Corporate Social Responsibility
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.
The purpose of this essay is to research the notion of CSR and uncover its true framework and outline what social responsibility truly means to corporate organisations, and whether it should be seriously considered to be a legitimate addition to the corporate framework of an organisation.
This will be done by
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However, nowadays CSR is simply defined as ?operating a business in a manner that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society demands of business? (Gillis & Spring 2001: 23).
Corporate citizenship is commonly defined as ?a company's management of its influences on and relationships with the rest of society? (Marsden 2000: 9). A recent study conducted by Hill and Knowlton found that 79% of Americans consider corporate citizenship when deciding to buy a particular company?s product, 36% of which considered corporate citizenship to be an important factor (Verschoor, 2001: 20). This shows us that by achieving good corporate citizenship, a company?s practices become transparent to the interested public and provide a basis for accountability for the future (Waddock, 2000: 324).
The stakeholder theory made popular by Ed Freeman (1984) does seem to represent a major advance over the classical view (Freeman, 1984). It might seem inappropriate to refer to the stakeholder position as neoclassical. Bowie (1991: 56-66) has defined stakeholders as a group whose existence was necessary for the survival of the firm--stockholders, employees, customers, suppliers, the local community, and managers themselves.
The framework of corporate social responsibility is such that it is relatively complex and multidimensional. A three-dimensional
In (Cohen, 2008), the author quotes (Drucker, 1946) in noting that “Every organization must assume full responsibility for its impact on its employees, the environment, customers, and whomever and whatever it touches”. According to (Cohen, 2008; Drucker, 1946), that is the very definition of social responsibility. There are many ambiguities surrounding the concept of social responsibility; everything from definition to terminology, even what actions constitute responsible behavior is unsettled (Vogel, 2005). For purposes of this paper we will use the term corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Businesses, specifically larger corporations, play a major role in what occurs in society therefore, they are responsible to their stakeholders not only to pursue economic goals but the greater social good as well. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) means that a corporation should act in a way that enhances society and its inhabitants and be held accountable for any of its actions that affect people, their communities, and their environment. (Lawrence, 2010). Social responsibility is becoming the norm so much so that some businesses have incorporated it into their business model. There are three components of the bottom line of social
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) emerged as a response to this new contexts and the necessity of companies to address effectively social pressures and prevent negative externalities, following a risk management perspective (Kramer and Kania 2006: 23-24; Carroll and Shabana 2010: 87-88).
The notion of Corporate Social Responsibility is a phenomenon globally known for many years. In spite of the fact that CSR has been neglected for quite a long time, nowadays several authors deal with this issue, as revealed by the development of theories in recent years concerning the topic. In spite of the fact that there has been a huge growth of literature it is still impossible to simply define CSR. Many definitions trying to capture the concept of CSR exist, but their content varies (Matten & Moon, 2008).
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept whereby organizations consider the wellbeing of the public by taking responsibility for the effect of their actions on all stakeholders; customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment in every aspect of their operations. This responsibility is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations willingly undertaking additional steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.
The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to the responsibilities that modern business organisations have to create a healthy and prosperous society.
Social responsibility is an idea that has been of concern to mankind for many years. Over the last two decades, however, it has become of increasing concern to the business world. This has resulted in growing interaction between governments, businesses and society as a whole. In the past, businesses primarily concerned themselves with the economic results of their decisions. Today, however, businesses must also reflect on the legal, ethical, moral and social consequences of their decisions. This paper will discuss the concept of corporate social responsibility. It will give the definition of the phrase, and identify some of the global factors that necessitate corporate social responsibility. It will discuss the importance of corporations setting up corporate social responsibility projects, and the impact these have on society, it will also highlight a business for its outstanding work when it comes it SCR. Social corporate responsibility and the maintenance of high ethical standards is not an option but an obligation for all business.
With the interest in Corporate Social Responsibility growing, increasing numbers of organisations are incorporating CSR into their business operations in an effort to be seen acting as good corporate citizens, so what is CSR & what is it's role in today's organizations?
CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility and it is a concept with many definitions and practices and also a buzzword in the media. In general, corporate social responsibility is the policies and programs of business corporations which tend to benefit society while improving a corporation’s public image and profitability at the same time. The meaning of it is implemented in different countries and companies differently.
There are now several concepts of CSR and its definition, along with the meaning across corporations. In my opinion, and according with our textbook in page 11. CSR is about a particular set of business and strategies that deal with social issues. In addition, we can clearly perceive that CSRs application along corporations has increase in the past decade due to the several local, and international regulations in order to enforce business to act responsible.
The (Commission, 2015) defines CSR as “companies taking responsibility for their impact on society”. It adds that CSR should be initiated by companies, with public authorities playing a supporting role through policy and regulation. Companies the commission would consider as socially responsible would have to comply with the law, integrate social, environmental, ethical, consumer and human rights concerns into their business and strategy operations. This recent definition of CSR covers most if not all of the angles of the different definitions and models of CSR put forth by writers in the CSR space. However as written by many authors, this is a dynamic field that continues to evolve (Carroll and Shabana, 2010, Geva, 2008, Carroll, 1999, Lee, 2008, Pirnea et al., 2011, Waddock, 2008). According to (Spector, 2008) its roots can be traced to the pre- World War II era (early years of the cold war), but for the sake of this paper we shall not go that far back. We
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been developed for decades and it has been conceptualized in a number of ways. The business only can get success if there is interaction between all stakeholders in the company. The business organization of any form whether it is small or large, are seen as a creation of society and their survival is only dependent on the society. Socially responsible firms view CSR as a source of competitive advantage by attracting a higher quality and quantity of job applicants (Fombrun and Shanley 1990; turban and greening 1996). CSR can be defined as that strategy which manages the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. CSR is a concept in which the company decides how to interact with its stakeholders on a voluntary basis involving social as well as environmental concern. According to kotler and lee (2005) CSR is “ an obligation undertaken in order to improve the welfare of the society through on demand business application and contribution of corporate resources”
Social responsibility is an idea that has been of concern to mankind for many years. Over the last two decades, however, it has become of increasing concern to the business world. This has resulted in growing interaction between governments, businesses and society as a whole. In the past, businesses primarily concerned themselves with the economic results of their decisions. “Today, however, businesses must also reflect on the legal, ethical, moral and social consequences of their decisions” (Anderson 15). This paper will discuss the concept of corporate social responsibility. It will give the definition of the phrase, and identify some of the global factors that necessitate corporate social responsibility. It will discuss the importance of corporations setting up corporate social responsibility projects, and the impact these have on society. Social corporate responsibility and the maintenance of high ethical standards is not an option but an obligation for all business.
The idea of a perfectly clear and all summative definition and concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a much deliberated and controversial one. So aged has been this deliberation that Votaw and Sethi (1973) depicted it as a brilliant term; which rightfully means something, but not always the same thing to everybody. The research of Marrewijk (2013, p.95) elaborated on the intensity of this unending debate among academics, consultants and corporate executives which results in creating, supporting and criticizing of different concepts. I believe corporate social responsibility are voluntary actions by establishments, enterprise or industries towards a specified region, individuals or society within its locality of operation that yields different forms of development or growth. Such actions usually have a positive effect on the enterprise.