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According
to the history, in the year 1950 the writing of academic literature on
corporate social responsibility started. It is basically a self-regulating
business model. This model makes the company accountable towards its employees,
stakeholders, and the public. This model helps businesses to be aware of the
impact their activities have on the society. If a company is actively engaged
in CSR, it would me that, the company’s activities are structured in a way that
they can’t harm the society or the environment. It is a very elaborate concept,
and it varies according to industries and companies. The businesses can prove
to be beneficial to the society while boosting their brands, by initiating
programs that are based on CSR, by philanthropic activities, and volunteering
efforts. The CSR is not only beneficial for the society it benefits the company
that is carrying it out too. It strengthens the bond between the company and its
employees, boosts morale of the people working for the company and the society
in general, and the employer as well as the employee feels a deeper connection
with the society they operate in
Now there are some newer as well as some
old concepts of CSR, according to the old concepts the CSR only focuses on a
company being accountable, and being responsible to the society it works in.
however according to the new beliefs, the CSR views the company as a part of
the society it operates in and as an individual in a society fulfills his
responsibilities the company should too. According to another old concept, the
CSR emphasizes a company to take action and work for the well-being of the
society. In the newer approach, a company is expected to fulfill its
responsibilities in every aspect. In the older approaches of CSR, the company
was emphasized to take actions and deliver results. However, the new approaches
of CSR, have a long term focus and are concerned about the well-being of
society for the future as well
There are different models of CSR, but the most
commonly used focuses on four components;
·
Economic: according to the economic level
of corporate social responsibility, a business has to earn profits, so that it
becomes able to give back to the society. It must be sustainable, it means it
is profitable for its shareholders; its employees are being paid according to
the appropriate levels of wage. It is paying its taxes, and other financial
obligations that it has are being met. To fulfill the economic aspect of
corporate social responsibility, the company has to be truthful and transparent
about its financial status to all of its stakeholders.
·
Legal: it is a common practice that a
person would like to buy products from a company, that they can trust by all
means. A part of gaining a customer’s trust includes following all the laws
that are applicable to it. A company should pay the taxes that are applicable
to it, abide by all the labor laws, and allowing all the inspections that are
required entails to abiding the legal aspect of corporate social responsibility
·
Ethical: the ethical level of corporate
social responsibility, includes paying the employees a wage according to the
standards set for wages, buying materials from the legal sources and suppliers
and not doing any unethical activity in your business activities. Further, you
should also look the impact you business is having on the environment, you
should encourage practices like recycling and take initiatives for clean and
green environment, by doing all of this your brand’s reputation will increase,
and people would like to buy from your brand.
·
Discretionary: it means using the time and
resources for the betterment of the society. This includes encouraging the
employees to participate in volunteering activities, donate to charities, or
initiate a charity of your own.
The CSR equation is made up by combining all four of
the above responsibilities. That is called as the “total CSR”.
Characteristics
of corporate social responsibility
Following are the characteristics of the corporate social
responsibility;
The
public
The individuals who do not work for the organization,
the activities of the organization also have an impact on them, and even do not
buy their products, for instance, if a company’s activities pollute the
environment, then it will also affect the person who do not even have any link
with it. CSR is aware of this impact and tries to make this interaction
positive by encouraging companies to watch their activities.
The
environment
The companies are encouraged to make their activities as
much harmless for the environment as possible. The CSR challenges the
traditional belief that the environment is a source of materials only and waste
can be dumped into it. It says that, the environment should be protected and
should be made more livable
Clients
The traditional approach that the interests of the
client are not the responsibility of the company and the market is responsible
of doing it is challenged by the CSR. It tries to make corporations responsible
for it by divising practices, that needs
to be followed that measures the interactions that happen between the client
and the company and thus protects the interests of client.
Staff
The people who work with the organizations have the
right to be paid fairly for the work they did. To have a workable and hygienic
environment is the responsibility of the corporation. CSR emphasizes on the
rights of all the workers and to make sure that these rights are being granted
it has devised plans and practices.
Criticism
on CSR
Generally the concept of CSR is accepted and
encouraged by the society but it is not free of criticism. This criticism can
be divided into five groups;
The
first criticism is that the CSR, demands very little and
by doing only a small amount of work the companies generate great benefits.
This view says that, the businesses should work in proportion to the benefits
they are getting
The
second criticism is that the publicity that is associated
with this concept gives the notion that the company is doing a lot in this
field, when in real it’s not doing much. The coverage that media channels give
to this concept builds the image that all of the companies are practicing it,
and in real they are not giving the society any benefits.
The
third criticism is that, the CSR activities that are
practiced by some businesses have no link to their own activities. Like many
businesses are reported to be supporting the concept of work place equality and
giving fair pays, when in real they are outsourcing their works from the
developing countries where these concepts are not much in practice.
The
fourth criticism is that large businesses and
multinational corporations are able to get an influence over the society by
following theses practices, and they can then use this influence to do
unethical or illegal task.
The
fifth criticism denotes it as an empty promise, an says
it as only a tool of making public relations and nothing more than that, they
say that CSR in essence is only used by companies to promote their relations
with the public and in real they do not do any such thing that is in its
definition.
CSR
and Sustainability
CSR is based on the concept of sustainability. It is
based on what is done by companies to reach a path of sustainable development.
There are many ways in which sustainability can be practiced, from the way
technology is used, to the way they eat food, from the transport they use, to
the way they commute. Now many stakeholders and the owners of companies are
looking at how companies can work to tackle the risks that are faced by the world.
The corporations are expected to have good strategies to contribute to make
this world a better place
Conclusion
In the above discussion we saw how CSR works for the betterment of society but it has criticism too. However after the above discussion we can say that there might be some truth in the criticisms but we can’t say that the CSR is useless. In many companies it is thoroughly practiced and society actually benefits from it.
References
of academic literature on corporate
social responsibility started
Agudelo, M. A., Jóhannsdóttir, L., & Davídsdóttir,
B. (2019). A literature review of the history and evolution of corporate social
responsibility. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility
volume, 01(02), 01-10.
Aras, G. &. (2010). Handbook of Governance and
Social Responsibility. Gower Publishing, UK.
Barry, A. (2014). Characteristics of corporate
social responsibility assurance practices. Retrieved from uir.unisa.ac.za:
http://uir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/18986
Carroll, A. B. (2000). Corporate social
responsibility: Evolution of a definitional construct. Business &
Society, 38(03), 268-295.
Kakabadse, N. K., Rozuel, C., & Lee-Davies, L.
(2005). Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder approach: A conceptual
review. International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 01(04),
01-10.
Marens, R. (2008). RECOVERING THE PAST:. JOURNAL OF
MANAGEMENT HISTORY, : 55-72.
Schooley, S. (2019). What Is Corporate Social
Responsibility? Retrieved from www.businessnewsdaily.com:
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4679-corporate-social-responsibility.html
Xaxx, J. (2017). Characteristics of Corporate
Social Responsibility. Retrieved from bizfluent:
https://bizfluent.com/info-8322570-characteristics-corporate-social-responsibility.html
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