Corporate Social Responsibility



What is Corporate Social Responsibility?
In short, CSR means “doing the right thing”. However, in developing meaningful CSR practices, a company must go beyond this gut-check definition and analyze how its actions impact a wide variety of stakeholder groups. Important stakeholders include shareholders, employees, suppliers, the environment, community members, customers and partners. A company that is acting in a socially responsible manner will act to minimize the negative impacts its business practices have on all stakeholder groups.
 

What is the role of ethics in CSR?
A commitment to ethical conduct lies at the heart of CSR. To successfully adopt strong CSR practices, a company must define its ethical principles and reflect on how they impact the company’s business practices. An important step in this process is reinforcing ethical conduct among employees through ethics training programs.
 

How do companies benefit from CSR?
Research has shown that consumers give preference to companies that adopt CSR practices. According to the 2002 Edelmen StrategyOne Survey of Opinion Leaders, 76% would switch to a company with strong CSR practices, if price and quality are equal to non-CSR competitors. In the same survey, 75% surveyed reported they would give a CSR company the “benefit of the doubt” if the company were subjected to negative publicity.
 

How can CSR success be measured?
Adopting CSR practices can directly impact the traditional bottom line. However, CSR proponents advocate the use of a triple bottom line to evaluate the success of CSR efforts. The triple bottom line incorporates the economic, social and environmental costs of doing business.