What is CSR? To what extent is there a business case for CSR?

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

Based on my interpretation of CSR, I see it as a voluntary obligation that companies have promised to their stakeholders to fulfill by improving, or at least not harm, the environmental and social wellbeing. When companies engage in CSR, they voluntarily promise to, for example, carry the responsibility to protect the environment and take actions against bribe or other corruptive activities related to their business. It certainly has some positive influences to specific areas based on my knowledge gained from other classes; nevertheless, when judge CSR in the context of total impacts on our society and environment, it is obvious that CSR has failed its mission to lessen the negative impacts of business based on the evidences that provided by the author. Also, since there is a strong positive relationship between CSR behaviors and consumers’ reactions to a firm’s products and services, it seems to me, now, that CSR for the most companies is just a fancy cover that helps them to create or promote a good image and reputation. The recent case that shows the failure of CSR of Volkswagen even make me believe that CSR programs may be just a marketing or public relation exercise for many

Even though customers are a major key to success of any business, limiting CSR practices to an external group of stakeholder is insufficient. From the customers’ side, the focus is “on the corporate brand and its societal relationships with external constituencies.” (Lacey, Hensel 316). It is undeniable that implementation of CSR can attract the customers and lead them to be a significant are source of a financial gain. That is because CSR changes the way consumers behave in the market and alter their beliefs toward the company standards.” (Lacey, Hensel 316). Nevertheless, extensive focus on the social gains may cause the business to suffer financially. If that happened, the case is considered to be a failure of executing CSR. Again, this is a result of shifting all the business gears to benefit a sole group the stakeholders.

Literature Review Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the concept of businesses considering economic, social and environmental benefits for all their stakeholders. Friedman’s position on CSR appears very negative, his argument is the only social responsibility businesses have is to exploit their capabilities to increase profits, therefore implying businesses solely aim to increase profits while disregarding social and environmental factors (Friedman, 1970). I disagree with this view because I believe businesses are required to undertake social responsibilities, such as recycling and using fair trade ingredients, to provide customer satisfaction and create a good public image. If customers were not satisfied with the products or services, they purchase or thought they were buying from an unethical company this could decrease demand and profits. Therefore, CSR is important to businesses because businesses need customers to survive and a method of retaining or gaining customers is to be socially responsible.

2. CSR benefits for companies Through globalization the gap between the rich and poor has increased, while the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. This can be one of the many reasons why companies choose to be more social responsible as CSR aims to reduce conflicts between stakeholders. Although, individuals are aware that more companies are producing social responsible goods, companies can benefit from CSR practices in different ways. When companies decide to be socially and environmentally active, not only will the society and the environment benefit from the companies ethical practices, but they can also differentiate themselves in today's competitive market.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the pledge a business makes where it promises to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of workforce and their family as well as the local community (Pride, Hughes, Kapoor 42). This practice helps to form or improve the positive image of the company. Businesses that follow the socially responsible model consider the impact of the company’s actions on society. This also includes promoting and supporting local, national and global causes, which is a part of CSR called corporate philanthropy, where businesses donate some of their profits or resources to charities (Taylor). Companies that show social responsibility this way must be devoted to doing so on a regular basis, because if don’t follow through with it, your organization may be viewed by the public as dishonest. Many critics of CSR believe that this model reduces the main goal of business, restricts the free market goal of maximizing profit, and also limits the ability to compete in a global marketplace (Pride, Hughes, Kapoor 47). Though critics may believe they are right, CSR gives companies a chance to address social issues caused by business’ and other factors and allows them to be a part

Despite the increasingly obvious trend of CSR, conflicts around the topic are common especially in real businesses. Conducting CSR initiatives or programs requires investing corporate resources, including charitable giving, investing in green solutions, paying for better working environment and assisting community development, for returns that are usually distant and uncertain.

Introduction Although corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a buzz point in the American business world of today, assessment of its prerequisites indicates that the topic may be more problematic than seems at first flush since modern-day companies straddle various cultures and perspectives and trying to please all may eventuate not only pleasing neither but also harming themselves.

Arguing for Corporate Social Responsibility Introduction: The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) originated in 19537 with the publication of Bowen’s book Social Responsibilities of Businessmen (Carrol, 1999). Some perceived that at that time, the emphasis is placed on business people’s social conscience, rather than on the company itself. Some argue that corporate entities do not have any social responsibility except the ones that were written in agreement with government while establishing corporate entities, whereas others justify that corporate entities do have social responsibility. The roots of critics of CSR are so old that it is a challenge to the neoclassical business model itself (Valor, 2005). According to Smith (2005), there

The idea of a perfectly clear and all-encompassing definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been much deliberated and remains controversial. The research of Marrewijk (2013, p.95) elaborated on the significance of this ongoing debate among academics, consultants and corporate executives which results in creating, supporting and criticising of different concepts. This essay will illuminate CSR principles, consider different definitions and concepts and relate it to my definition. Furthermore, it supports the argument of companies’ interest in CSR only for profit maximisation.

Executive Summary The welfare of the community as well as the employees within a company is what Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) focuses on. It plays a huge role within the society. In this report, we touch on all the various aspects CSR starting with its history(its origin in the fifties), focusing on Bowen, Davis and Carroll’s evolving concepts as it developed over the decades to the current global implication. The briefing on the assumptions of CSR deals with the common beliefs in business practices and our opinions on how corporations’ would react to these assumptions. By analyzing its pros and cons, we discuss the impact of incorporating CSR into a business model.

What is CSR? To what extent is there a business case for CSR? In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the phrase ‘Corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) came into public view. This essay will describe that what CSR is and how much profits will be taken in business for CSR. Nowadays, companies not only sell their products but also give back to the society such as being active in the charity drive, solving environment problems, spending money to making infrastructure and helping other people achieve their dreams. There are two sounds about whether a company should engage in CSR. Some people argue that money cannot be put into CSR because the only factor of business must be to maximize profits. However, on the other hand, other people state

Referring to a quotation by (Solomon 1993) “there is a contradiction between an endogenous ability to profit and the company’s distribution to society”. It is worth noting that CSR implementation and activities come with costs on it. The argument against the implementation and practice of CSR by organisations most times points to the cost impact. CSR by an organisation will increase operating costs, which

Introduction Recently, the expectations of society for companies have increased more than before (Craig, Bhattacharya, Vogel and Levine, 2010), so one significant issue that most firms have been actively involved in is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Some may debate that it decreases company’s profits by spending much money on CSR. However, according to Needle (2004), ‘good’ CSR is also good for business, a firm could benefit from doing CSR. Thus, this paper aims to explain its importance. It begins with the definition of CSR and its four responsibilities, then presents how it influences a business and benefits it can bring. Finally, I am going to describe strategic CSR and discuss why firms have social responsibility.

Introduction As the globalization are happening faster and the scale is more worldwide and intensive, international business is more the concerned subjects for a lot of researches. And among factors that related to that field, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is considering as a very essential and key feature in doing business internationally (Werther & Chandler, 2005). Therefore, there are numerous and wide range of studies in associated with defining CSR, figuring out the relationship between CSR and organization performance, etc. Moreover, while applying CSR as a phenomenon or as an integral part of operations, overestimate or misunderstanding of CSR is one of the significant problem (Blomgren, 2010). My paper aim at conducting a fairly depth understanding of CSR in form of four main points: 1. Definition of CSR, 2.The effects of CSR on International Business, 3. Different perspective toward CSR, 5. Pros and cons when implementing CSR in Vietnam conditions.