An introduction to:

Corporate Social
Responsibility
 Objectives for this session:
At the end of this session, you should be able to
identify and describe:
• A definition for CSR
• Reasons for having a CSR programme
• Objections to CSR
• What makes a CSR programme
• How a CSR programme is communicated
• Principles of reporting for CSR
• Some alternative viewpoints on CSR
 What is :

Corporate Social
Responsibility?
Also known as:
Corporate Citizenship
Corporate Responsibility
Responsible Business
Definition:
“Specifically, we see CSR as the voluntary
actions that business can take, over and
above compliance with minimum legal
requirements, to address both its own
competitive interests and the interests of
wider society.”

Source: www.csr.gov.uk
 Why CSR?
• Consumers & investors: growing
expectation for organisations to behave
responsibly
• Consumer awareness: ‘Green’ and
‘Ethical’ consumerism
• Legislation: H&S, EPA, Sustainability,
Codes of Practice
• Globalisation: Adoption of ‘Best Practice’,
Consumer & Legal Acceptance.
 Business advantages of CSR:
Human Resources
• Recruitment, retention and morale of Staff
Risk Management
• Investment in ‘ethical brand equity’
• ‘Greenwash’ effect?
Brand Differentiation
• As USP
• Build brand loyalty
• Reputation and brand attractiveness
 Business advantages of CSR:
Business Development
• New markets, products and services
Resources Management
• Better management and conservation of
strategic assets
Stakeholder Management
• Better internal and external relationships
• Freedom of operation: reduce government,
public, NGO intervention in organisation
Corporate Social Responsibility:

adds value
 Why not CSR?
• May take management focus away from
core business activity
• May appear cosmetic – without genuine
social benefit
• May make organisation more vulnerable to
revelation of bad / unethical business
practice
• A restriction to free trade?
 Economist, Milton Friedman says:
“The social responsibility of business is to
increase its profits.”

“What does it mean to say that "business"

has responsibilities? Only people can have
responsibilities.”

“…in a free society there is one and only one social

responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in
activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays
within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open
and free competition without deception or fraud."
Some of the most common ways in
which CSR is demonstrated:
• Specialist ‘adopted’
projects
• Corporate charitable
donations
• Voluntary schemes for
staff
• Staff fundraising activities
• Changes to organisational
operations
The four components of CSR:

• Economic
• Legal
• Ethical
• Discretionary
Communicating Corporate
Social Responsibility
 General values statement
• Organisations should develop a general
values statement which reflects their
stance towards CSR
• This may form part of a more
comprehensive Mission Statement
• Should define ethical framework that
guides the accomplishment of the overall
mission of an organization within a society
Example: Organisational Focus

JP Morgan Chase
Example: Environmental Focus

Coca Cola
Example: Customer Focus

Home Depot
Example: Employee Focus

Johnson and Johnson

Example: Stakeholder Focus

Credit Suisse

United
Technologies
Example: Social Focus

Bristol-Myers Squibb
 Reporting CSR:
CSR projects may be administered and
communicate achievements via:
• A dedicated CSR section or department
• The HR department
• Business development section
• Public Relations department
• Directly via CEO and / or Board of
Directors
 Reporting Formats:
The ‘Triple Bottom Line’
This means expanding the traditional
reporting framework to take into account
performance in terms of:
• Social (People)
• Environmental (Planet), as well as
• Financial (Profit)
 Reporting Formats:
The ‘Triple Bottom Line’
• Concept developed by John Elkington in
1994
• Expects organisations to be responsible to
‘stakeholders’ interests rather than
‘shareholders’ profit
• Related concepts:
– Full-cost accounting
– Social entrepreneurialism
– Social and natural capital
Other sources for CSR reporting:

‘Sustainability Guidelines’
developed by the Global Reporting
Initiative
(www.globalreporting.org)

SA800 certification developed

by the international human
rights organisation Social
Accountability International.
(www.sa-intl.org)
Other sources for CSR reporting:
The Green Globe programme for
‘benchmarking, certification and
performance improvement’, based
on Agenda 21 proposals from the
1992 Rio Earth Summit
(www.greenglobe.org)

ISO 14000 international

environmental management
standards
(www.14000.org)
Other sources for CSR reporting:
The United Nations Global
Compact (UNGC) framework and
mechanism designed to encourage
businesses to adopt CSR policies
(www.unglobalcompact.org)

The FTSE 4 Good Index –

measures the performance of
companies who meet globally
recognised CSR standards.
(www.ftse.com/Indices/FTSE4
Good_Index_Series)
Alternative sources of information:

www.corpwatch.org

www.naomiklein.org
 In conclusion:
In this session we have looked at:
• What is CSR
• Why CSR is likely to be come more widely adopted
• The business case for CSR
• The Value Statement (Customer, Employee,
Stakeholder and Social focus)
• Reporting and Accountability options for CSR
including the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ concept
• CSR and social criticism of international
organisations