steiner and Steiner, 2006). However, as Freidmanism claims, the first responsibility of business is to make enough profit to cover the costs for the future. If this social responsibility is not met, no other responsibilities can be (Hargreaves, 2006). Therefore it is critical that CSR activities are included in strategy formulation and that the level of resources devoted to CSR is determined like any other strategy – through cost/benefit analysis. Corporations will not throw money away…they need to see it

Globally, government authorities are also moving towards the enforcement involving particular aspects of corporate social responsibility, especially in regards to the protection of the environment (Herman 2010). Inside the business model of an enterprise, direct advantages of CSR activities usually are enhancements in the determination of employees and learning processes which often improve the skill level and efficiency of employees. Simultaneously, CSR tends to make a corporation more attractive and as a consequence attracts a large number of highly qualified applicants to that corporation. This particular raises the average skill level of employees. The work efficiency of the employees, improved communication, enhanced eco-friendly strategies and enhanced interaction with suppliers, the overall operational effectiveness boosts when CSR is implied to a certain business design. These positive direct internal effects subsequently result in fundamental cost savings such as recruitment costs, company 's turnover , taxes and all other costs(Baines 2015).

Corporate social responsibility(CSR) isn 't a new concern. CSR is usually a managing strategy where organizations integrate sociable and environment concerns into their enterprise surgical procedures and relationships with their stakeholders. The necessity for established social responsibilities in addition to ethical frameworks in business has become a key top priority within our existing modern society. This attitude is supported by the fact that the number of probably the most well-known global companies have been integrating corporate social responsibility (CSR) plans into their organization operations has never been greater. Various enterprises have been working on how social responsibility can bring benefits for business ? What aspects of CSR behavior are good for business ? what are costs related to such initiatives ? A variety of different arguments have been put forward about this issue. This essay will consider arguments for what reasons implementation of corporate social responsibility initiatives provides various benefits to organizations and these benefits outweigh the costs of such initiatives.

However, today not only is CSR thought of as a business’s self-preservation for future survival, but also one’s duty to be socially responsible to the earth and people. As defined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, "Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the community and society at large" (1990). Although CSR is not a mandatory policy among business, many managers are adopting practices to increase profits though reputation, brand, identity and status (Ilona and Ruta 2012). Unfortunately, CSR is not widely implemented within business approach, and the demise is communications of these polies internally and externally is low, thus resulting in less effective outcomes. If management could find a way to integrate CSR into a structured strategy with polices, and concise direction and guidance, CSR aspects could be pursued and achieved on a day-to-day basis. Many workers feel confused that no such strategies exist

According to The World Business Council for Social Development, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the continuing commitment by businesses or organizations to behave ethically and contribute to sustainable development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. Moreover, CSR and the need for the design and implementation of a policy has spread geographically from its original US setting (Bowen, 1953) to become a global concept (Matten & Crane, 2005; Scherer & Palazzo, 2007),

Consequently, “in a world where power has shifted from the public to the private sector, the expectations which society has in relation to the environmental, social, and ethical responsibilities of companies have risen”. CSR has quickly moved from a domain typically associated with anti-corporate non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and activist campaigners into a mainstream business issue which is now “a critical determinant of trust in companies”. With this development, CSR itself (also referred to as corporate citizenship) has naturally taken on a number of different meanings. Although these definitions are similar, when attempting to identify the essential components of a successful programme for improving corporate social responsibility it is important to explore the similarities and differences among the definitions used. To that end, some of the more common and generally accepted definitions of CSR are as follows:

Corporate Social Responsibility can be defined as a company’s responsibility to ensure ethical business behavior, contribution to the economic development of a country, improve the lifestyle of its own workforce and their family members, betterment of local community and overall society. It is some small amount of cost done by the company which effect can’t be seen in the present but in long term it promotes positive image for the company. Successful CSR program can take a company beyond government regulation and legislation. It is a sustainable program which a company can easily run with its other activities. It mainly defines areas of concerns and initiatives which can improve the relationship of customers, shareholders, suppliers, competitors and other stakeholders with the company.CSR helps to achieve organization’s objectives and guide a company toward what the company stands for and how it satisfy its consumers. CSR can also define in three words that are People, Planet and Profit. People represent fair labor practice and betterment of the community where it operates. Planet represent environment friendly business practice and last of all Profit refers to organization’s economic value created after deduction of all the costs from the revenue including capital costs. Now a day CSR is regarded as a tool for building brand equity through customer loyalty based on distinctive ethical values. CSR is also criticized by some critics. According to their

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a concept that has been around for well over 50 years, has become prominent again recently. Peter Utting (2005) notes that an increasing number of transnational corporations (TNCs) and large domestic companies, supported by business and industry associations, are adopting a variety of so-called voluntary CSR initiatives that incorporate, for example, ‘codes of conduct; measures to improve environmental management systems and occupational health and safety; company ‘triple bottom line’ reporting on financial, social, and environmental aspects; participation in certification and labeling schemes; dialogue with stakeholders and partnerships with NGOs and UN agencies; and increased support for community development projects and programes’. The revival of CSR is reflected also in its recent prominence in public debate. CSR has also generated a very extensive literature in recent times. For example, a search on Google Scholar for the phrase ‘corporate social responsibility’ produced 12,500 citations. A more general search of the internet on Google for the phrase ‘corporate social responsibility’ produced 12,900,000 results. A general search for the phrase ‘corporate social responsibility’ on Australian sites produced 97,800 hits. This research paper is a conceptual paper regarding CSR consists the introduction, historical background of CSR, arguments

CSR is majorly working in a sustainable proximity of optimal utilization of resources furthermore progressing towards societal development and the protection of environment. CSR has become an indispensable part of growth for companies all over the world. It aims to incorporate a self-regulatory mechanism wherein a business monitors and ensures its assent with the spirit of law, ethics and international norms. However for many organizations today corporate social responsibility is much more than just following the above mentioned practices, they believe in growing with the people and have set standards and goals in order to realise their notions of societal development. CSR helps an organization in many ways by building good reputation in the market; encourage a positive impact on the stakeholders both internal and external and also proves to be an aid to recruitment and retention particularly with such competitive world market.

Many social scientists and economists like Friedman (1917 NYT article); Visser (2010) and Karnani (2011) have been looking at the arguments for and against ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’. There are many different definitions of CSR but the idea behind it is that businesses contribute to the well being of society, as well as sustainable development by delivering environmental, economic and social benefits to society, not just economic benefits to the shareholders.

Long before H.R Bowen, in his book ‘Social Responsibilities of the Businessman’ propounded Corporate Social Responsibility as a desirable directive for prosperous companies; it has been long practised as a mode of charity and philanthropy as advocated by various religious and family values. The concept of CSR since then have been intricately connected with the values of good governance which aims to usher a socially inclusive positive society which focuses on addressing cultural impediments, social issues and environmental sustainability. As proposed by the United Nations Environment Programme, companies should be ethically responsible and should strive

This essay will evaluate the relationship between Corporate Strategy, Corporate Social Responsibility and will give some examples in order to give an idea to companies why they should engage in CSR and the consequences of engaging on it. It has been told that engaging on Corporate Social Responsibility is a cost, but recently has been demonstrated that if it is well managed the money that you put on CSR implementation can be taken into account as an investment. Companies engage in CSR not only because moral questions, it has been demonstrated that CSR is a door to an increase in the reputation of the company. In the long term companies realize that customers really appreciate the engagement of the company to social or environmental activities. Managers nowadays realize on how the consumers mind are changing towards a more responsible consumption and how these consumers look for information on how the products they consume have been produced. So these managers in order to increase in a long term base the good reputation of the company are investing nowadays on changing their strategy and trying all the company to engage in responsible practices. As explained in more detail in this paper the consequences of engaging in CSR are worth more than the cost of changing the company’ strategy. Some of them are the increase of consumer loyalty, investor attractiveness, political stability and economic benefits.

‘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,