NARONA, Mauren Mae D.

ELE CSR (ELE G3-1)

Corporate Social Responsibility Thought Paper

On November 20, 2021, a webinar was conducted about Corporate Social
Responsibility. From all the major points that were mentioned, there have been a few
that struck me. But before anything else, I'd like to define Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR). CSR is the obligation of a business or company to achieve long-
term goals for its people and to the society. CSR is a way of practicing ethics and
making sure to adhere to ethical principles.
Corporate Social Responsibility is important in many ways. I’d like to state the
three that stayed in my mind. First, CSR attracts employees and retains them. I am a
working student and this reminded me of the company I am currently working for. My
company is a people-first company and I have seen a lot of people who want to work
with us because of its reputation. I had recently gotten a regular position in my company
and that alone is proof that CSR really helps in retaining a business’ employees.
Second, CSR improves customers’ perception of a brand. What I understood from this
is very similar to how CSR attracts potential employees. It is the same with consumers
because consumers sometimes use services and products because the business or
company has a good reputation. It is quite similar to how cruelty-free businesses gets
attraction from customers. Having built a good reputation and a set of achievements
pulls in more customers. The last one is CSR shows accountability to investors. This
means that businesses who successfully practice CSR are able to manage their
finances while being able to return something for the community and for their own
people. Investors are very interested to how fast and how big they could earn from their
investments in a business. Since CSR is proof that a business is financially stable,
investors will most likely show interest to the business.
I think that the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility is very important
especially now that we are all facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Our weaknesses were
exposed by this pandemic and many people who suffer from this pandemic situation is
not very fortunate. Seeing the relief efforts of Reed Elsevier Philippines, like the Taal
relief operation for example, is proof that companies are not just mere businesses but
rather a group of people who are community oriented.
In conclusion, I think that Corporate Social Responsibility is a well-thought
concept because not only does this help and benefit the people of the community and
the people of a business, but it also boosts the reputation and finances of the business.