Csr Reporting Implications For Barclays Banks Environmental Sustainability

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

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.

In today 's economic and social environment, issues related to social responsibility and sustainability are gaining more and more importance, especially in the business sector (Webfinance. 2014). Business goals are inseparable from the societies and environments within which they operate. Whilst short-term economic gain can be pursued (Catalyst Consortium. 2002), the failure to account for longer-term social and environmental impacts makes those business practices unsustainable. In our current society, the Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption (Corporate Watch. 1996 –

“Studies analysing the bottom-line value of CSR have demonstrated that it adds substantial economic and social returns to businesses when it is carefully thought out, executed, and periodically evaluated as part of a holistic institutional policy” (Deegan, 2002; Hummels and Timme, 2004). The bank should also invest in social responsible activities to differentiate it, which can help in emphasizing Jyske’s values and differences and encouraging ethical behaviour amongst its stakeholders. These activities might seem subtle, but they have proven to be forceful signals that improve the brand image and communicate goodwill to customers. They also influence perceptions of the service quality and affects loyalty

Corporate Social Responsibility is a philosophy that relates to a business being a part of the society, so acts in a way that not only advances its own firm but also serves the society as well. Good ethics is the cornerstone of sustainable development. In the long run, unethical behavior may harm customers and the society as a whole. Furthermore, it damages a company’s image, efficiency and effectiveness in operations. In some extreme cases, it may jeopardize the company’s survival. As a matter of fact, the behavior of a firm will be judged by the groups of the society. Their judgments and responses will have an impact on the performance of the

The term ‘corporate social responsibility’ is still in popular use, even though competing, complementary and overlapping concepts such as corporate citizenship, business ethics, stakeholder management and sustainability are all vying to become the most accepted and widespread descriptor of the field. At the same time, the concept of corporate social performance (CSP) has become an established umbrella term which embraces both the descriptive and normative aspects of the field, as well as placing an emphasis on all that firms are achieving or accomplishing in the realm of social responsibility policies, practices and results. In the final analysis, however, all these concepts are related, in that they are integrated by key, underlying themes such as value, balance and accountability (Schwartz and Carroll 2008), and CSR remains a dominant, if not exclusive, term in the academic literature and in business practice. Just to illustrate how the concept is always evolving, CSR International, a non-profit organization, announced in 2009 the birth celebration of CSR International, an exciting new organization supporting the transition from what it called the ‘old CSR’ (Corporate Social Responsibility) or CSR 1.0 to the ‘new CSR’ (Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility) or CSR 2.0. Whether CSR 2.0 turns out to be substantially different

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.

With the development of the society, the mean purpose of corporations is no longer only being profitable. According to Lee, Companies and organizations are expected to have more optimistic contribution on society (2008). Social responsibility has become a regular part of the corporations’ mission. Each organization have their own ways to involve in the corporate social responsibilities activities (as cited in Jong & Meer 2017). Environment is always an essential part in CSR, and a lot of strategies are used to improve the environment. As one of the five biggest banks in Canada, Scotiabank has made a lot of effort on environmental protection.

Barclays PLC, formerly known as Barclays Limited Bank implemented financial industries and sustainability which focuses on profit, environment and the people. Barclays PLC focused on environment thru carbon, palm oil and mining. The environment focuses on priorities to target carbon, waste and paper. Barclays made decisions on palm oil depending on the effect to the environment and the employment opportunities to the people. Barclays concentrates on social aspects of the triple bottom-line and sustainability. Barclays focuses on ethical and social principles thru the implementation of respect and value of its workers, integrity and servicing customers. Barclays feels that if the workers are working together they will be able to provide a better service to the customers. Barclays has a variety of programs that benefit the developing companies and the people. The programs include “Building Young Futures” and “Barclays Spaces for Sports.” Barclays integrates retail and banking, investments and wealth management unto their company. Barclays meets the needs of all financial stakeholders and impacts long and short term of the company’s decision making. Lastly, Barclays focuses on wealth management providing clients with wealth advisors to assist clients to manage their accounts, pensions and properties.

Accountancy has always been concerned with mainly the accountability of directors to shareholders and companies to creditors. As companies grow larger and become more integrated with the society, this call for a focus towards sustainability and being accountable to a wider range of stakeholders (Perks, 1993). Corporate Social Responsibility is defined as a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations by going beyond

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 original concept of corporate social responsibilities focus only on the social responsibilities, such as employment and consumer rights. As environmental damage has become major concern in the recent years, the concept of corporate social responsibilities has also covered environmental responsibilities, such as water pollution and polluted gas emission, which in turn become one of the important parts of corporate social responsibilities practices (Flammer 2013). Globalisation has constantly developed the concept of corporate social responsibilities in which the method of handling the companies' environmental consequences is important for maintaining or improving the corporate image. Therefore many companies utilise the corporate social responsibilities practices and disclose them in the annual

Before we can fully understand Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting (CSR) and its key aspects, we need to first understand the inherent limitations of annual reports provided by many of the globally listed companies. Everything that we have analysed in the prior week’s regarding IFRS accounting policies, practices and regulations plays a role in the lack of CSR practices of firms. This is because IFRS accounting policies and regulation only represents a very limited financial or economic view of the operations of these listed companies. There seems to be no accountability for the impact that these globally listed corporations have on the environment or on society. Therefore, these listed companies only focus on one bottom line in their annual reports, a bottom line that is based on financial profit only. There also does not seem to be any mandatory IFRS standards in place to require companies to set aside profits that should be used to repair the negative impacts on the environment, employee rights and conditions that are consequences of their actions (Taylor, 2016c).

Globalisation has been a prevalent issue and a wide trending discussion topic. It is defined as, “a complex economic, political, cultural, and geographic process in which the mobility of capital, organisations, ideas, discourages, and peoples has taken on an increasingly global or transnational form.” (Moghadam, 1999, p. 376). This globalisation phenomenon has built the interrelationship between national markets and industries into worldwide arena. Thus, the trend towards global markets, global production and global competition has been occasioned by the interdependence growth between national economies (Brooks, Weatherston & Wilkinson, 2004). Therefore, in consequence of emerging globalisation, it has impacted the international business organisations; the way international business operating the business practises has changed. The nature of macro-environment based on political, economic, technological, environmental and legal areas is required to be measured and analysed by business organisation, specifically for international firms in order to set the strategy and look for the opportunity and threat. One of the elements of globalisation changes is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The concept of CSR nowadays is becoming more crucial as many international business organisations have been

‘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,