Corporate Social Responsibility

“CSR is defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company

to operate in an economic, social and environmentally sustainable
manner.”
- Google

“The broadest definition of Corporate Social Responsibility is

concerned with what is– or should be– the relationship between
global corporations, governments of countries and individual
citizens. More locally, the definition is concerned with the
relationship between a corporation and the local society in which it
resides or operates.”
- Corporate Social Responsibility, David Crowther and Guler Aras
Economic Responsibilities: A company's first responsibility is its economic
responsibility -- that is to say, a company needs to be primarily concerned with
turning a profit.

Legal Responsibilities: A company's legal responsibilities are the

requirements that are placed on it by the law. Here, the responsibility is
to obey all laws, adhere to all regulations. This includes environmental
and consumer laws, laws protecting employees, fulfilling all contractual
obligations and honoring warranties and guarantees.
Ethical Responsibilities: Ethical responsibilities are responsibilities that a
company puts on itself because its owners believe it's the right thing to do
-- not because they have an obligation to do so. Ethical responsibilities
could include being environmentally friendly, paying fair wages or refusing
to do business with oppressive countries, for example.

Philanthropic Responsibilities: These are responsibilities that go above and

beyond what is simply required or what the company believes is right.
They involve making an effort to benefit society -- for example, by donating
services to community organizations, engaging in projects to aid the
environment or donating money to charitable causes.
The Principles of CSR
1. Sustainability
This is concerned with the effect which action taken in the present has upon the options
available in the future.

2. Accountability
This is concerned with an organization recognizing that its actions affect the external
environment, and therefore assuming responsibility for the effects of its actions.

3. Transparency
This means that the external impact of the actions of the organizations can be ascertained
from that organization’s reporting and pertinent facts are not disguised within that
reporting.
1. Company benefits:
 Improved financial performance;
 Lower operating costs;
 Enhanced brand image and reputation;
 Increased sales and customer loyalty;
 Greater productivity and quality;
 More ability to attract and retain employees;
 Reduced regulatory oversight;
 Access to capital;
 Workforce diversity;
 Product safety and decreased liability.

2. Benefits to the community and the general public:

 Charitable contributions;
 Employee volunteer programmes;
 Corporate involvement in community education, employment and homelessness programs;
 Product safety and quality.
3. Environmental benefits:

 Greater material recyclability;

 Greater use of renewable resources;
 Integration of environmental management tools into business plans, including
life-cycle assessment and costing, environmental management standards, and
eco-labelling.