Corporate Social Responsibility, Yay Or Nay?
In the past several decades, corporations have been forming in almost every area of the world. The corporations drastically affect the area around them, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. From this, the idea of corporate social responsibility arises. Corporate social responsibility can be defined as the commitment of a corporation to better the area in which it is located. As two every story, this one has two sides. Some people are for it and some against. Two reasons that have come up supporting corporate social responsibility are that it is good press, and that it gives its’ employees a sense of pride. Two arguments against corporate social responsibility are that a corporation’s job is to make a profit, and that people should take care of themselves. Now I will elaborate on these.
The idea that corporate social responsibility is good press is entirely true. If a corporation (especially a large, well-known one) does something that people other than employees benefit from, it makes them look good. By looking good, the corporation has a chance to get free advertising. If the good deed is covered by the media, the corporation does not have to pay a dime. So, you could almost consider the cost of the good deed as an advertising expense. An example of this is the large array of Christmas lights the Herr’s chip factory puts up every year. Although this isn’t a direct way of giving back, it gives the people in the area something magnificent to look at during the holiday season. At the same time, its gets peoples’ attention which is what advertising is designed to do. The good press created by a strong sense of corporate social responsibility also has the potential to get new investors. Many wealthy people love investing in companies that are environmentally friendly or that give back to the people in some way.
Related posts
Social Responsible Investing For a Better (Investment) World
Social Responsible Investing (SRI), also known as sustainable investing or ethical investing has origins dating back to as far as the early18th century and was motivated mostly through religious reasons. The modern SRI movement, as we know it today, started in the 1960s. The movement spawned out of an increased awareness of social and environmental issues. It eventually became a marketing gimmick for many multinational corporations attempting improve their image to the outside world, regardless of their actual policies.
Not until the 1990′s did a serious social/environmental paragraph in business plans and prospectuses became apparent, and was the positive effect on business performance acknowledged. During this time, socially responsible mutual funds, or social funds were starting to emerge. In the years since the number of social funds has increased significantly, and not for no reason, as proven by the Domini 400, a benchmark that measures the impact of social screening on financial performance. Since its start in 1990 the index has continuously outperformed the S&P 500. The companies in this basket just seem to adapt to volatile market conditions better than ordinary companies.
Tags: ethics social responsibility, social responsibility articlesRelated posts
Corporate Social Responsibility – A Necessity
Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR is a term used in business. When a business organization takes a deliberate approach to fuse social as well as ecological concerns along with the measures of making profit for the organization, they are said to be following CSR.
Establishing corporate social responsibility programs require the company or organization to put in lots of efforts and resources. The company has to take care that the workers are being given proper wages. The company also needs to work towards the community of the workers and their families.
Providing institutions that impart education, free medical services, protecting the environment are just some of the requirements that a company has to fulfill if it follows a CSR program. Because of the same reason many organizations differ and believe that CSR is not needed and is just wastage of resources. If a company following a CSR program is not able to make its efforts for the society known to the consumers, it might result in the consumer not being loyal to the company and buying the same products from other competing companies.
Benefits of CSR:
• For The Company: If a company is able to market its products and also make their CSR responsibilities known to the consumers, the sales of the products could significantly increase in the market. These companies can get good number of loyal consumers. This would help the company to get an edge over their competitors and progress faster and gain profits. Following a proper CSR program keeps the workers of the company happy because of the facilities provided to them. These workers help in increasing the overall productivity of the companies.
Tags: corporate social responsibility, social responsibility articles