A Literature Review on Corporate Social Responsibility

Introduction

The idea of Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR has no straight and straightforward definition. There are countless definitions and translations of the word CSR. However, extensively clarified the centre idea of CSR clarifies that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which also has the names such as Corporate Citizenship, Responsible Business, Sustainable Responsible Business (SRB), or Corporate Social Performance. It is a type of corporate self-control coordinated into a plan of action. There is a dream/myth that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is simply one more name for 'Charity' (D’Amato, 2015). Be that as it may, CSR is not simply magnanimity. It's more than that. A corporate subject's employment won't end by simply giving some cash and cleaning our hands that any rich individual with sympathy can do (Bendixen, 2007).

Literature Review

Corporate social responsibility is a concept that has undergone massive change over the last few years. The term has been in use since 1960’s but the expression has been used in different meanings for the different times. Even though the aspects like industry scale, demographics, financial conditions of a corporation may differ, but the main focus is on the capability of the corporation to implement the changes. Adam Smith the economist has emphasized his views of the economy which are still applicable for the present generations. It was one of the sincere recommendations by Smith that without fair and open market it would be impossible for the communities to grow and see profits. He also stressed the need for cooperation within the members of the community. (Carroll, 2010). Following the Adam Smith’s century, the Industrial Revolution brought forward a unique blend of change. The massive impact was surely seen in United States and Europe. Adam Smith had accepted a series of standards which were taken into account for the following innovations that accepted better creation of products and administrations (Ioannou, 2014). A huge number of individuals got occupations that paid more than they had ever constructed before and the way of life enormously made strides. These prolonged associations also gained influence that was extraordinary, and their organizers and proprietors turned into a portion of the wealthiest and most effective men on the planet. In the late nineteenth century a number of these people had confidence in. The final theory came out as "Social Darwinism," where in basic structure, the real trick that the standards of regular choice. The theory where Darwin states that it’s determined that only the fittest of the lot will be able to survive the time’s ordeal is tested by time. There are many methods of implementing the Corporate Social Responsibilities but it should also be noted that not every method provides results. Along these lines, albeit large portions of the considerable moguls of the late nineteenth century were among the best humanitarians ever, their giving was done as people, not as delegates of their organizations. For sure, while a large number of them were giving without end a large number of their own money from their pockets. Most organisations that had provided the customers the perception that they are rich made use of business techniques and were unethical exploitative of labourers (Fontaine, 2013).

A hefty section of Corporate Social Responsibility in the part of the generation associations are the ordinary methods that are part of the key essence of Corporate Social Responsibility and offer the moral and monetary support for the administrators to find ways to perform their Corporate Social Responsibility (Bowen, 2005). Employees, clients, and people in general everywhere (Carol, 2009). Despite the fact that the CSP model progressed CSR methods of insight, it was not ready to increase far reaching application since it did not have the capacity to quantify and test the model. Advancement proceeded when scholastics and organizations began to centre their CSR activities toward business methodology. Amid this period, the part of partners rose to noticeable quality in the CSR wrangle because of commitments by driving scholastics, for example, Peter Drucker (Samy, 2015). The perspective that partners' significance to companies contrasted with the needs and expectation of the stake holders. The Nobel Laurite Milton Friedman states that there is a responsibility for the business to make use of their assets and create proper benefits for their actions. (Friedman, 1970) The Corporate Social Responsibility is applicable for maintaining the Corporate Social Responsibility goals of any organization, the use of proper funding is necessary and the Corporate Social Responsibility proper channels should be used for making the proper estimation of costs. (Mullerat, 2011).

Corporate Social Responsibility is a special term in the corporate world and a lot of people relate to it in a way that is wrong. They simply think of CSR as a burden, but actually it is the way for businesses to prosper and make a connection with the community and its people. For example in a bio diversically rich environment a company can take up the project to protect or fund the projects that protect the endangered species helping them stay healthy and safe from extinction. The CSR initiatives by a company not only provide a warm and enhanced appearance for any company or organization but it also enhances how the customers relate with the company. It is a fact that people trust companies that empower the society or give back to the community. Being fair and just can trump all business tactics so the companies that do not adhered to the rules or are not following the prospective plans they had set forth will slowly make a mark on the earth with their extensive use of Earth’s potential resources,. Without the plans to protect them, slowly the Earth will lose the resources. (Gorcum, 2001).

Earnst and Young conducted a review in 2002 to evaluate the concepts generated by the companies in response to the planning and development part of Corporate Social Responsibility. The techniques applied by the organizations can impact their business and become a deciding factor for the development and implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibilities

Senior officials from 147 organizations in a scope of industry segments crosswise throughout Europe, North America and Australasia were met for the study (Grünewälder, 2008). The purpose of the study was the interest and the negligence of the CEO’s of the company to actualize the programs and systems of Corporate Social Responsibility. Leadership remains as the main reasons why some organizations create and make adequate development of their Corporate Social Responsibilities. Some corporations have taken the initiative to make a change for their community or the environment. The main reason for this is that many of the social responsibility methods help the corporations save and improve their reputation over the long run. The reputation is a factor that creates possibilities for the corporations that enjoy extra benefits as well as great reputation over the long run from the community. Today’s consumers are smart , they value the organization’s attempt to make a mark in the society and are more inclined toward companies that have been found to invest in Corporate Social Responsibility (Verlag, 2011). It can be said that while certain organizations have estimated the cost of the CSR through cooperative ventures. It has been stated by Andrew Grant, Ernst and Young that the concept of Environment and Sustainability Services will be in future become an important and deciding factor for shoppers. The new generation shoppers are more aware of the ideals and Principals. Corporate Social Responsibility is currently a deciding variable in shopper and customer decision which organizations can't stand to disregard. Organizations who neglect to amplify their selection of a CSR system will be deserted (Carroll, 2010).

There are different trends among the different corporations about their ways to implement the different models of Corporate Social Responsibility assumptions and techniques with terms of ecology. The different corporations around the world have different perceptions for the activities they are to do for CSR purposes. The main ways to implement a greener way to operations is to implement these simple things within the company. The first thing would be to make the plan for Corporate Social Responsibility by the company and decide the sectors or methods they can implement for the same. One of the main scopes for businesses is working towards improving the local communities that are underprivileged. The businesses can also try to improve the local ecology. The hotel industries that are using large portion of the available resources should make use of adequate Corporate Social Responsibility measures to give back to the community. There are many advantages and disadvantages that can be measured using the Corporate Social Responsibility measures for ecology. The main aim for all businesses must be to provide adequate measures to reduce the amount of resources used replenish or reuse the resources and find ways to enrich the society. The advantages of following proper Corporate Social Responsibility measures is that there is a change in their infrastructure, Organizations utilizing too much power should convert to smart power saving methods, sometimes the changes in how the power is supplied or even how section of the power if provided back for the community can matter. Likewise changing to an alternate method for the generation of power can be seen during the use of solar power. Also biodiversity is an issue that’s worth fighting for. So, corporations and companies should make the ways to assess the means they can spare to correct and increase the biodiversity. Responsible mining for metal and mining companies can result in better natural resource protection.

But there are many problems associated with the implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibility measures for an organization. The main problem is that many organizations are not financially secure to invest much more amount for the development of proper channels to focus on Corporate Social Responsibility measures. For example a hotel might want to implement the use of LED bulbs changing the current power hungry normal lighting solutions but to purchase a huge number of LED’s at once can be challenging when the existing lighting might not be too old or might be useless afterwards. These things hinder the implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibility measures in a company. Another problem is the lack of proper knowledge and guidance. In case of implementing Corporate Social Responsibility for environmental preservation, most companies are unaware or don’t have knowledgeable people who can help them decide or create a plan for Corporate Social Responsibility. This might become a hindrance too. But even if we weight down the problems, there are still enough benefits of creating a Corporate Social Responsibility for companies which can help them preserve the biodiversity and help keep the environment clean in areas which are experiencing high pollution and extreme natural resource depletion.

Conclusion

It is the wrong assumption of a lot of people that the term Corporate Social Responsibility has different and confusing meanings to different entities. It can be said that many people view the Corporate Social Responsibility methods as an alternate way to conduct business and ensure that the organization enjoys benefits from legal obligations. Also, some people are not at all interested in keeping the world safe or creating ways to give back to the society. For them, it is only the quest of the company to give back profits to the shareholders, at any cost. The administrators sometime forget theta there are many law and order that can create difficulties for an organization’s path to success and profits. Most administrators admire the techniques of Corporate Social Responsibility but are unable or less inclined to make the necessary changes to implement these methods into their organization. For some companies the Corporate Social Responsibility for the environment is easily seen implemented, whilst some are not. Sometimes there is a need for a huge change of infrastructure which becomes costly for the administrators. The need today is to manage the economy and the environment equally, since through the different welfare programs the organizations are giving back a little bit of effort for the society they are utilizing everyday through their services. These methods should therefore be maintained, improved and implemented for better Corporate Social Responsibility methods.

References

Bendixen, M., 2007. Corporate identity, ethics and reputation in supplier-buyer relationships. Journal of Business Ethics, 5(6), p. 69–82.

Bowen, E., 2005. A Strategic posture towards corporate social responsibility, s.l.: California Management Review.

Carol, A., 2009. A three-dimensional model of corporate performance. , s.l.: Academy of Management Review.

Carroll, A. B., 2010. The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Concepts, Research and Practiceijm. International Journal of Management Reviews 1-21, 5(6), pp. 1-21.

D’Amato, A., 2015. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS:A Guide to Leadership Tasks and Functions, s.l.: Center for Creative Leadership.

Danko, D., 2008. Corporate Social Responsibility: The UnitedStates vs. Europe. The Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance, 5(8), pp. 9-15.

Fontaine, M., 2013. Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: The New Bottom Line?. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4(4), pp. 1-10.

Gorcum, U. V., 2001. Corporate Social Responsibility: A Dutch Approach. s.l.:Uitgeverij Van Gorcum.

Grünewälder, A., 2008. Corporate Social Responsibility. s.l.:GRIN Verlag.

Ioannou, I., 2014. The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Investment Recommendations, s.l.: Harvard Business review.

Mullerat, R., 2011. Corporate Social Responsibility: The Corporate Governance of the 21st Century. s.l.:Kluwer Law International.

Samy, E. I., 2015. A. Corporate Reputation Review. s.l.:A. Corporate Reputation Review.

Smith, A., 2013. CSR and Stakeholder Theory: A Tale of Adam Smith. Journal of Business Ethics , 112(2), pp. 10-18.

Verlag, G., 2011. Corporate Social Responsibility: An Ethical Approach. s.l.:Broadview Press.