Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

The purpose of this essay is to research the notion of CSR and uncover its true framework and outline what social responsibility truly means to corporate organisations, and whether it should be seriously considered to be a legitimate addition to the corporate framework of an organisation.

Corporate social responsibility “refers to business practices involving initiatives that benefit society” (Caramela, 2016). Categories of social responsibility can be environmental efforts, philanthropy, ethical labor practices, or volunteer work. Organizations need to be more socially responsibility than ever before in order for their businesses and the world to be able to have maximum sustainability. "Sustainability isn 't just important for people and the planet, but also is vital for business success… Communities are grappling with problems that are global in scope and structurally multifaceted — Ebola, persistent poverty, climate change. The business case for engaging in corporate social responsibility is clear and unmistakable” (Caramela, 2016). Corporate social responsibility is becoming a major priority for strategic development by corporations around the world. Management needs to take great care in understanding the relationship between the activities of their organizations, customers, the community, the government, the environment, and employees.

Company Q is a small grocery store chain who has struggled to maintain social responsibility. The company decided to close down two of their stores which were operating at a loss due to being located in high crime areas. In the existing stores, Company Q has answered to the demands of their customers by offering a limited amount of health-conscious and organic products, but has declined to help out the community by throwing out day-old foods instead of donating them to the local food bank. The decision to throw out the day-old foods was brought on by lost revenue due to possible employee theft and fraud.

The study of Ethics is an important branch of study. It is as important as the study of the sciences, math and business. At its core the study of ethics provides a framework to make decisions on how we conduct our lives. Almost every action we take has ethical implications that affect our own lives and the lives around us. This is important to consider in the business world, since the decisions made by business organizations can affect the lives of millions of people world wide, as well as the ecological health of the planet. The first four chapters of the text provide readers with several interesting ethical concepts that have implications for business professionals. The two topics that stood out as having the greatest potential for wide ranging effects are the historical perspective on business ethics and hiring ethical people. Studying and understanding history provides a strong foundation for making decisions in the present. Hiring decisions have as large effect on an organization’s success as purchasing or marketing decisions.

Corporate social responsibility can simply be identified as a duty, which is not a legal obligation lately, under very much consideration by every multinationals, as well as the growing firm. The ongoing concern is meant to increase the awareness between the business Individuals, to implement and draw line which should clearly indicates that what social obligation an organization has towards the society.(Caroll,1970) (Caroll, Archie, B.(1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility is towards the moral management of organization stakeholder.

Sustainable development requires companies to meet their objectives while protecting the quality of life of their employees, surrounding community, and the environment. More than 40 years ago, Medtronic 's co-founder Earl Bakken provided the framework for the company 's sustainability strategy by formulating the company 's mission statement that has remained unchanged to the present day. "Medtronic has operated with a clear, compelling mission: To contribute to human welfare through the application of biomedical engineering in the research, design, manufacture, and sale of instruments or appliances that alleviate pain, restore health and extend life" ("Integrated,", 2016, p.4). This visionary mission statement also included a group of ethical guidelines such as the need to strive without reserve for the greatest possible reliability, to recognize the personal worth of employees, and to maintain good citizenship as a company. Those early tenets of corporate responsibility were the foundation of Medtronic 's current sustainability practices.

Examine Apple’s current position on the company’s ethical and social responsibilities, and determine whether or not the company has met these responsibilities. Provide two (2) examples that support your position.

Raymond James is a financial service holding company with subsidiaries specializing in investment banking, financial planning, investments, and asset management. The company was founded in 1962, has been public since 1983, and was founded in St. Petersburg, Florida. In June 2016, Raymond James joined the Fortune 500 list for the first time. This paper will address the corporate social responsibility and ethics of this financial institution (Raymond James).

The argument of whether or not “values”, ethics, and social responsibility should be included in the business world is a fiercely debated subject. Some are completely against including ethics within the business sphere and that in order to stay competitive, a company should do whatever it takes to survive in the dog eat dog world. The proponents of keeping ethics separate from business would claim that going for profit in perfectly competitive markets will work so that society will be served in a way that benefits the most. Milton Friedman would argue that the only social responsibility that a business should have is to increase its profits. Others argue that some system of values need to be included in the world of commerce, especially in the wake of huge financial scandals such as Enron and claims of inhumane factory conditions and child labor in third-world countries by major multi-national enterprises such as Nike and GAP. By focusing solely on shareholders and increasing profits, businesses may start out with small unethical actions that gradually grow larger and larger as they slide down the slippery slope of deceit. Ethics should not be treated as a side note to be considered after generating profits, but integrated into the foundation and basis of business. The question that needs to be addressed is which values need to be incorporated into the foundation and goal of actions and decisions. The values selected need to be chosen not because “we thought they

This paper explores the importance of social responsibility within corporations. This paper also explores “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits” by Milton Friedman and his stance on social responsibility. Friedman believed that corporations should not waste money on new initiatives if it was just to appease the public, especially if it went above what laws required. Examples are shown how corporations must listen to the customer or it could hurt the profitability of the corporation, with social media being a big tool to press issues. Also discussed are laws that support socially responsible initiatives such as pollution reduction that direct and provide incentives for businesses.

Company Q and Social Responsibility Social responsibility is a key attribute for businesses in the market today. When consumers look to spend their disposable income, they look for businesses that not only offer the right product, at the right price, but that also offer great service. Great service can include anything from friendly employees to community involvement. That is where social responsibility becomes apparent in a company’s ethics and values. If a company has a strong tie to the community and demonstrates social responsibility, their consumers will consider this a positive quality and it will separate them from the competition. In this case study with Company Q, they are

Consumers and the general public view companies as greedy establishments looking only to maximize its profits at any cost to the consumer, the community and the environment. While historically this has been the case and even in today’s business environment there still exist organizations that follow this doctrine; organizations that are driven solely by the selfish interest cannot survive because stakeholders have certain expectations of organizations above their ability to generate profits (Vranceanu, 2015). The challenge business with regards to ethics is the concern on whether ethical behavior should be given more priority than making profits. Some organizations view ethics and the practice of ethical behavior to be a burden to

"Corporate social obligation is an administration idea whereby organizations incorporate social and natural concerns in their business operations and collaborations with their stakeholders. CSR is by and large seen as being the path through which an organization attains to a parity of financial, natural and social goals while in the meantime tending to the desires of shareholders and stakeholders."

There are now several concepts of CSR and its definition, along with the meaning across corporations. In my opinion, and according with our textbook in page 11. CSR is about a particular set of business and strategies that deal with social issues. In addition, we can clearly perceive that CSRs application along corporations has increase in the past decade due to the several local, and international regulations in order to enforce business to act responsible.

‘Corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) means that the firm has wider responsibilities in relation to objectives and people apart from the owners or shareholders (Beal and Goyen 2005). These responsibilities are achieved when the firm adapts all of its practices to ensure that it operates in ways that meet, or exceed, the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. Objectives often associated with CSR include a responsibility to manage natural assets sustainably and not to pollute by chemical discharge, smell, noise, dust or other irritants; fair treatment of employees and ethical attitude towards clients. The other people include employees, customers, suppliers,