Strategy and Society

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

Every organized company worldwide should have among its structure, one planning and coordination division in which social and business goals are integrated. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs are necessary for commercial business as an element of risk management and represent an outstanding mechanism for the stakeholders to identify weaknesses when their own actions or others conduct in its operating environment generate social risk. (Kytle and Ruggie 2005).

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

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

Organizations today recognize that it is not only important to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR), but that it is also equally

The extent to which a business should practice corporate social responsibility is a continuing debate in modern society. Only providing services or selling products no longer constitutes a successful company, as there are expectations for firms to behave in a manner that is consistent with public policy. This creates a philosophical dilemma for corporations who wish to maintain positive relations with society, but not impede on their internal operations. The question becomes if corporations today can engage in business strategies that are both ethical and profitable.

Capitalism is dominating the lives of today’s world and people do not even realize how they are being swindled. The civilians of the modern society do not acknowledge how they are being used as assets to make bottom lines for the world’s most competitive companies. With so many corporations and businesses running, there is a neverending race of who can get the most consumers and profits. For companies to attract investors and customers, they use CSR, or corporate social responsibility, to gain advantages in the business industry. Corporate social responsibility is when a company decides to do certain activities to help improve society . CSR consists of different types of categories which are philanthropy, ethical labor practices, and the environment. Throught the decades, there has been a constant debate that concerns how beneficial and helpful corporate social responsibility really is. Some people argue that CSR can let a company make profits and help the general public at the same time, but others suggest that companies who use CSR are only prioritizing their self interest and wealth. Therefore, a company cannot be socially responsible while simultaneously making a profit because corporate social responsibility is used as a way to avoid government regulation and to greenwash a company’s reputation.

Corporate social responsibility(CSR) isn 't a new concern. CSR is usually a managing strategy where organizations integrate sociable and environment concerns into their enterprise surgical procedures and relationships with their stakeholders. The necessity for established social responsibilities in addition to ethical frameworks in business has become a key top priority within our existing modern society. This attitude is supported by the fact that the number of probably the most well-known global companies have been integrating corporate social responsibility (CSR)

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 (CSR) has been a relevant subject within businesses since the early 1980’s where the concept of managing an organisation with an ethical, trans-parent and humane framework, which is critical in the development and the sustainable growth of any company (Marrewijk, 2003).

The issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been bantered since the 1950s. Latest analyses by Secchi (2007) and Lee (2008) reported that the meaning of CSR has been changing in significance and practice. The traditional perspective of CSR was barely constrained to charity and afterward moved to the attention on business-society relations especially alluding to the commitment that a company or firm accommodated tackling social issues. In the early twentieth century, social execution was tied up with business execution. Thusly, business makes riches in the public eye and gives better expectations for everyday life.

However, today not only is CSR thought of as a business’s self-preservation for future survival, but also one’s duty to be socially responsible to the earth and people. As defined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, "Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the community and society at large" (1990). Although CSR is not a mandatory policy among business, many managers are adopting practices to increase profits though reputation, brand, identity and status (Ilona and Ruta 2012). Unfortunately, CSR is not widely implemented within business approach, and the demise is communications of these polies internally and externally is low, thus resulting in less effective outcomes. If management could find a way to integrate CSR into a structured strategy with polices, and concise direction and guidance, CSR aspects could be pursued and achieved on a day-to-day basis. Many workers feel confused that no such strategies exist

The (Commission, 2015) defines CSR as “companies taking responsibility for their impact on society”. It adds that CSR should be initiated by companies, with public authorities playing a supporting role through policy and regulation. Companies the commission would consider as socially responsible would have to comply with the law, integrate social, environmental, ethical, consumer and human rights concerns into their business and strategy operations. This recent definition of CSR covers most if not all of the angles of the different definitions and models of CSR put forth by writers in the CSR space. However as written by many authors, this is a dynamic field that continues to evolve (Carroll and Shabana, 2010, Geva, 2008, Carroll, 1999, Lee, 2008, Pirnea et al., 2011, Waddock, 2008). According to (Spector, 2008) its roots can be traced to the pre- World War II era (early years of the cold war), but for the sake of this paper we shall not go that far back. We

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.