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

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

Forbes Magazine Entrepreneurs segment published an article “Why CSR? The Benefits Of Corporate Social Responsibility Will Move You To Act”. The author of the article Devin Thorpe, connected with several corporate executives representing small and large organizations from an array of different industries in efforts to establish if CSR does in fact benefit a corporation. Based off his discussions with these business professionals and experts, Devin concluded the following:

The benefit to business of good Corporate Social Responsibility is difficult to quantify as it varies depending on the nature of the enterprise. Some scholars believe that there is a business justification for CSR. That is, what is good for the environment and society will be good for company profitability. And studies have shown a slightly positive correlation between CSR and financial gain (Steiner and Steiner, 2006). However, as Freidmanism claims, the first responsibility of business is to make enough profit to cover the costs for the future. If this social responsibility is not met, no other responsibilities can be (Hargreaves, 2006). Therefore it is critical that CSR activities are included in strategy formulation and that the level of resources devoted to CSR is determined like any other strategy – through cost/benefit analysis. Corporations will not throw money away…they need to see it

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.

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) 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.

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

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.

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. For the decision makers within corporations, it is hard to judge because they would be at someone else’s expense to create social value. Another conflict occurs when it comes to the role of CSR in businesses’ development: whether it is harmful or helpful for the businesses’ profitability is still quite a concern, not to mention that the difficulties to get a measurable bottom line out of CSR initiatives.

According to Auld, Bernstein and Cashore (2008), companies stand to gain from CSR though they at liberty to use either defensive or offensive approaches. In this case, a business can use CSR to gain competitive advantage or avoid disadvantages associated with the same. Some of the advantages include:

Ignorance of the CRS is no longer a suitable approach to continue as an active business in the industry. Previously, only the tip of the iceberg of the CSR had been noticed by the business. But for now, it is about thinking outside the box. It is about including other non-business aspects of one’s business. According to an article published in Times Magazine in 2012 that has the title of” Why Companies Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Their Social Responsibilities”: “More than 8,000 businesses around the world have signed the UN Global Compact pledging to show good global citizenship in the areas of human rights, labor standards and environmental protection.” Businesses start to believe that CSR is the path to long-term achievement.

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.

Nonetheless, these factors, as Holmes and Watts (2000) themselves point out; vary from culture to culture depending on social rules and principles. In this way, critics of CSR may argue that particular cultural values may actually cause CSR to militate with company's material success and cause the company to falter. The situation may be particularly pronounced when the company, for instance, outsources and is, thereby, obligated to straddle more than one

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

CSR is an important part of how a business operates in an ethical way, a corporation’s practices are deemed as ethical if it operates in such a way that is both clean and ecological to the environment, and one that abides by the law. By following this conduct, the corporation follows a much moral way of operating. A corporation that operates in harmful ways, such as exploitation, corruption