Defining The Meaning Of Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism that has business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms. CSR is a process with the aim to embrace responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered stakeholders. CSR is titled to aid an organization's mission as well as a guide to what the company stands for and will uphold to its consumers. Development business ethics is one of the forms of applied ethics that examines

Based on my interpretation of CSR, I see it as a voluntary obligation that companies have promised to their stakeholders to fulfill by improving, or at least not harm, the environmental and social wellbeing. When companies engage in CSR, they voluntarily promise to, for example, carry the responsibility to protect the environment and take actions against bribe or other corruptive activities related to their business. It certainly has some positive influences to specific areas based on my knowledge gained from other classes; nevertheless, when judge CSR in the context of total impacts on our society and environment, it is obvious that CSR has failed its mission to lessen the negative impacts of business based on the evidences that provided by the author. Also, since there is a strong positive relationship between CSR behaviors and consumers’ reactions to a firm’s products and services, it seems to me, now, that CSR for the most companies is just a fancy cover that helps them to create or promote a good image and reputation. The recent case that shows the failure of CSR of Volkswagen even make me believe that CSR programs may be just a marketing or public relation exercise for many

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a term used to describe a company’s efforts to improve society in a certain way. These efforts range from donating money to an organization such as a nonprofit organization, to implementing environmentally friendly policies in the workplace. This idea is not required for companies; instead it is something that companies do to improve their communities. The way companies practice CSR is different from company to company, and some companies may not even practice it at all.

CSR is everyone’s business. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to a business practice that involves participating in initiatives that benefit society, Liz Maw, CEO of nonprofit organization Net Impact, noted that CSR is becoming more mainstream as forward-thinking companies embed sustainability into the core of their business operations to create shared value for business and society (Fallon).

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) is a term describing a company’s obligation to be accountable to all of its stakeholder in all its operation and activities. Socially responsible companies consider the full scope of their impact on communities and the environment when making decisions, balancing the needs of stakeholder with their need to make profit.

Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing assurance by the business world to contribute to economic progress while improving the quality of life of the employees and their families as well as of the local commune and society at large. Different organizations made various definitions, although there is considerable common opinion between them. Corporate Social Responsibility is, how organizations manage the business plans to produce an overall constructive impact on society. It is essentially a concept where organizations decide to contribute voluntarily to a better society and a cleaner environment. Organizations consider themselves as an essential part of the society and act in a socially responsible way. Earlier it was viewed as a philanthropic activity but it is now viewed to be an inclusive, broad, diverse and integral part of business strategy to reduce the business risks related to uncertainty.

There is a multitude of definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). According to Business for Social Responsibility, ‘CSR is defined as achieving commercial success in ways that honor values and respect people, communities and the natural environment.’ Alternatively, CSR has been described as ‘an action by a firm, which the firm chooses to take, that substantially affects an identifiable social stakeholder’s welfare.’ Osie-Kwame, S (July

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept which is also known as corporate citizenship, corporate conscience or in a simple way a responsible business. It is an integrated concept of self-regulatory business model for any organisation. Corporate Social Responsibility has been in practice for more than fifty years now, which has been adopted not only by domestic companies but also by transnational company with voluntary CSR initiatives (Chernev and Blair, 2015). It includes Corporate Social Responsibility for code of conduct, organisational health and environment, companies reporting on social, financial and environmental aspects, partnership with agencies, NGO’s and UN agencies etc. and increase its focus on community development program (Sun, Stewart and Pollard, 2010).

CSR is a “corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company’s effects on the environment and impact on social welfare” (Investopedia) through the implementation of “actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm that which is required by law” (A. McWilliams, 2006).

What is CSR? CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility indicates the actions or conducts that are strategically important to businesses. CSR can also be defined as a firm’s efforts or obligations in reducing and getting rid of any detrimental effects on the community and maximizing beneficial effects to the company and community in which it operates in the long run (Mohr et al, 2001, cited Trendafilova et al, 2013). CSR usually starts with the common emphasis that firms are not only responsible to generate investment returns for their investors, but are also responsible to their natural surroundings and to other stakeholders. “This is usually known as the “triple bottom line” – the company’s returns for investors, the environment and stakeholders” (Markley, 2014). In today’s modern business environment, CSR is undoubtedly important because whenever possible, customers would prefer purchasing goods from firms that are reliable; suppliers also prefer supplying to companies that are credible; employees would rather work for corporations they have a high regard for and NGO’s want to work with companies seeking possible solutions in areas of common concern. “Pleasing each of these stakeholder groups enables companies to maximize their obligations to their shareholders who gain most when the needs of other stakeholder groups are met” (Waldman et al, 2010).

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept which is also known as corporate citizenship, corporate conscience or in a simple way a responsible business. It is an integrated concept of self-regulatory business model for any organisation. Corporate Social Responsibility has been in practice for more than fifty years now, which has been adopted not only by domestic companies but also by transnational company with voluntary CSR initiatives (Chernev and Blair, 2015). It includes Corporate Social Responsibility for code of conduct, organisational health and environment, companies reporting on social, financial and environmental aspects, partnership with agencies, NGO’s and UN

Consequently, “in a world where power has shifted from the public to the private sector, the expectations which society has in relation to the environmental, social, and ethical responsibilities of companies have risen”. CSR has quickly moved from a domain typically associated with anti-corporate non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and activist campaigners into a mainstream business issue which is now “a critical determinant of trust in companies”. With this development, CSR itself (also referred to as corporate citizenship) has naturally taken on a number of different meanings. Although these definitions are similar, when attempting to identify the essential components of a successful programme for improving corporate social responsibility it is important to explore the similarities and differences among the definitions used. To that end, some of the more common and generally accepted definitions of CSR are as follows:

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) also known as the “social responsibility” is defined by the European Commission as an concept where business integrate social and environment concern in their day to day activities on a voluntary basis. CSR has encapsulated the interest of one and all in term of economic, social, and environmental concern and it has become more and more important in the past years.

CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined by many groups like, Tata steel, Coca Cola, Reliance, Videocon etc. Although they all stand for similar meanings connecting to taking responsibilities of the society as a business individual, its definition has been getting broader from a established point of view, corporate social responsibility is a type of business instruction included in a business demonstration. CSR policy functions as a self-regulatory system whereby a business monitors and ensures its active consistency with the strength of the law, ethical standards and global norms. CSR aims to hold responsibility for corporate actions and to support a positive impact on the surroundings and stakeholders including clients, workers, investors, communities, and others. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been a growing subject for last two decades. It had been developed in US and Europe simultaneously from many years. Since the beginning of the new concept, global companies adjust their policy of conduct and moral rules to be able to establish the relation between their stakeholders that they are a responsible business article and that the profit given back to the shareholders are not from immoral practices. CSR involves multiple stakeholders, including the government, shareholders, employees, consumers, media, suppliers, NGOs, and the general public and volunteerism to doing the business in a responsible way.

EU Definition of CSR: "A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis."