Palm Oil Corporate Social Responsibility

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

or so many years our society has been thinking of forming new creative and innovative businesses, which would be more environmental and customer friendly. Nowadays a large number of different companies follow the social, ethical, as well as moral consequences when it comes to their decision making. One of the relatively new concepts involving economic and social concerns is Corporate Social Responsibility. Many of us apply this approach not only at work, but also in everyday life without even recognizing.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become the corporate buzzword. There are as many perspectives on CSR as are multitude of companies, thinkers and experts. It has evolved majorly over the last few decades in a big way and opinions vary on what CSR actually means and what it doesn’t. At a general level it is seen to include the responsibilities of firms beyond simply contributing to economic growth, and focuses on environmental and societal concerns. As a result of the increased attention around this concept, a variety of tools and guidelines to help companies implement and report on CSR activities have been

Corporate social responsibility has been one the key business buzz words of the 21st century. Consumers' discontent with the corporation has forced it to try and rectify its negative image by associating its name with good deeds. Social responsibility has become one of the corporation's most pressing issues, each company striving to outdo the next with its philanthropic image. People feel that the corporation has done great harm to both the environment and to society and that with all of its wealth and power, it should be leading the fight to save the Earth, to combat poverty and illness and etc. "Corporations are now expected to deliver the good, not just the goods; to pursue

References: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4679-corporate-social-responsibility.html By Nicole Fallon, Business News Daily Assistant Editor June 19, 2015, 10:12 am EST See more @: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4679-corporate-social-responsibility.html#sthash.WryFEojn.dpuf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility This page was last modified on 24 July 2015, at

7.8 million hectares of palm oil plantation existed in Indonesia in 2011 and 6.1 million of the plants were harvested. (Anon., n.d.) That means 6.1 million trees were cut down and 24.4 tonnes of palm oil were produced. In Malaysia 4.49 million hectares of palm oil was cultivated resulting in 17.73 million tonnes of palm oil. (Anon., 2013) This mass production reverberates in more products containing palm oil. However, the choice to utilise this supply as well as the generation of this demand stems from businesses such as Kraft, Clorox, Domino’s, Wendy’s and PepsiCo which have all been discovered to have large ecological footprints. (Butler, 2015) PepsiCo incorporates 427,500 tonnes of palm oil per year in product lines like Dorito’s and Lay’s. (Opray, 2015) The annual Palm Oil Scoreboard evaluates policies regarding palm oil sourcing of 40 large-scale companies. Domino’s, Wendy’s and Clorox all scored 0 (Butler, 2015), meaning they have no commitment to sustainable palm oil use and to a certain extent use palm oil irresponsibly, with little to no regard for implications it may have. All these companies; as previously mentioned; are large-scale companies signifying that they have widespread influence. Millions of products are manufactured and purchased from these companies whose products fill supermarket shelves. The fact that many big companies are

The once vast forests of Malaysia and Indonesia are quickly disappearing due to the mass destruction of their rainforests caused by the palm oil industry. Malaysia and indonesia are responsible for ninety percent of the world's supply of palm oil (“Labor Abuses Common in the Palm Oil Industry”). In the recent years, the destruction of these forests has led to the endangerment and extinction of numerous organisms. The employees on these plantations suffer from poor working conditions and are often taken advantage of by employers. Although palm oil is a cheap and healthy alternative to trans fats used in the majority of today's foods and cosmetics, the palm oil industry needs to be regulated due to its effects on widespread deforestation,

When talking about the external stakeholders of the company, it is important to highlight a case where P&G’s unethical practices seem to be more prevalent and well known. That is the palm oil case of Sumatra, Indonesia. Palm oil is a substance found in beauty and household care products of P&G’s. P&G bought the majority of their palm oil from a company called BW Plantation which operates in Kalimatan, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia. However, BW Plantation is regarded among the top companies in the world notorious for their unethical exercises of deforestation in the business world. Between 2010 and 2014, BW Plantation converted over 7,000 hectares of land to palm oil plantation and destroyed over 6,000 hectares of forests. Their unethical practice of deforestation in the Sumatra Jungle have also caused endangered species such as the Sumatran Orangutan, Rhino and Tiger be on the verge of extinction. In 2014, an environmental friendly organization, GreenPeace, reported that, “The palm oil sector is currently the greatest single driver of deforestation in Indonesia, accounting for about a quarter of all forest loss.” The report also stated that as few as 400 Sumatran Tigers and 7,500 Sumatran Orangutans are thought to remain in the jungle.

In a contemporary world, a business-society relationship has evolved well beyond a simple business model to a much broader - socially responsible - corporate stewardship. As of this result, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) emerged as a concept that encourages companies to be ethical and responsible with the environment it operates in so as to wider impact on society. Though, CSR is now argued so widely as to have become a subject matter for serious arguments. Whereas business‘s human side stressed the importance of social responsibility, it also opened the room for criticism for its opponents, some of who have expressed legit business concerns; others endorse the belief that

‘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,

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.

Through globalization the gap between the rich and poor has increased, while the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. This can be one of the many reasons why companies choose to be more social responsible as CSR aims to reduce conflicts between stakeholders. Although, individuals are aware that more companies are producing social responsible goods, companies can benefit from CSR practices in different ways. When companies decide to be socially and environmentally active, not only will the society and the environment benefit from the companies ethical practices, but they can also differentiate themselves in today's competitive market.

Business is generally known as an organisation, either as an individual or society that involved in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. As a whole, a business is doing commercially viable and profitable work. The business world has moral that to survive in the industry to make money and gain a face value and thus increase their share value or profit. To do this many companies are working towards it. In order to gain continuous respect in the business world, corporations take on a responsibility to assure the people of a country that this particular company not just sells several products but also does something for the nation in return. This corporate self-regulation is known as the Corporate Social

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

Corporate social responsibility can be simply defined as the “business’s consideration of society’s well-being and consumer satisfaction, in addition to profits.” (Kurtz, 2015). The term Corporate Social Responsibility refers to a company who take responsibility to provide needy benefit to the society that support the company’s existing with consumer’s buying power. Social responsibility is considered a moral principle of a business entity. It is a duty of every business and its leadership in-charge to maintain the balance between business ethics and profit, and social responsibility. It is the social duty, the mission and commitment of the company to help improve the society by providing the best possible working and living conditions for its employees, their families, and effectively contributes to the community as a whole.