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Arguments for and against the concept of corporate social responsibility
Arguments for and against the concept of corporate social responsibility
Arguments for and against corporate social responsibility
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Just selling a great product or having great service is not enough for today's socially conscious shoppers. Today corporations have to look at other factors including participating in events in the community and being socially responsible. Social responsibility for corporations was not a major focus until recently. I think it is interesting the different ways and examples corporations all over including the company I work for C.H. Robinson. I want to see what they do compared to my former employer Sears Holdings to see differences good or bad from different industries. I think I work for the better company in every way now but I could be wrong on their social responsibilities. I plan on comparing how different companies handle social responsibility, different methods of being socially responsibility, and lastly good and bad examples of how companies each use social responsibilities. This is important to me because it is important to me that not only do I want to work for a company that is good to its employees, but its social responsibilities as well. What I find could determine also if I continue to shop at certain corporation’s locations. Bad corporate social responsibility is free bad publicity regardless if it is for not being part of the solution of environmental sustainability or being tangles in an illegal socially responsible activity. This makes all stakeholders customer and investors look bad and no one wants a part of it. Today’s consumers are not just looking for the best price and quality they e3xpect corporations they patronize to do some good with the money they spend and make a positive impact on the world around them. Every year there is lists put out that show the largest U.S. Corporations. From that list th... ... middle of paper ... ...ams cost them and what the financial costs to them that caused this turnaround. They do contribute to nonprofit organizations typically at least $30 million a year (Brazelton, Ellis, Macedo, Shader, & Suslow, 1999). On the other side you have a company that is regarded as one of the best and a leading example in corporate social and environmental responsibility, The Body Shop, PLC. They actively support environmental groups, campaigns against human rights abuses and socially responsible activities to turn around money in disadvantaged communities. The company donated over $5 million to charities and has taken action to assist and counsel people with AIDS. The Body Shop also funds and organizes immunization procedures, medical checks, hospital renovation, construction and health education for 18 Amazon villages (Brazelton, Ellis, Macedo, Shader, & Suslow, 1999).
Our textbook defines corporate social responsibility as “a business's concern for the welfare of society” (Nickels, 102) and that it “goes well beyond being ethical. It is based on a commitment to integrity, fairness, and respect” (102). By performing a social audit they can evaluate whether or not their policies and actions are actually providing the support they’re attempting to
In most cases, profits and social welfare are at odds. In such a case, business executives being answerable to shareholders are likely to focus on the profit-making aspect of the business rather than going against the interest of their shareholders by promoting social welfare at the expense of profits. In addition, research shows that companies actively involved in Corporate Social Responsibility efforts are more likely to be targeted by activists (Kress, 2011). In fact, it has been established that many companies initiate corporate social welfare projects when they stand to gain from those projects. For example, automakers resulted to creating fuel-efficient vehicles when they became profitable; similarly, energy conservation became an important CSR activity when the cost of energy became very costly. As such, the companies are benefiting their society as they follow their own
Knowledge@Wharton. (2012). Why companies can no longer afford to ignore their social responsibilities. Time, May 28
Times have changed drastically for businesses since the Internet and social media have become part of our everyday lives. It’s now easier than ever for the individual to gather data and follow organizations to ensure they are performing legally, morally, and ethically. Stakeholders believe that organizations have a social obligation to operate their business in an ethically, socially, and environmentally responsible way. The term for this idea is Corporate Citizenship. Corporate Citizenship is “the extent to which businesses are socially responsible for meeting legal, ethical and economic responsibilities placed on them by shareholders. The aim is for businesses to create higher standards of living and quality of life in the communities in which they operate, while still preserving profitability for stakeholders” (Investopedia.com, 2013). Stakeholders are expecting organizations to conduct business in a way that meets legal, ethical, economic, and philanthropic expectations that go beyond commercial relationships. Many organizations are including corporate responsibilities in their corporate mission statements and goals. They want stakeholders to see that they practice ethical behavior and are committed to their local communities in order to maintain a positive corporate image. According to CNN Money “Wal-Mart Stores Inc., had $469.2 billion in revenue last year and has reclaimed the top ranking in the Fortune 500 ranking of the largest U.S. companies by revenue”( Hathaway, 2013). Wal-Mart has over 10,800 stores and is a company that can have a tremendous impact upon the environment and their current employees and future employees. Largely due to its size and resultant influence, Wal-Mart is receiving constant pressure t...
This report summarizes the results of a review of Target Corporation’s sense of social responsibility as discerned by examining three areas: ethics, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability practices. It presents an overview of Target’s historical and ongoing corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, and an evaluation of Target’s CSR efforts based on the corporation's policy, performance stated objectives, key performance measures, and select peers. The report includes recommendations for improvement as well as measures for evaluating improvement. The sources of Target’s policy and performance results are its corporate governance documents and corporate reporting.
DBQ Social responsibility is an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large. One of the many social responsibilities of a business is to maximize profits but this is not the only social responsibility of business. There are many social responsibilities to take into consideration when striving to expand and maximize your business. Wanting to maximize profit and minimize cost can be perceived as greed but this assumption is wrong. A man with a straight forward mindset , a man that won a nobel prize for his extensive knowledge and studies in business stated that there's one and only one social responsibility of business and that is
In recent years, companies are becoming socially responsible and now stakeholders almost expect a company to have CSR policies. Therefore, in twentieth century, corporate social responsibility (CSR) became an important development in public life (Barnett, ND).Corporate social responsibility is defined as “the ways in which an organisation exceeds the minimum obligations to stakeholders specified through regulation and corporate governance” (Johnson, Schools and Whittington, N.D cited in March, 2012). Stakeholders can be defined as “those individuals or groups who depend on the organisation to fulfil their own goals and on whom, in turn, the organisation depends” (Johnson, Schools and Whittington, N.D cited in March, 2012). There are many purposes for this essay, the first purpose is to descried the key principles of corporate social responsibility and explain their importance for stakeholders. Secondly, is to show how far this company follows those principles in order to be accountable to at least three of its stakeholders. In this essay, three stakeholders, environment, customers and employees will be evaluated respectively and the key principles of the stakeholders will be examined.
The corporate social responsibility is a commitment by a business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life for employees and their families’ as-well as contributing to the society. Walmart is a well-known company that offers customers the items they want and need at a low cost, with nearly 4,000 stores in the United States. According to the Fortune 500, Walmart was ranked number 1 in 2015. Just like any other superstore Walmart needs to continue the use of social responsibility by recreating a relationship between business and the community especially if they want to dominate the competition in 2016. The use of sustainability, strategic philanthropy, causing market, shared values, stakeholders and global perspective will help readers understand the purpose of social responsibilities in the corporate world.
...it can be quite challenging to monitor, adapt to, and respond to so many demands and obligations, but it is well worth for it. Not only is it ethical and helps you treat people and nature fairly and respectfully, but it is also just good business sense. Nowadays, customers are attracted to companies and brands that are socially responsible. Take, for instance, the green fashion movement. While it was once dismissed as a trend, its ability to stick around for so many years has proven that people want to do well and buy good.
This insight has led to Corporate Social Responsibility becoming increasingly important in our society nowadays. It has more or less become part of business ethics. A socially responsible company should be an ethical company. And an ethical company should be a socially responsible company. Companies that manage to apply business ethics to all aspects of their business conduct can be regarded as well-run businesses, that are strongly committed to good corporate
Business organizations regularly run into demands from various stakeholders groups when conducting day-to-day business. These demands are generated from employees, customers, suppliers, community groups, governments, and shareholders. Thus, according to Goodpaster, any person or group of people that can shape or can be shaped by attainment of the objectives by an organization is considered a stakeholder. Most business organizations recognize and understand their responsibilities to these groups and endeavor to honor and fulfill them. These responsibilities are often communicated to the public by a statement of principles or beliefs. For many business organizations, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an essential and integral part of their business. Thus, this paper discusses the two CSR views: the classical view and the stakeholder view. Furthermore, I believe that the stakeholder view has brought ethical concerns to the forefront of businesses, and an argument shall be made that businesses would improve both socially and economically if CSR, guided by God’s love, was integrated into their strategic planning.
Service learning and civic responsibility are both acts of caring for individuals. Service learning is a learning program that helps the individuals apply their experience from the program to help them gain knowledge to apply to their own personal or educational life. On the other hand, civic responsibility is the moral obligation of being an individual. Service learning and civic responsibility have positivity impact more individuals day by day.
As a result of modern corporate scandals and rapid development of international business environments, social responsibility (SR) has become a key aspect of corporate competitive contexts. (Brammer, Williams and Zinkin, 2007). Businesses are under increasing pressure to incorporate SR amongst their profit-driven aims and have become increasingly accountable for their social and environmental actions. Increased interest in CSR developed in the mid 1990s as consumers began to lack their former trust in companies due to both environmental and financial scandals and it became noticeable that society was moving towards values incorporating harmony, quality of life and environmental conservation (Carrasco, 2007) Additionally, major corporate failures over the past two decades have resulted in increased demand for stronger, corporate governance (CG) rules. (Sui, Wright & Evans, 2007). Superior CG rules are needed in order to preserve the integrity of corporations, financial institutions and markets and the health and stability of world economies. (OECD Website)
It is important to understand the importance of corporate social responsibilities. If Corporate Social Responsibility is properly maintained and emphasized by companies, it can benefit the society, economy and corporate sustainability. It can also be cost efficient to companies. also the environment . But above all effect (CSR) varies companies to companies. Where some corporates seem to make all sorts of benefits from their coporate social responsibilities but few of them are also having loss by trying to maintain CSR without properly evaluating their resources. (Porter and Kramer 2006) has said The inferences where corporates need to evaluate their CSR actions to figure out if they add
Corporations that place an importance on corporate social responsibility usually have an easier experience when dealing with politicians and government regulators. In compare, businesses that present an irresponsible disregard for social responsibility tend to find themselves fending off various reviews and probes, often brought on at the assertion of public service organizations. The more positive the public insight is that a corporation takes social responsibility seriously; the less likely it is that innovative groups will launch public campaigns and claim government inquiries against it.