Corporate Social Responsibility

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.

Firstly, I would like to explain what Corporate Social Responsibility is. “It is a company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and

Corporate Social Responsibility are actions taken by a corporation that have positive and lasting impact for all stakeholders associated with the organization, seeking to strike a balance between profits and helping to establish lasting investment in the community (Carrol, 2015). In the 1980’s, then President Reagan challenged the business community to take on more responsibility to address social problems (Carrol, 2015). Socially responsible actions can benefit local communities as well as the greater societal good.

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 (CSR) is a term used to describe a company’s efforts to improve society in a certain way. These efforts range from donating money to an organization such as a nonprofit organization, to implementing environmentally friendly policies in the workplace. This idea is not required for companies; instead it is something that companies do to improve their communities. The way companies practice CSR is different from company to company, and some companies may not even practice it at all.

Corporate Social Responsibility (C.S.R.) is a theory practiced in the business sphere since fifty years. It refers to the duty of business organizations to adopt certain activities that will benefit the society in some way. Charity, health-awareness campaigns are few examples that a business undertakes to fulfil its objectives of C.S.R. According to this ideal, it is important for various corporations today to undertake such social activities, apart from merely focusing on their objective of profit maximization. But, is it an obligation that is most important than other objectives of business? This thought further leads us to another significant question – In contemporary settings, should corporations be guided by the concept of C.S.R.?

According to 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”. A social responsible company may be defined as a company which integrates and takes in active parts the social and environmental concerns of one’s community and society. Acting in a socially responsible manner is more then just an ethical duty for a company nowadays, it is something that essentially has long term interest in both the company and the community. The motive is to produce economic value for the company but as well for the society as

Generally speaking employees should focus on providing a more productive and sustainable environment in an effort to promote social responsibility and protect the future of the company. It also becomes a moral responsibility for a company to allocate funds to its annual budget for the needs of corporate social responsibility.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) is a term describing a company’s obligation to be accountable to all of its stakeholder in all its operation and activities. Socially responsible companies consider the full scope of their impact on communities and the environment when making decisions, balancing the needs of stakeholder with their need to make profit.

Most people think that social responsibility is not something that most businesses think about since their ultimate goal is to generate profits. But the reality is that today's consumer has become much more informed and much more demanding when it comes to ensuring that organizations do right by others. Businesses are thus forced to succumb to these demands because they realize that if they want to have a good reputation and develop a strong image in their particular segment, they would have to be socially responsible.

Corporate Social Responsibility, More Than Charity Work an article written by Don Wehby where he stated that “all companies have obligations to the society and environment in which they operate that go beyond simply following the law”. The responsibility of social development is a share responsibility of government, citizens and the businesses that operate in these communities. According to Investopedia.com social responsibility is the idea that businesses should balance profit-making activities with activities that benefit society; it involves developing businesses with a positive relationship to the society in which they operate. The relationship to the society and environment in which businesses operate is a critical factor in their ability to continue to operate effectively. It is also increasingly being used as a measure of their overall performance.

There are times though, when corporations use social responsibility as a management fad or public relations ploy. For example, hot dog vending companies may package their hot dogs with labels stating their brand of hot dog is healthier than another when in truth the hot dogs are manufactured in the same plant, and are identical. There are corporations that also exploit the green movement by incorrectly labeling their products or putting green dots on aerosol cans to make them look green, when in fact chlorofluorocarbons have been banned in the U.S. since 1978, and no aerosols contain them. With all of this being said, corporate social and environmental responsibilities are more important today than they have ever been in the past, to benefit society and protect the environment. This is also true because of the interdependent and imperiled world we live in.

The aim of this paper is to explore Corporate Social Responsibility in the framework of business ethics. Companies, in this modern day and age, are urged to show more responsibility towards society while operation their businesses. According to Milton Friedman, “there is one and only one social responsibility of business: to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined by Carroll as being split into four possibilities,”it is economically profitable, law abiding, ethical and Philanthropic” (Visser. W, 2005). Economic responsibilities is defined as being for profit purposes, managers focus is purely on the outcome of the business and the shareholders, there is

* Ethical- Treating employees fairly and ethically are other ways companies can practice corporate social responsibility. Are responsibilities that a company puts on itself because its owners believe it 's the right thing to do -- not because they have an obligation to do so. Ethical responsibilities could include being environmentally friendly, paying fair wages or refusing to do business with oppressive countries, for example.