Dr. Anis Ben Brik

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 this article, “The Truth About CSR,” authors Rangan, Chase and Karim stress the importance in aligning a company’s social and environmental activities with its business purpose and values (Rangan, Chase, & Karim, 2015, 41). Outcomes of CSR programs should be a “spillover” and not a primary focus of a business, expressing concern towards social responsibility and corporations failing to contribute to society accordingly (Rangan, Chase, Karim, 2015, 42). There is a great deal of importance in companies refocusing their CSR activities on a primary goal and in providing an organized process for bringing consistency and discipline to CSR strategies (42). Rangan, Chase and Karim want corporations to understand why it is important for them to evaluate their CSR activities and refocus them towards the goal of reinforcing the firm’s societal and environmental actions, while also ensuring their actions add to the overall purpose and values of the corporation. According to the authors, even though

Current approaches to CSR are fragmented and/or disconnected from business goals. Many firms still consider CSR as another generic public relations problem in which media campaigns and CSR reports are used to paint the company as a positive ethical, social and or environmental advocator and supporter. For example, the annual reports discuss a firm’s sensitivities to CSR issues, but completely lack the entire story and offer no further forward commitments from the firm. Further, the ratings and rankings measurements are self-appointed by the firm, not always accurate to validate the work and direct impact to what they are measuring, and the criteria base varies widely and weighed differently in the final scoring. Worst of all the data lacks impartial auditors for validating the data to ensure the ratings have been accurately met, and data is statistically significant and a good proxy for what it is supposed to reflect. This has resulted in reactive initiatives designed to appease vocal

CSR lacks universal methods. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) mentions that it is important to draw a distinction between CSR as part of strategic business management concept and charity, sponsorships or philanthropy. The latter applications make valuable social impacts that enhance the reputations of the companies, however, CSR is a continual effort instead of an instance. A few features that CSR should focus on are: eco-efficiency, employee and community relations, environmental management, gender balance, responsible souring, anti-corruption, stakeholder engagement and human rights. Utilizing some of these key features a company can bring competitive advantages into the market place. Increased sales and profits from operational cost savings as well as improved reputation and brand image and customer loyalty can result from a well-defined CSR strategy.

Growing competition and the ever increasing emphasis on cost reduction and efficiency has caused many firms to outsource various components of their operations outside of the country. As firms are thrusted into the global marketplace and transformed into multinational corporations (MNCs), new challenges arise related to the differences/disparity in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices between countries (Chandler & Werther Jr., 2014; Cruz, 2013). Globalization has increased companies need to consider the importance and strategic value of CSR (Chandler & Werther Jr., 2014; Cruz, 2013).

Critically evaluate how and to what extent should management recognise corporate social responsibility extending beyond the boundaries of the organisation

Whether CSR costs a company money or earns them money can be a challenging topic to argue. There are many factors that are considered when assessing a company’s long term financial performance and its relationship between the company’s CSR and their revenue. These factors include a company’s CSP (Corporate Social Performance, or the measure of CSR), size, risk taken, economic scaling, and competition. However, there are several additional variables that are commonly forgotten and must be considered when calculating the effect a company’s CSR has on their financial situation. R&D for example has a major impact on a company’s long term economic performance, as it leads to improved knowledge and increased ingenuity on the company’s operations and products. Positive returns on R&D investments can lead to increased shareholder returns and increased profits.

The importance of corporate social responsibility to companies has been widely debated. Companies eager for maximizing the profit with limited cost. Facing the complexity economic environment and growing competition, as well as the short-term performance pressures from shareholders, companies have no idea but force to restructure the business, reduce the labor force and relocate the business to lower-cost regions. However, are they really helpful to maintain the competitive advantages and gain the sustainable profit? Michael Porter and Mark Kramer, in their January/ February 2011 Harvard Business Review article - Creating Shared Value (CSV) explains what a growing companies have come to recognize - companies can derive a

The research conclusion of the relevance between corporate social responsibility and corporate economic performance is not similar. They can be mainly divided into three views. One view is that company’s social obligation has a negative relevance with the economic performance of companies; another view is that corporate social obligation can cut down transaction expenses, enhance the competitive power and the manufacture efficiency, finally it increases the company 's financial performance. Some literature studies think that there is no relevance between company’s social obligation and its financial obligation or the relationship is nonlinear.

The recent fifteen years saw a dramatic increase of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) report. There were more than 3300 CSR reports in 2008 while the number of 2002 was less than 100. More and more companies especially some multinational corporations among the world are keen to proving the sustainability, in order to improve their corporate image and credibility (Adams, 2002). This essay will explain why there are an increasing number of companies are willing to make CSR report annually, and discuss whether reporting on social and environmental activities is equal to good social and environmental performance in reality.

Today, in this complex business environment where all business enterprises are surviving by realizing maximum profits possible, there exists a mechnism called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that is providing the required edge towards success. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the way a corporation achieves a balance among its economic, social, and environmental responsibilities in its operations so as to address shareholder and other stakeholder expectations. This is because it is

Nowadays, stakeholders not only care about profits, but pay more attention to company’s actions on environmental, ethical and social aspects, which links to Corporate Social Responsibility program, as these factors may significantly change the fate of a company in a long term (Chan, 2014). According to an article addressed by CSRquest, (2016) Corporate Social Responsibility is how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on the society through its interaction with key stakeholders such as employees and customers. Furthermore, CSR is closely linked to globalisation because whether a company has engaged in CSR programs or not has become a decisive factor of engaging in a globalised marketplace, because

A research study on the correlation between a company’s corporate social and financial performance: The Case of 1000 Top Earning Companies in the Philippines.

Social responsibility is another integral component of a strategic plan. It is essential to integrate corporate social responsibility within the daily operations of an organization. By doing so, it helps ensure that the organization is moving toward the constant development and better interest for the public by attempting to reduce any potential negative impacts of its operations. As such, corporate social responsibility is an integral method of gaining a competitive advantage through the enhancement of its corporate image through the perspective of the stakeholders and the public. Knowing this, more and more organizations are allocating additional resources in an attempt to strengthen their commitment to society. This is commonly demonstrated in the reduction of environmental pollution or assisting in providing financial resources for various social causes (Min-Dong Paul, 2009). When an organization focuses on social responsibility

Business and society are interdependent. The wellbeing of one depends on the wellbeing on the other. Companies engaged in CSR are reporting benefits to their reputation and their bottom line.