Corporate Social Responsibility At The Bank Of America Corporation

In (Cohen, 2008), the author quotes (Drucker, 1946) in noting that “Every organization must assume full responsibility for its impact on its employees, the environment, customers, and whomever and whatever it touches”. According to (Cohen, 2008; Drucker, 1946), that is the very definition of social responsibility. There are many ambiguities surrounding the concept of social responsibility; everything from definition to terminology, even what actions constitute responsible behavior is unsettled (Vogel, 2005). For purposes of this paper we will use the term corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Bank of America provides its products and services through operating 5,100 banking centers call centers and online and mobile banking platforms. Its Consumer Real Estate Services segment offers consumer real estate products comprising fixed and adjustable rate first lien mortgage loans for home purchase and refinancing needs home equity lines of credit, and home equity loans. In 2014, we strengthened our corporate social responsibility governance structure by launching a new Global Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, chaired by our global chief strategy and marketing officer and comprising senior leaders from across every business line and support group.

Businesses, specifically larger corporations, play a major role in what occurs in society therefore, they are responsible to their stakeholders not only to pursue economic goals but the greater social good as well. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) means that a corporation should act in a way that enhances society and its inhabitants and be held accountable for any of its actions that affect people, their communities, and their environment. (Lawrence, 2010). Social responsibility is becoming the norm so much so that some businesses have incorporated it into their business model. There are three components of the bottom line of social

Wells Fargo Corporate Social Responsibility initiates of diversity and inclusion, economic empowerment, and corporate sustainability have contributed to social change in many ways that worthy of highlighting in this paper. However, I have selected to feature the following organizational activities related three social change and sustainability causes: (1) developing advanced clean technology, innovation and environmental solutions, (2) increase financial literacy and self-sufficiency, and (3) and advancing the need for diverse and inclusive businesses and leadership.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is something that affects all companies and should be an active factor in the company’s decision making. It is something all corporations need to care about. CSR is when business’ or corporations take part in an initiative or campaign for a cause that will benefit society and/or in some way make the world a better place (Taylor, 2015). Initially, Corporate Social Responsibility started to take shape around the 1950’s, but some say that it dates all the way back to the 1800s, the idea of CSR was seen (Carroll, 2007). One may think that because it is dated so long ago, it doesn’t have an important impact today nevertheless, it is proven that Corporate Social Responsibility is a pathway for entities to self benefit as they are in the process of benefitting society.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a term used to describe a company’s efforts to improve society in a certain way. These efforts range from donating money to an organization such as a nonprofit organization, to implementing environmentally friendly policies in the workplace. This idea is not required for companies; instead it is something that companies do to improve their communities. The way companies practice CSR is different from company to company, and some companies may not even practice it at all.

Corporate social responsibility incorporates environmental, social, and economic dimensions that provide leadership and differentiation opportunities for perceptive organizations. However,

Socially responsible organizations are doing not only profit-making activities for their own organization but also activities that benefit the whole of society. Starbucks, which is an American coffee company, is an example of an organization that is doing socially responsible. They have been involved in socially responsible activities, which are categorized three parts; community involvement, ethic sourcing and the environment.　Firstly, in ethic sourcing, they have built lasting relationships with their coffee producers since they were founded. They are engaged in being responsible for their coffee, tea, cocoa, and manufactured goods, and producing and purchasing them ethically, which is related to providing customers with coffee beans of

Bank of America is a global financial services company headquartered in Charlotte, NC. It is one of the world’s largest financial institutions. Bank of America serves over 53 million customers. They serve these customers through 5,500 retail banking offices. Bank of America is known as a leader in the online banking world. Online alone the company services 30 million active users. The company serves customers in all 50 states and more than 40 countries. The company has numerous different lines of business and employs over 260,000 people. (Bank of America 2012)

BANK OF AMERICA: The third biggest company in the world and one of the “Big Four banks” in the United States, is a bank holding company and a financial holding company. An institution serving individual consumers, small and middle markets, corporations and Governments with a range of banking, investing and asset management and other products and services.

Organizational Background- Bank of America is a multinational banking and financial services firm that has become a mega-giant the second largest holding company in the U.S. and the 3-4th largest bank in terms of overall capitalization. The headquarters are in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the bank servicing clients in over 150 countries and some type of business relationship with over 99 per cent of U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 85 per cent of the Global Fortune 400. Forbes lists BofA as the 3rd largest company in the world, holding about 13 per cent of all U.S. deposits and 57 million customers (Bank of American, 2011; The Global 2000; Fortune 500).

Since 1998, Bank of America has become one of the most successful financial institutions in the industry. With the mission to “make financial lives better, through the power of every connection”, Bank of America has maintained aligning operation with its vision. While assisting its clients understand their money, the company also puts a lot of effort into helping the communities by executing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It is undeniable that the company has successfully addressed many critical problems in the environmental, social and economic arenas, as it continually receives awards and recognitions for its CSR efforts.

In the case of Citibank (aka Citi), corporate social responsibility is driving responsibility of its 2014 stakeholder engagement process. Citibank refers to it as its Citizenship policies and programs (Citigroup, 2015).In the Citi Global Citizenship Report 2014; CEO Mike Corbat shared his view on Citizenship. According to Corbat, “given the pace and scale of global challenges and opportunities, from providing access to basic banking services for the two billion people who lack it, to training the workforce of tomorrow, Citi has a unique capacity to support economic progress in the communities where we operate around the world’ (Citigroup, 2015, p.5). Founded within this three element collective (invest, partner and act), there are five target areas; economies, cities, sustainable growth, people and integrity (p.4). Citi identifies eight main groups as its stakeholders; clients and customers, investors and Socially Responsible Investors (SRIs), employees, government and regulators, suppliers, nongovernmental organizations, media and other financial institutions (p.70). For this discussion, we will focus on four stakeholders.

One of the main areas of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been the ability for an organization to better the people and the community in which its business is located. In

When analysing corporate social responsibility (CSR) it’s a concepts of business practice which involving initiatives that benefits society that business operating in. In terms of business practices in the financial industry CSR contributes to sustainable development by delivering economic, social and environment benefits for all stakeholders within the company. CSR is a very broad concept where it address many topic such as economic development, human rights and environmental effects. With current issues that happening in the world CSR specially address the economic