It is important that corporations take ownership in the social implications of its business. They need to be accountable for issues beyond the business aspect and make efforts to improve society and quality of life for all customers and employees, etc. It needs to include environmental, social, and economical issues. Without this focus today, companies are in danger of facing problems.
Corporate responsibility will have an impact on customers buying products or using services. It is even more important when economic conditions are bad. Corporate responsibility can set organizations apart from the pack.
Coca-Cola for instance, works with the local community to support projects that help the community. They make a lot of donations mainly to local community issues but also to other organizations in relation to the environment, healthcare and disaster relief. Another company example would be Burger King. Burger King places a lot of emphasis on the environment. They are continually working to find ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. The kids meal bags are made out of recycled materieals and are printed with educational information about recycling.
It is very important that all companies work hard to show proof of their efforts. Consumers are not going to just believe the company is "going green" just because they advertise that fact. They need to report what they are doing and show evidence of how they are backing up their plan. In todays world of skepticism, "seeing is believing " and no one wants empty promises.
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ReplyDeleteI think Jenifer is correct in terms of addressing that companies who are in the process of carrying out Corporate Social Responsibility has to present evidence or proof as it is a true fact that seeing is believing. I think it is very true in terms of real world scenario.
ReplyDeleteTo add more on to this, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has rapidly increased in importance around the world than it was before. It is a way of conducting a business by considering the impact of activities on customers, suppliers, employees, stakeholders, communities as well as the environment. I think in the competitive global business world today; many corporations have been required by law to adapt rules and regulations of corporate responsibility. In this way it has grown continuously into a-must-have for corporations around the world. In some instances where corporation do not follow these rules and regulations, they are penalized with huge penalties and fines. (http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/page.php?Story_ID=1526)
But it needs a lot of investment in the corporate social responsibility. As such, how are small sized companies going to take this huge step? Usually small companies can also take this step without actually spending millions of dollars. It is not necessary for them to go beyond their limits. They can make various efforts on to carry out the CSR. They can pick to support a local charity, or may be a sponsor at a local occasion or event. This lets the use of expertise as well as showing the community the positive part of the business. For example, usually in many cases some restaurants provide food to homeless people. Doing this they still protect their image and remain within the rules and regulations of CSR.
I agree with Jennifer about nobody wants to listen to empty promises. However, in my opinion, the idea of CSR is easier to be said than done. We have to take into consideration that CSR usually needs reciprocal relationship between buyers and sellers. Let's say if one seller is dedicated to produce "green" products at much higher prices than its competitors, will those buyers spend more in order to support those "green" products or just tighten up their wallets to buy those products which is not "green"?
ReplyDeleteMoreover, there is an agency conflict between the managers and the stockholders on the basis of profit maximization of the organization. In order to implement a better CSR within an organization, will those stockholders give up some of their money from their pockets to be more corporate socially responsible? Thus, the organization must have a transparent and effective communication channel to convey the main objectives of the organization to its main stakeholders (Stockholders, customers, other possible investors, etc.) so that the conflict of interest can be solved in a more effective manner.
It's good to say that: "Say what you do, do what you said."
I think that one of the reasons companies more advertise their CSR than before is that consumers cannot trust companies due to the continuous happened scandals. However, when I see the company’s advertisement which praises their CSR more than necessary, I am conversely doubtful whether it is true.
ReplyDeleteThere may be arguments that small company cannot contribute to the society. Certainly, the more companies expand in size, the more they have responsibilities because they become to affect social life on a large scale. However, corporate responsibility doesn't necessarily mean charity or donation. It also includes being ethical and doing no wrong. It is also important for ourselves to be an ethical member of society.
I believe that it is very important for businesses all around the world to really take their part in making efforts to save the resources that we really take for granted every day. It is important for them to not just say they are and not do it, I would rather them not say anything and do their best to save than to make everyone think they are. I see this first hand at the bank, because we have a team set-up called the "Green Team" that works together to help the company not only save money but to really help in the efforts to save many of the resources that we depend on each day.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important that we all take the steps to save what we have, and promote this where we work and or where we will work.
I agree that seeing really is believing. Since businesses are driven by the need to make profit, many of them will make false claims so as to appear responsible to their constituents and the environment. They tend to take a reactive approach. Businesses that believe and practice what they preach are better suited to achieve long-term gains.
ReplyDeleteI believe in today's environment, business, especially corporation, could never be truly 100% responsible. But this is because our society fuels this non-responsibility mentality. It is clear to me that the recent recession/depression is due to banks/corporations/governments unwillingness to be responsible.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of business to improve upon society. Profit maximizations is a means to that, but profit maximization can not be the sole aim, if it is you almost always act irresponsible to some degree.
I totally agree that corporate responsibility becomes even more important when economic and environment conditions are bad. I believe that corporations can contribute more in this part since the decisions or policies the companies make will affect the behavior of more people in the world. even thought we can not measure exactly how much effort or money on SCR the company has put into the business, but as a customer, we will be convinced and delightful to see those enterprises are willing to build their business upon social responsibility
ReplyDeleteI think CSR has played a major role for companies to increase the prices of their products since people, oblivious of the details tend to get attracted to the so called 'green' companies. If one digs into the details, it is clear that no corporation could be 100% or even half green. Advertising seems to do the job so it is more feasible for corporations to spend more on advertising and try to find ways to make their company paint green instead of trying to help the society.
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