CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

Introduction

In 1960 Davis described social responsibility as business “decisions and actions taken for reasons at least partially beyond the firm's direct economic or technical interests.” The various lines of academic inquiry and the different conceptions of the meaning of the term social responsibility, however, have resulted in a spectrum of definitions. For example, one of the most popular versions today is termed corporate social responsibility (CSR), defined as “categories or levels of economic, legal, ethical and discretionary activities of a business entity as adapted to the values and expectations of society” (Joyner and Payne, 2002). In short, CSR posits that by being socially responsible, marketing can achieve greater profits as well as a higher quality of life for the whole society, and as such, it is closely associated with societal marketing. This can be accomplished by companies being proactive, consumer oriented, and by considering consumers' wellbeing as the highest priority. Moreover, CSR encourages marketing to consider its obligations and duties to its various stakeholders - the people affected by an organization's policies and practices. As Smith (2001: 142) makes clear, “Fulfilment of these obligations is intended to minimize any harm and maximize the long-run beneficial impact of the firm on society.” One way companies can do this is by reaching out and catering not only to the mainstream core markets, but also to those that contain consumers who do not have access to full equal opportunities, such as the poor, the elderly and frail, the undereducated, certain minorities, and those who are particularly vulnerable (Coskun, 1992). Charitable contributions (Thorne-McAlister and Ferrell, 2002) and green/sustainable marketing (van Dam and Apeldoorn, 1996) are also expressions of CSR programs in that they both attempt to “communicate proactively the company's raison d'être to opinion leaders and the general public” (Orgrizek, 2002).

Levi Strauss Corporate Social Responsibility

This paper sets out to investigate Levi's Strauss's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through its citizenship program, management, actions and commitments to determine the task of balancing bottom line concerns with social responsibility.

In addition, Levi's duty as a conglomerate has the responsibility alike other Multi-National Companies, to operate as a socially responsible entity due to the aspects of ethics and social responsibility becoming major concerns in the global economy.

Corporate Boards and CSR

Corporate boards, by history, law and practice, are overseers of the corporation. This oversight function is noted by the General Corporate Law of Delaware, the benchmark for modern U.S. corporation governance (Perdersen and Huniche, 2006). In modern companies, the board is integral to shape the values and cultures of the organization (Putti, Koontz and Weihrich, 1998). It approves and oversees business strategy, reviews and monitors financial performance and capital allocation (Backman, 1999). The board has to ensure compliance with the law and it has the authority to set its own compensation and that of top executives and it also structures its own governance process, notably, procedures for conducting business and constituting committees, and also CSR (Francesco and Gold, ...