Corporate Social Responsibility : Csr Programs

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.

In a fiercely competitive economy, good social reputations are companies’ biggest asset. Copious recent research established direct correlations between companies’ social responsibility and consumer purchasing behaviours.

Corporate social responsibility has been one the key business buzz words of the 21st century. Consumers' discontent with the corporation has forced it to try and rectify its negative image by associating its name with good deeds. Social responsibility has become one of the corporation's most pressing issues, each company striving to outdo the next with its philanthropic image. People feel that the corporation has done great harm to both the environment and to society and that with all of its wealth and power, it should be leading the fight to save the Earth, to combat poverty and illness and etc. "Corporations are now expected to deliver the good, not just the goods; to pursue

The popularity of CSR has grown substantially in the last couple of decades. Many people may have grown skeptical of business in the wake of corporate scandals such as Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom followed by the sub-prime mortgage market, which have all gained large amounts of negative publicity. Stakeholders are more aware of the performance of companies along a broader set of metrics that portray the company’s operations in a more comprehensive manner that provides information about social performances and environmental performances. Much of the concept of corporate sustainability is rooted in the notion of sustainable development with can be defined as the ability to meet the needs of the current population without compromising the ability of future generations to

Unfortunately many corporations do not give back to the community in which they do business in. Also in different cultures, CSR is viewed differently both on a cognitive and emotional level. The data is taken from surveys and marketing research conducted with corporations and other organizations.

In many cases throughout the business world we are able to observe the common belief that corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a business entity is used among CEO’s as a driving force for business operation and strategy to gain competitive advantage. It has many benefits, including cultivating the wider society through positive externalities, increasing operating efficiency and improving brand image. Yet in contrast, some individuals who belong to the academic world such as Milton Friedman and R. J. Klonoski believe corporate social responsibility to be a “cloak for actions that are justified on other grounds rather than a reason for those actions” (Friedman, 1970). Throughout this essay we shall explore the ways in which adopting a socially responsible approach to business strategy and operation can affect a businesses ability to maintain competitive advantage in a market and how the adoption of this strategy can lead to a businesses downfall or success.

Corporate social responsibility spans across the globe, but different countries see and participate in CSR in different ways. Amerinda Forte, author of “Corporate Social Responsibility in the United States and Europe: How Important Is It? The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility,” an article published in 2013 in the International Business and Economics Research Journal, explains CSR using three traditional models: the shareholder value model where profits are the sole responsibilities of the business, the stakeholder model where the social responsibilities of the business reflect those of the stakeholders, and the business ethics model where businesses have social obligations and a moral duty to society as a business. The author

While it appears that the world’s companies are taking on a more conscious approach to the world around them, don’t be fooled. Most companies CSR efforts are directly tied to its bottom dollar. As CSR notes, "Since the 2008 crisis, those companies with a stronger reputation have performed significantly better (almost 2X the return) than the overall

Is your organizations’ bottom-line, impacted by ineffective communication of its Corporate Social Responsibility? Research indicates that the global business model, internal customers, and external customers are requiring organizations to act and respond in a moral manner that is beneficial to society. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is “a concept that suggests commercial enterprises have a moral duty to care for their stakeholders in all aspects of their business operations” (Hargett & Williams, 2009). An organization 's CSR strategy conveys the way in which they intend to responsibly engage and protect society as a whole. The CSR strategy is multifaceted and requires a subtle equilibrium of communicating the strategy, participating

The main motivation behind CSR is the potential benefits that firms can derive when they are perceived by their stakeholders as a socially responsible organization (Tian, Wang, and Yang, 2011). In other words, the benefits of a certain company will be harmed if customers perceived its irresponsible activities. As an example, after the exposure of its emission scandal, Volkswagen, which was viewed as a responsible beforehand, encountered a 37% stocks price slump within two days. However, good CSR activities can still cause positive influence on Volkswagen’s reputations to minimize the lost in its reputation. After the scandal, Volkswagen said that it would recall around 8.5 million diesel-engine cars in the European Union and it would give $1,000 to some owners of diesel VW and Audi cars that do not achieve the emissions limits in the United States. As a positive results of the mentioned CSR actions, suggested by CNBC on October 20th 2015, over two thirds of German consumers, out of the 1,000 German adults questioned in an online survey, believe that the embattled German carmaker still builds "outstanding" cars and that the emissions scandal was overdone. Motivated by the importance of CSR in practice, many researchers have investigated the potential effect that CSR has on customer behavior and response, such as customer satisfaction (e.g., Luo and Bhattacharya,

Furthermore, the extent of CSR of a company may also depends on the nature of the company. If the company is selling products that are harmful to humans and environment, such as cigarette companies, wine-selling company, they should show a greater extent of CSR to the society. Three empirical studies deal with the effect of harmful products in relation to consumers. The first study claims that both product harm and target group vulnerability, affect the perceived level of company ethics. (Terije I. Vaaland and Morten Heide, Kjell Gronhaug, Jan 2007). So, these types of company should show greater CSR to the society. But for companies that are for the good sake of the society, they can put less efforts of CSR to the society, such as companies selling organic food, solar cars.

According to Bartkus & Morris, “Studies have shown that reputation as measured by Fortune’s “most admired corporations” survey is positively correlated with financial performance”. In the Cone Case Evolution Study: 83% of surveyed Americans say they want more of the products, services, and retailers, they use to benefit causes, and 80% are likely to switch brands, when similar in price and quality, to one that support a cause (Mercy Corps, 2011). These surveys have demonstrated that consumers are more swayed by a corporation’s social purpose and are willing to pay for items that comes from social responsible businesses.

The concept of CSR (corporate social responsibility), has been around for many years, it has continued to grow in significance and importance. Moreover, there has been a public debate and commentary on the same subject. For instance, (International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility) argues that CSR has had social-political influence i.e. the political regime, culture and legal systems of many countries around the globe. More companies around the globe in are engaging themselves in CSR activities, as a result, providing more information on social and environmental issues to the mass. According to (Burritt and Schaltegger, 2010; Gurvitish and Sidorova, 2012), in the past, research that considers both CSR reporting and activity has

The above discussion has shown the importance of corporate social responsibility for a company. There are many challenges which multinational firms face while fulfilling their corporate social responsibilities especially in developing countries. Griffin and Pustay (2007) assert that CSR requires engagement with internal and external stakeholders so it enables enterprises to anticipate better and take advantage of fast-changing expectations in society as well as operating conditions. This means it can also act as a driver for the development of new markets and create real opportunities for growth (Van Tulder and Kolk 2001).

As the globalization are happening faster and the scale is more worldwide and intensive, international business is more the concerned subjects for a lot of researches. And among factors that related to that field, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is considering as a very essential and key feature in doing business internationally (Werther & Chandler, 2005). Therefore, there are numerous and wide range of studies in associated with defining CSR, figuring out the relationship between CSR and organization performance, etc. Moreover, while applying CSR as a phenomenon or as an integral part of operations, overestimate or misunderstanding of CSR is one of the significant problem (Blomgren, 2010). My paper aim at conducting a fairly depth understanding of CSR in form of four main points: 1. Definition of CSR, 2.The effects of CSR on International Business, 3. Different perspective toward CSR, 5. Pros and cons when implementing CSR in Vietnam conditions.