Corporate Ethical and Social Responsibility

Social responsibility makes a company more competitive and reduces the risk of sudden damage to the company’s reputation and sales.

or so many years our society has been thinking of forming new creative and innovative businesses, which would be more environmental and customer friendly. Nowadays a large number of different companies follow the social, ethical, as well as moral consequences when it comes to their decision making. One of the relatively new concepts involving economic and social concerns is Corporate Social Responsibility. Many of us apply this approach not only at work, but also in everyday life without even recognizing.

When an organization partakes in “proactive behavior…for the benefit of society,” it is deemed as socially responsible (P. 155). However, prior to labeling a organization as socially responsible, it is important that we first identify what specific elements of proactive behavior constitute a socially responsible business. To begin, for an organization to be considered socially responsible on the highest level, it must take a proactive approach to doing business. This is defined as “[taking a] approach to social responsibility in which an organization goes beyond industry norms to solve and prevent problems” (P.155). In addition, it is standard for a socially responsible organization to incorporate a larger scope of stakeholders, to include external stakeholders, in their business decisions to create positive externalities, and mitigate negative ones, to benefit society as a whole.

Corporate Social Responsibility (C.S.R.) is a theory practiced in the business sphere since fifty years. It refers to the duty of business organizations to adopt certain activities that will benefit the society in some way. Charity, health-awareness campaigns are few examples that a business undertakes to fulfil its objectives of C.S.R. According to this ideal, it is important for various corporations today to undertake such social activities, apart from merely focusing on their objective of profit maximization. But, is it an obligation that is most important than other objectives of business? This thought further leads us to another significant question – In contemporary settings, should corporations be guided by the concept of C.S.R.?

In 2013, the American Insurance Company AIG, American International Group was ranked the worst company in corporate social responsibility for the fifth consecutive year (Orwell, 2014). Known for its exorbitant executive salaries, “golden parachutes”, and lavish management perks during the infamous financial bailouts of 2009, AIG still struggles to regain consumer confidence (Orwell, 2014). Multiple corporations grapple with how to meet the ethical standards of corporate social responsibility in today’s global economy. Becoming a triple bottom line company would help a business meet its ethical obligations and demonstrate its sustainability progress to stakeholders. Employing utilitarian theory of ethics to exam triple bottom

Corporate social responsibility has been one the key business buzz words of the 21st century. Consumers' discontent with the corporation has forced it to try and rectify its negative image by associating its name with good deeds. Social responsibility has become one of the corporation's most pressing issues, each company striving to outdo the next with its philanthropic image. People feel that the corporation has done great harm to both the environment and to society and that with all of its wealth and power, it should be leading the fight to save the Earth, to combat poverty and illness and etc. "Corporations are now expected to deliver the good, not just the goods; to pursue

Apple Company is one of the largest manufacturers of computers and electronics. “Apple Company was founded on April 1, 1976, by college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who brought forth a new company vision of changing the way people, viewed computers” (Library of Congress, 2008). The ethical and social responsibility of Apple Company should have started with its inception; however, it did not. It was not until years later with the advent of social media and the power of worldwide communications, did Apple Company focus on ethical and social responsibilities regarding the treatment of its employees in their factories overseas. The international reports of employee maltreatment; the use of underage employees; and, documented instances of wrongful disposals of toxic matter into the environment, forced Apple to take immediate action and establish safeguards which would protect its employees, the environment and more importantly the brand name that is Apple Company.

Today’s world is corporate world since we either work their consumers their product or live around one. These corporates should maintain good ethics on the people working for it the surrounding community and their consumers. They should uphold their corporate responsibility by give back to the community and making sure they conserve the environment in all their processes (Frederick, 1999).

ITC Ltd has worked exremly hard to start several procedures that have led to compliance of the standards of social responsibility. ITC’s dealings within the tobacco industry have contributed to the increase in company revenues and the company has worked towards following the triple bottom line and giving back to society. Most, businesses pay little attention to their social responsibilities and make it part of their overall strategy, instead they concentrate more on financial benefits from the sales of products. Consequently, managing business in a socially responsive manner contributes to the best combination of business success and societal acceptance, trust and loyalty. Giving back to the community in ways that benefits only society such as planting trees to curb pollution and help the environment or using biodegradable materials in packaging can reap financial benefits to a company by building loyalty among the community. The notion of business ethics and corporate social responsibility is becoming a defining concept in all industries worldwide. ITC believes in the Triple Bottom Line philosophy where the performance and perception of a corporation should not be judged only on the basis of its financial statements or revenues, but its environmental and social performance as well. ITC is one of the only companies in the world to be carbon positive, water positive, and conduct solid waste recycling. ITC provides water to areas where water is very

Social responsibility has become a primal interest to the humankind for the past two decades. In the earlier days, the firms and organizations concentrated only on the financial part of the business and ignored the ethical, social and moral sectors. But in the recent times, the businesses are getting a grip of the significance of the social, ecological and environmental effects on their success. This has resulted in the emerging interactions between organizations and social segments thus giving rise to corporate social responsibility (CSR) . This paper discusses about the ways and methods of CSRs that are applied in the University of Wisconsin and the impact these methods created on the social, environmental and ecological fronts of the

Supply Chain Responsibility is or at least should be part of a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. CSR is a strategy that managers use to monitor, maintain, and often times improve the environmental and social impacts of their companies as well as how they interact with all of their stakeholders not just the shareholders for which their operations effect. Managers should use their CSR plains to balance the expectations of their often competing stakeholders with their environmental, social, and economic goals. Some fundamental CSR concerns are stakeholder engagement, environmental impact, responsible sourcing of raw materials, standards and working condition of the labor force, social and gender equity as well as good governance and anti-corruption control. CSR approaches focus on what is called a Triple Bottom Line for measurable results. The three measures are profit which is the economic value that a company creates, social which is the how the company treats its labor force and the communities for which it operates in and environmental which is how the company is engaged in the creation and application of sustainable practices that produce reductions or eliminates environmental impacts.

For the past years, corporate social responsibility also referred, as corporate conscience has been a respected subject for discussion. Corporate social responsibility, unquestionably, contains more viewpoint than simply worried about the ecological impacts of associations. It came in people groups mind at the later 1880, time of essential modern advancement that associations ought to think about the thought of social obligation. Associations that are near to social obligation issues got to be worry about the principled ground of attaining to social commitment. Latter 1880 manifestation of the accountability for society has got soundness however after that period the association started to include in humanitarian force strongly (Adamsson and Johansson 2008). This study hopes to explore the corporate social responsibility and furthermore how and why affiliation its participate in corporate social responsibility. A number of multinational firms offering essentialness to the social and business substance that can give an organization a humane face and eventually it will bring notoriety and moment business advantage as individuals get to be unwavering to this. Thus, this is the reason organizations are taking CSR issue as an unquestionable requirement for getting an additional profit on present exceptionally aggressive world and along these lines happily keeping their buyer group protected from other rivalry.

Federal law requires that businesses perform certain socially responsible activities. In fact, several government agencies have been established and are maintained to develop such business-related legislation and to make sure the laws are followed. The Environmental Protection Agency does indeed have the authority to require businesses to adhere to certain socially responsible environmental standards. Adherence to legislated social responsibilities represents the minimum standard of social responsibility performance that business leaders must achieve. Managers must ask themselves, however, how far beyond the minimum they should attempt to go—a difficult and complicated question that entails assessing the positive and negative outcomes of performing socially responsible activities. Only those activities that contribute to the business's success while contributing to the welfare of society should be undertaken.

The business stakeholders, such as customers, employees, investors and local communities, expect companies to play a greater role in society and contribute to solving social problems and environmental challenges, such as climate change, energy scarcity, and social diversity and health risks. These expectations lead to social responsibility for businesses, but also open up new opportunities for these companies to improve their performance.

Many large corporations are taking corporate social responsibility into account and making it a part of their everyday schedule. Over the past decades, there have been increasing concerns for general society that many businesses have little concern for the consumer and they care nothing about the deteriorating social order. But these days’ companies are encouraging employees to volunteer and make a difference in surrounding communities. In this way they are supporting and improving the quality of life and enhancing the vitality of the communities in which they operate. There are many organizations that are encompassing CSR into their plan of action and also they are making new policies that can be beneficial for society. There are so many ways to incorporate corporate social responsibilities into business modules such as health, education, environment and helping in natural disaster.