SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
OF BUSINESS
OF BUSINESS
We know that business is an economic activity,which is carried out on a regular basis to earn profit.However, we must have
seen businessmen spendingmoney on different aspects, which is not going togive them any profit straightaway. For example,
wemust have seen businessmen maintaining anddeveloping gardens and parks on streets andsquares in cities. Some
businessmen engagethemselves in research for improving the quality ofproducts; some provide housing, transport,education
and health care to their employees andtheir families. In some places businessmen providefree medical facility to poor
patients. Sometimesthey also sponsor games and sports at national aswell as international level
 Describe the role of business in preventingand
controlling environmental pollution.
WHAT IS SOCIAL
WHAT IS SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY?
RESPONSIBILITY?
In our daily life, we perform a number of activities.For example, brushing our teeth, listening to our parents,showing respect to elders obeying traffic rules on the roadetc.
Why do we perform all these activities? It is becausewe live in a family as well as in a society and the membersof our family as well as the society want us to do all ofthem.
They do several things for us and expect somethingfrom us, which we must do. The expectations of the familyor society become our obligations, which we need to
fulfill. For example: taking care of our parents or children,keeping the road clean by not littering, etc. There are alsoobligations towards ourself, which we need to fulfill.
Forexample, eating our meals on time, getting the rightamount of sleep, etc. which keeps us fit and takes care ofour health. Now we fulfill all these obligations
byperforming certain activities which are called our
responsibilities. Any responsibility we have, particularlytowards members of the society with whom we interact ortowards the society in general, are called our
socialresponsibility. This is true in case of business also.
 WHY SHOULD BUSINESS BE
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE?
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE?
Social responsibility is a voluntary effort on the part
of business to take various steps to satisfy the expectation
of the different interest groups. As you have alreadylearnt, the interest groups may be owners,
investors,employees, consumers, government and society orcommunity. But the question arises, why the
businessshould come forward and be responsible towards theseinterest groups. Let us consider the following
points
  Public Image - The activities of business towardsthe
welfare of the society earn goodwill and reputationforthebusiness. The earnings ofbusiness
also depend upon thepublic image ofits activities. People prefer to buyproducts of a
company that engages itself in various
social
welfare programmes. Again, good publicimage also attracts honest and
competentemployees to work with such employers
 Government Regulation - To avoid government
regulations businessmen should discharge their
duties voluntarily. For example, if anybusiness firm
pollutes the environment it will
naturally come under
strict government
regulation, which may ultimately
force the
firm to close down its business. Instead, the
business firm should engage itself in
maintaining
a pollution free environmen
  Survival and Growth -Every business is a part
of
the society. So for its survival and
growth, support from the society is very much
essential. Business utilizes the availableresources
like power, water, land, roads, etc. of
the society. So it
should be the responsibility
of
every business to
spend a part of its profitfor the welfare of the society
 . Employee satisfaction - Besides getting goodsalary
and working in a healthy atmosphere,
employees also expect other facilities like
proper
accommodation, transportation,
education
and
training. The employersshould try to fulfill all the
expectation of the
employees
because
employee
satisfaction is
directly related to productivity and it is
also
required for the long-term prosperity of theorganisation. For example, if business spendsmoney on training of the employees, it willhave
more efficient people to work and thus,earn more profit
v. Consumer Awareness - Now-a-days consumers
have become very conscious about their rights.
They protest against the supply of inferior and
harmful products by forming different groups.This
has made it obligatory for the business to
protect
the
interest of the consumers by
providing
quality
products at the mostcompetitive price
 RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS
DIFFERENT INTEREST GROUPS
DIFFERENT INTEREST GROUPS
After getting some idea about the concept and
importance of social responsibility of business
let us look into the various responsibilities that a businesshas towards different groups with whom it interacts.
Thebusiness generally interacts with owners, investors,employees, suppliers, customers, competitors, governmentand
society. They are called as interest groups because byeach and every activity of business, the interest of thesegroups is
affected directly or indirectly. Business InvestorsEmployees Government Competitors Society CustomersSuppliers
 Responsibility towards owners
Owners are the persons who own the business. Theycontribute capital and bear the
business risks. The primaryresponsibilities of business towards its owners are to:-
a. Run the business efficiently.
b. Proper utilization of capital and other resources.
c. Growth and appreciation of capital.
d. Regular and fair return on capital invested
 Responsibility towards investors
Investors are those who provide finance by way ofinvestment in
debentures, bonds, deposits etc. Banks,financial institutions, and
investing public are all includedin this category. The
responsibilities of business towards its investors are:-
a. Ensuring safety of their investmen