Power Effect in Decision Making for Corporate Social Responsibilities

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) describes programs adopted by a company in addition to their profit-making ventures. These programs are specifically intended to integrate environmental and social concerns into regular business operations. More than just charity, they act as the “conscience” of the company and balance the social and environmental actions of the company with the desires of the shareholders. (“What is CSR?,” 2015) As a multinational corporation valued at billions of dollars, Bank of America has a large impact on its employees and surrounding communities.

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

According to Wagner, Lutz and Wietz, “the importance for firms to communicate their social responsibility not only has risen substantially over the last few years but also continues to increase dramatically as a result of current worldwide economic conditions and the resultant skepticism of how corporate practices affect the well-being of societies”. In addition, media and technology advances allow for immediate dissemination of both positive and negative messages about a company. When company actions are different than CSR statements, the company’s image and sales suffer. I believe as result of the improved CSR statements and the Wal-Mart bribe situation, American businesses working on foreign soil will improve.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) exercises can possibly make more grounded connections between firms and stakeholders. In spite of the fact that the promoting specialists have concentrated on the effects of CSR exercises on shareholder or stakeholder reactions, the CSR activities and results measured have been varied and conflicting. (Peloza & Shang, 2011). The author argues that

Ethical activities and corporate social responsibility (CSR) impact the success of Starbucks financial performance. A modern concept of CSR has evolved since the 1950s, formalized in the 1960s and proliferated in the 1970s (Carroll, 1999). CSR can be defined as ‘a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a

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.

However, modern theory known as corporate social responsibility (CSR), has complicated the situation in that stating that companies are not only responsible to its shareholders, but also to the stakeholders which its actions may impact (Freeman 1984). While this may seem to contradict the mantra of profit maximisation, Russo and Perrini (2010) suggest that in today’s conscience-minded society, success is based not only on maximising profit but also on a corporation’s stakeholder relationships, which include social and environmental issues.

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

Notably, the ideals which Friedman (1962) clearly stressed: ‘Few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very foundations of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible’ (p.133). He argued the desideratum of any other social responsibility for businessmen other than that of making maximum profits for their stockholders to exist. He reasoned the unavailability of determinant factors of such social responsibilities, taking into account that it is neither efficient nor reliable to enforce nebulous social responsibilities on corporations. Consequently, they opine that the concept of CSR is inimical to sound business practices and strays away from the basics of wealth creation (Clement-Jones, 2005; Murray, 2005; Jamli and Sidani, 2008). These academics feel businesses should involve in CSR “only to the

Corporate Social Responsibility is a major part of The Home Depot and should be considered a function of all businesses. It is, in part, the reason why shareholder wealth is maximized and precisely why it should be considered a function of business. For some businesses, the level of CSR should be higher, based on the size of the business, the number of employees and other stakeholders as well as profit margins and impact on communities and the earth’s natural resources. Some argue that CSR should not be a part of business because they think it is the government’s job to address the environmental interests of the society. Another argument is that the priorities of CSR are subjective and it is difficult to

Also, in referencing the Danish model, although the region may be relatively unique in the widely accepted responsibilities of corporate citizenry, it is not unique in providing such guidelines. The SEC has established a CSR Working Group and provided to the public and firms alike a handbook that discusses principles of Corporate Social Responsibility. (4) The principles discussed within this handbook outline a frame of reference that companies may follow. In addition, CSR disclosure are mandated for listed firms to be provided within each of their annually distributed report, both availing investors to view information pertinent for investment decisions as well as availing corporate leadership the opportunity to compare progress and

Campbell (2007, p. 952) based on the review of CSR proposes that firms are less likely to perform in a socially responsible way when when they are facing weak financial performance and are operating in the environment where there is limited likelihood for short term profitability.

Many social scientists and economists like Friedman (1917 NYT article); Visser (2010) and Karnani (2011) have been looking at the arguments for and against ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’. There are many different definitions of CSR but the idea behind it is that businesses contribute to the well being of society, as well as sustainable development by delivering environmental, economic and social benefits to society, not just economic benefits to the shareholders.

Corporations that do not equip themselves with CSR activities will often be left behind with the increasing global competition and borderless markets, and international corporations with sound CSR activities grow stronger (Altman, 2007). As the education level increases, consumers are made more aware of the need for pro social corporate behaviour.