CSR

3141 Words7 Pages

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) involves going beyond the interests of the firm and requirements of law to contribute in developing a sustainable environment and a better society (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001). Yet Vogel (2005) claims that regulation is required to ensure that companies comply with a standard of CSR. Unethical practices create negative images of organisations, however through adopting CSR; profitability may be increased through the positive image that society creates (Pava and Kraus, 1997). While Friedman (1970) argues that corporations are responsible for obtaining shareholder’s funds in a profitable and legal way, therefore not engaging in corporate philanthropy. Friedman’s view is egoistic, whereby acting to promote the greatest impact for the company compared to adopting a utilitarian approach which focuses on achieving the greatest good for the majority (Beauchamp and Bowie, 2004). Organisational performance is evaluated on three factors; economic prosperity, social justice and environmental quality (Elkington, 1997), emphasising the significance of companies adopting an ethical stance in the modern business world. This assignment will address the role ethics and CSR play in organisations through applying case studies to examine whether companies adopt CSR for the enhanced reputation and competitive advantage or the social and environmental impact. The role of regulation within CSR will be investigated due to corporate scandals and environmental disasters which raise concerns over the ethical perspective of companies. Companies should embed CSR within the core values of a company. McElhaney (2009) emphasises the importance of committees overseeing the practices, ensuring the implementation and manageme... ... middle of paper ... ...owever, there are companies where CSR is important to them, which is reflected in their ethical stance and their conduct of business. The role of regulation is necessary to use as a base-line for companies to ensure that a standard level of CSR is achieved in order to improve and sustain the environment and improve society. Through regulation, companies would have to adhere to the law therefore minimising the issue of companies only adopting CSR for the reputation and profitability gain. Many companies adopt CSR on the premise of improving society; however there are a few companies who use CSR as an effort to appear ethical and align their strategies with the needs of the stakeholder. However, whilst regulation would be beneficial, some companies would still seek to minimise the money invested in CSR, due to their profit-orientated goals and egoistic ethical stance.

Open Document