CHAPTER TWO
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK This section of the research examines some conceptual underpinnings that are relevant and which provide the foundation and background to the study.
2.1.1 THE CONCEPT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The concept of corporate social responsibility according to Steiner and Steiner (2000) in Nwaeke (2005) is the duty of a corporation to create wealth by using means that would avoid harm to protect or enhance societal assets. It is a corporation initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company’s effects on environmental and social wellbeing (www.investopedia.com). It applies to efforts that go beyond what may be required by regulations or environmental protection groups. The guidance standard on social responsibility, 1S0 26000 published in 2010 says;
“Social responsibility is the responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical behavior that:
- Contributes to sustainable development including the health and the welfare of society.
- Takes into account the expectations of stakeholders.
- That is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international norms of behavior, and
- That is integrated throughout the organization and practiced in its relationships”
The concept involves incurring short term cost that do not provide an immediate financial benefit to the
Social responsibility is generally regarded as a duty of an organization’s management towards the benefit and well-being of the society in which it is engaged. The organization must behave ethically considering the social, cultural, economic and environmental issues.
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 (CSR) is a very controversial topic. A question that has been debated for the past few decades is; is it corporately viable to introduce social responsibility as a proposed addition to the work ethic of business organisations. As well as, if adopting the framework of corporate social responsibility would yield positive improvements for those organisations.
This study sought to answer three research questions. Although the questions have been presented in previous chapters, they are worth presenting again.
Chapter 5 in the text, Business, Government, and Society by John F. Steiner and George A. Steiner, corporate social responsibility is defined as the corporate duty to create wealth by using means that avoid harm to, protect, or enhance social assets. General Electric in the Jack Welch Era fulfilled its corporate social responsibility but by marginal measures.
Social responsibility is an ethical framework which suggests that an organization or individual has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every organization has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the environment
The framework suggested by Walker and Avant was used for the analysis described in this research. The method of research included:
Social Responsibility; An organization's obligation to maximize its positive impact on stakeholders and minimize its negative impact.
Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. (World Business Council for Development, 2016)
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.
The definition of corporate social responsibility is when a business takes responsibility for the impact it leaves whether it be bad for the environment, customers or anything involving society. Social responsibility is the concept of businesses not just focusing on maximizing profit but also trying to maintaining a positive image for the business. A main concept for social responsibility is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Not a hard concept to grasp. You basically need to act how your parents taught you to as kids, treat people how you want to be treated. Just add having good business sense and you have a potentially promising future in the corporate world. The company could be doing this
Social responsibility is built on a system of ethics, in which decisions and actions must be ethically validated before proceeding. If the action or decision causes harm to society or the environment then it would be considered to be socially irresponsible. Being socially responsible means that people and organization must behave ethically and sensitivity towards, social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues. Striving for social responsibility helps individuals, organization and government to have a positive impact on development, business and society. Often, the ethical implication of decision/action are overlooked for personal gain and the benefits are usually material. This frequently manifest itself in companies that
Snider, Hill and Martin. (2003) stated that “ CSR may be defined in general terms as "the obligation of the firm to use its resources in ways to benefit society, through committed participation as a member of society, taking into account the society at large and improving welfare of society at large independent of direct gains of the company" (as cited in Kok et al., 2001, p. 288). Since the growth of the corporations depend on the societal factors, corporations should be responsible for the society for the corporation’s own benefit in the long run. “The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) construct describes the relationship between business and the larger society” (Snider et al., 2003). According to The Wall Street Journal (2013),
Corporate social responsibility is the voluntary stance or set of actions from a corporation that demonstrate a contribution to a better society and a cleaner environment. Corporations are already required to operate within the law, but laws do not always protect all people or individuals who will be affected by the corporation’s actions. In addition to this, it is very common for special interests to play a part in legal decisions through lobbying efforts, so it is assumed to be an additional effort for a corporation to be socially responsible. Being socially responsible essentially comes down to being considerate and calculated in the decision making process, paying attention to the consequence of every action. In the ethical decision making model, there are two particular steps that I believe to be of greater importance than the others. The first would be that of
This is essay will focus on analyzing how corporate social responsibility (CSR) influences the investor relations of a corporation and whether it is good for the society, using Gasland and FrackNation as examples. In the contemporary society, CSR sounds like a commendatory term for the society. Over decades, it seems like that both the public and the media are trying to encourage corporations to behave more responsibly, and corporations are gradually becoming more socially aware in the contemporary society because they know they cannot afford the consequence of ignoring it. (Bernstein, 2009:606) However, CSR is not always beneficial. One of the major practices of public relations is investor relations, because the concerns of a corporation’s investors can directly relate to its welfare. When the corporations paid more attention on CSR, their investors will inevitably somehow feel ignored. As a public which has real material input to the corporations, investors are seeking for future returns, they want to be treated specially by the corporations that they invest. Also, value too much about CSR can make corporations become the victim of being morally hijacked, which may harm both a corporation’s financial success and the whole society’s harmony.