Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), as most people are aware, “is commonly described by its promoters as aligning a company's activities with the social, economic and environmental expectations of its "stakeholders" according to http://sourcewatch.org/. CSR has been a growing trend with companies, especially international ones. These responsibilities to the public and the environment have made CSR a huge “market” over the past decade.
When I say “market,” I mean that companies seem to be making a whole lot of money off their CSR reports. Selling their services through their good deeds. Now, who is to say that the companies aren’t really concerned about how their production or service effects society or the world?
Whether companies care or not, they are still making big bucks off of reporting how they have performed their civic duty. Take Nestle for example, they have produced their first “Shared Value Report” this year. CSR Newswire says this report is meant to show “figures on the impact of the business activities on the environment and society across the world.” They reported a reduction in greenhouse gas emission, reduced water consumption, investments in environmental related industrial improvements, and provided full technical assistance to over 60,000 farmer in the developing world. Nestle has operations in almost every country in the world and is the largest food and beverage company.
Companies have realized the money that can come from making people feel good about companies they do business with. The U.S., I know is different than most European countries in their attention to social responsibilities. Americans are not the most likely to boycott a company if they employ children in their factories, or companies produce the largest amount of toxic chemicals with production. Americans seem to either not be in the know about these situations or, they don’t really pay attention to it unless it affects them personally. I can’t say whether that is because we are spoiled, we just don’t know about it, or we aren’t accustomed to doing anything about it.
I do believe CSR is important to the business world and the social world. Taking care of each other and our surroundings is crucial to continued success. I just wonder whether companies really care or is it just a trend sort of like “going green?” Is the fact that bad social practices can cost a business a ton of money or its livelihood the driving force behind its social responsibility?
Comments are welcome and opposing views too! I would love to hear what others think about CSR.
Great sites to check out:
http://csrwire.com/
http://ethicsworld.org/
http://prwatch.org/
http://sourcewatch.org/
When I say “market,” I mean that companies seem to be making a whole lot of money off their CSR reports. Selling their services through their good deeds. Now, who is to say that the companies aren’t really concerned about how their production or service effects society or the world?
Whether companies care or not, they are still making big bucks off of reporting how they have performed their civic duty. Take Nestle for example, they have produced their first “Shared Value Report” this year. CSR Newswire says this report is meant to show “figures on the impact of the business activities on the environment and society across the world.” They reported a reduction in greenhouse gas emission, reduced water consumption, investments in environmental related industrial improvements, and provided full technical assistance to over 60,000 farmer in the developing world. Nestle has operations in almost every country in the world and is the largest food and beverage company.
Companies have realized the money that can come from making people feel good about companies they do business with. The U.S., I know is different than most European countries in their attention to social responsibilities. Americans are not the most likely to boycott a company if they employ children in their factories, or companies produce the largest amount of toxic chemicals with production. Americans seem to either not be in the know about these situations or, they don’t really pay attention to it unless it affects them personally. I can’t say whether that is because we are spoiled, we just don’t know about it, or we aren’t accustomed to doing anything about it.
I do believe CSR is important to the business world and the social world. Taking care of each other and our surroundings is crucial to continued success. I just wonder whether companies really care or is it just a trend sort of like “going green?” Is the fact that bad social practices can cost a business a ton of money or its livelihood the driving force behind its social responsibility?
Comments are welcome and opposing views too! I would love to hear what others think about CSR.
Great sites to check out:
http://csrwire.com/
http://ethicsworld.org/
http://prwatch.org/
http://sourcewatch.org/
