CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY?

To what extent do you believe there to be a 'business case,' rather than just an ethical justification, for corporate social responsibility?

To what extent do you believe there to be a 'business case,' rather than just an ethical justification, for corporate social responsibility?

Introduction

Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) on the integration of social, environmental and economic structures and processes of decision making by companies. This social responsibility also involves leveraging of shareholders and other stakeholders in a concerted effort to more effectively manage the potential risks and gain greater credibility and greater confidence on the part of society. This is not only to obey the laws and regulations, but also to take into account the real needs of society and to find the most effective ways to meet its current and expected, providing a more durability of the companies themselves. This will ultimately create more value for shareholders and creditors, to offer customers products and services better, to create in the surrounding society a climate of trust and credibility and finally to become self-sustainable over the long term. Companies can adopt the approach of CSR and sustainability to draw direct benefits in terms of core activities. And reducing consumption of energy and materials in the production process can improve operational efficiency.

Discussion

The contemporary importance of the business case for CSR is linked to a second development: the popular embrace of business and the values of moneymaking. The movement for corporate responsibility of the 1960s and 1970s took place during a period of considerable hostility to business. Indeed, companies began to talk more about their social responsibilities during the late 1960s and early 1970s in part as a response to the disenchantment expressed by many college students and graduates with business values. Fortune noted in 1966 that "the prejudice against business is undeniable, and permeates the country's highest-ranking colleges." A student at the Harvard Business School admitted, "If people are really interested in tackling social problems, they will have nothing to do with business. A 1967 survey of college students reported that 61 percent found "their fellow students to be indifferent or hostile toward working in industry. During the second half of the 1960s, enrolment in business schools increased only one-third as fast as total college enrolment.

The current revival of interest in corporate responsibility began in a somewhat different cultural and social context. While surveys continue to report widespread hostility to and suspicion of business, the 1990s were also a decade when many of America's and Europe's "best and brightest" became attracted to business careers. Successful entrepreneurs became admired and respected, and the growth of Silicon Valley became a focus of national pride in the United States and envy in other countries. "Making money" became more respectable, popular interest in business grew, and not coincidentally, business school enrolment soared in both the United States and Europe.

Still, some of the people who enrolled in business schools or began to work for or start companies also cared about social and environmental ...