The case for corporate social responsibility

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

4 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

07/13/2009

Category :

Business & market

Sub category :

Management

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Summary :

Introduction
The common approaches to CSR
Arguments by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer
CSR's role in democracy and capitalism
The connection between CSR and success in business
Conclusion
Annotated bibliography

Abstract

The idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has emerged in the recent decades as a point of discussion within the business world. Some advocate for it, while others are adamantly opposed to the idea. It is a type of corporate self-regulation that is supposed to be built into the business model of companies as a way of ensuring that these businesses adhere to the law, ethical social standards and international business norms. Under this model, businesses are accountable to themselves for the consequences of their actions on the environment, their employees, their customers, the stakeholders and the community. Essentially CSR promotes accountability of the company to the public. Additionally, CSR calls on companies to be proactive in their promotion of the public interest as it voluntarily includes the public interest in considerations of business. It pays respect to the new triple bottom line which, in addition to profit, is also concerned with people and planet.

The implementation of CSR might sound like a good idea at first glance, but it has become a topic of much debate and criticism. Those who advocate for it argue that companies will in fact benefit from implementing CSR policies, while critics contend that CSR takes away from the main purpose of business, while others argue that social responsibility should not be the responsibility of business but of government to regulate business (businesses should not have the option of being socially responsible, governments should force them to be through law, thus removing the 'option' from companies).