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Corporate Social Responsibility And Csr

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been a much talked about topic and the importance of CSR has been increasing over the years. Companies that embrace CSR hold themselves responsible for their activities and strive to make a positive impact on the environment and the society. CSR has several definitions and can be comprehended differently by various stakeholders. One of the definitions mentioned by ACCA (2014) is “a company’s obligation to all of its stakeholders across all of its activities with the aim of achieving sustainable development in the economic, the social, and the environmental dimensions”. Others define CSR as the overall contribution of business to sustainable development. Many factors have managed to increase the …show more content…

Gaining competitive advantage One argument forcing an increase in CSR activities is for companies to gain competitive advantage. Companies engage in improved innovation and market positioning, resulting in competitive advantages. One of the examples of innovation, to gain competitive advantage, is the launch of Toyota Prius, a hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV). Toyota became the world market leader in hybrid cars after the launch of HEVs. In addition to the environmental benefits that HEV has to offer, this increased the top line of Toyota and they were able to licence the technology to companies like Ford. This added to Toyota’s profitability. CSR can assist in shaping customer loyalty built on ethical principles. Some companies are committed to CSR and use it as their main positioning instrument. Strategic tactics are used to gain public backing, helping them to gain competitive advantage by using their CSR initiatives as another form of advertising. These practices create a differentiation in products and services from its competitors. For example, Dettol introduced a marketing concept where a penny was donated upon purchase of any of their products. Dettol products gained popularity in the marketplace which assisted in distinguishing themselves from other antibacterial soaps

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