Introduction

American President Calvin Coolidge said in the 1920s

that “the chief business of the American people is
business.” It was a popular observation in a time of
economic prosperity, when issues such as energy
security and climate change were practically
nonexistent. Almost a century later, things are very
different. Now, more than ever, private enterprise is
being called upon to exercise social responsibility,
especially when it comes to the environment. This
trend reflects the view that companies ought to do
more than simply meet the letter of the law and the
bare minimum of ethical business behavior. Today we
discuss the idea of “corporate social responsibility.”

Corporate social responsibility is a regulating business model that helps a company

to be socially accountable, sustainable and transparent to its self, its, stakeholders, and
the public as well. The company should exercise their responsibility to have an efficient
and quality business that remarks in every customer, to build a strong relationship and
satisfiable needs and wants. Corporate social responsibility is a management concept
deals min ethical, economical and environmental issues in a certain area.

President Coolidge, like many American presidents before and since, kept government out
of the affairs of business as much as possible. But starting in the 1960s and 1970s, the
environmental impact of an ever-expanding economy was generating more and more protest
from citizens. The result was a wave of legislation designed to reduce the pollution produced by
business activity. Those laws had positive effects and are now vital parts of the American
regulatory framework. But despite these regulations, controlling pollution continues to be a
challenge. And now there are even larger problems on the horizon.

Even though businesses today are more efficient and use fewer resources to make goods—
thanks to technological advances— many ecosystems continue to suffer. This is because the
scale of economic activity grows every year, despite environmental improvements by individual
enterprises. Starting a few years ago, many citizens in the U.S. and around the world began calls
for more action from private enterprise on these social issues—beyond compliance with
regulations and traditional charity-related work. The result was a new movement known as
corporate social responsibility, or CSR.

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 What Is Corporate Social Responsibility?
From the beginning, CSR has been the subject
of much debate. CSR’s critics argue that the
main responsibility of businesses is to
maximize return to their shareholders. They
point to the corporate legal system as the
proper place for regulating businesses’ conduct
with society. And besides, businesses are
already fulfilling a key public service by
providing jobs and services that society needs.
Other critics assert that many so-called CSR
activities are really just publicity stunts and
corporate “green washing.”
Supporters of CSR contend that there are significant profit-related benefits in socially
responsible behavior. Companies are using their CSR activities to recruit and keep the best
management talent and to establish partnerships with communities to increase company
influence on legislation. And companies that make social responsibility an integrated part of
their business actually are managing risk—a key part of corporate development strategy.
Despite the ongoing debate, trends indicate that CSR is gathering force and is here to stay.
More and more leading companies in America and worldwide are releasing sustainability
reports. Plus, new industries like clean energy provide social and economic benefits while
fighting environmental problems like climate change. The result of that combination has been
called one of the greatest commercial opportunities in history.

As CSR is all about values and accountability then it is also about the behavior of your people
and the behavior of your suppliers. In this sense virtually everything that is found within the HR
remit - from training, recruitment, staff retention, policies, procedures and strategy - involves
CSR.

Traditionally HR and CSR have been led by the need for compliance and keeping up with
new laws on employment as well as environmental, ethical and social issues. Increasingly HR
managers are crucial to the delivery of training to deal with these issues in terms of
organizational objectives and strategy. Equally important is the importance CSR has to
recruitment: 75% of UK professionals take social or ethical considerations into account when
changing employment. Whilst over half of graduates will not work for companies they believe
to be unethical.

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 Corporate governance is a board level hot topic - you only have to look at how much
publicity the Higgs report on the role of non-executive directors received – and it will continue
to develop, as there is increased recognition that how an organization is run is key. This can
cover many areas such as financial integrity, transparency and accountability, leadership from
the board and being employer of choice.

It is central to the implementation of policies and programmers. Having good corporate

governance means that these areas are embedded in the organization and deliver to the
business and to stakeholder objectives, and are not just nice-to-have. The HR manager has
become central to this role in helping deliver culturally open and transparent organizations
where dialogue is celebrated not feared. For a business being CSR compliant is also an exercise
in future-proofing its business as risks and opportunities are identified. Quite often changes
lead to performance improvements such as increased staff retention and customer satisfaction.
Adding this value is one of the main reasons why CSR is of increasing relevance to the HR
manager. CSR is a crosscutting topic under which numerous issues can be grouped including
training and education, capacity building, leadership, health and safety, working conditions,
human rights, stakeholder engagement and corporate governance. Large multi-national
companies were the first to identify CSR as a potential tool to improve performance and now
through their supply chain they are asking suppliers to comply to their standards. It is here to
stay. In the UK there is a minister responsible for CSR within the Department for Trade and
Industry and there are a plethora of guidelines, indices, benchmarks, standards and legal codes.

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 Need for Corporate Social Responsibility

Communication- Business owners often get mired down in the details of running a business on
the operations side. After all, without creating, selling and delivering products or services there
are no revenues to support the business. Possessing or developing excellent communication
skills will help business leaders and their teams in every facet of business operations.

Economy- Is the science that generates relations between society and public and private
administration, thanks to the economy we can measure the stability of a country, its
development and growth in order to generate policies that tend to improve the overall welfare
situation.

Society- To produce and distribute goods and services to satisfy a public need or demand.
According to Business News Daily corporate social responsibility (CSR) is "a business practice
that involves participating in initiatives that benefit a society." However, corporate social
responsibility is more than just a simple business practice. When you pursue a Master of
Business Administration (MBA), you will learn how to differentiate the blurred lines of working
for profit and working to help maintain the social order. Society does not exist without some
form of an economy, and businesses are what make up the economic system of the world

Environment- Business is one of the most important entities in the society. Its decisions and actions
have the potential of creating a change in society, good and bad both. Therefore to not misuse the
trust of the society, businesses are bound by business ethics. It means fulfilling the commitments
given, undertaking responsibility, not compromising in the quality and to ensure reliability.

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Health and Safety- Health and Safety is important because it protects the well being of
employers, visitors and customers. Looking after Health and Safety makes good business sense.
Workplaces which neglect health and safety risk prosecution, may lose staff, and may increase
costs and reduce profitability.

Labor- Creating a peaceful relationship between employers and business. Employers can work
hand-in-hand with the business to achieve company goals. With good working conditions,
benefits and rights, employees become more cheerful in their jobs and they become positive
about their prospects in the business.

Management System- It is a set of tools for strategic planning and tactical implementation of
policies, practices, guidelines, processes and procedures that are used in the development,
deployment and execution of business plans and strategies and all associated management
activities. Business Management System provides a foundation for successful implementation
of both strategic and tactical business decisions regarding current activities, processes,
procedures and tasks for the purpose of meeting existing goals and objectives of a profit
organization and satisfying customer needs and expectations.

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 Corporate Social Responsibility in Today’s World

A strategic approach to CSR is increasingly important to a company's competitiveness. It can

bring benefits in terms of risk management, cost savings, access to capital, customer
relationships, human resource management, and innovation capacity. It also encourages more
social and environmental responsibility from the corporate sector at a time when the crisis has
damaged consumer confidence and the levels of trust in business.
 Through CSR, enterprises can significantly contribute to the European Union’s treaty
objectives of sustainable development and a highly competitive social market economy.
CSR underpins the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and
inclusive growth, including the 75% employment target. Responsible business conduct is
especially important when private sector operators provide public services.
 CSR requires engagement with internal and external stakeholders so it enables
enterprises to anticipate better and take advantage of fast-changing expectations in
society as well as operating conditions. This means it can also act as a driver for the
development of new markets and create real opportunities for growth.
 By addressing their social responsibility, enterprises can build long-term employee,
consumer and citizen trust as a basis for sustainable business models. This in turn helps
to create an environment in which enterprises can innovate and grow. The economic
crisis and its social consequences have to some extent damaged levels of trust in
business, and have focused public attention on the social and ethical performance of
enterprises, including on issues such as bonuses and executive pay.

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 Helping to mitigate the social effects of the crisis, including job losses, is part of the social
responsibility of enterprises. In the longer term, CSR offers a set of values on which to
build a more cohesive society and on which to base the transition to a sustainable
economic system.
 By renewing efforts to promote CSR now, the Commission aims to create conditions
favorable to sustainable growth, responsible business behavior and lasting job creation
for the medium and long-term.

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 Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility

There is no “one-size-fits-all” method for pursuing a

corporate social responsibility (CSR) approach. Each
firm has unique characteristics and circumstances
that will affect how it views its operational context
and its defining social responsibilities. Each will vary
in its awareness of CSR issues and how much work it
has already done towards implementing a CSR
approach.

That said, there is considerable value in proceeding with CSR implementation in a

systematic way—in harmony with the firm’s mission, and sensitive to its business culture,
environment and risk profile, and operating conditions. Many firms are already engaged in
customer, employee, community and environmental activities that can be excellent starting
points for firm-wide CSR approaches. CSR can be phased in by focusing carefully on priorities in
accordance with resource or time constraints. Alternatively, more comprehensive and
systematic approaches can be pursued when resources and overall priorities permit or require.
The bottom line is that CSR needs to be integrated into the firm’s core decision making,
strategy, management processes and activities, be it incrementally or comprehensively.

The impulse for harmonization also stems from the wider social context. As will be
described below, there are a number of governmental and partnership developed initiatives
that have emerged to provide guidance on governmental and societal expectations of business.
By using these instruments—such as the OECD MNE Guidelines or the UN Global Compact—
business users can be confident that they are basing their efforts on internationally-endorsed
approaches. What follows below is a broad framework for implementing a CSR approach that
builds on existing experience as well as knowledge of other fields, such as quality and
environmental management. The framework follows the familiar “plan, do, check and improve”
model that underlies such well-known initiatives as those of the International Organization for
Standardization in the areas of quality and environmental management systems. The
framework is also intended to be flexible, and firms are encouraged to adapt it as appropriate
for their organization