Corporate Social Responsibilit Essay Example

Corporate Social Responsibilit Essay Example Corporate Social Responsibilit Essay Corporate Social Responsibilit Essay Yes, companies do have cultures of their own. This is because companies have a set of beliefs and behaviors as they involve groups of people with relationships, perceptions, and behaviors.   However, a company’s culture is more critically considered compared to the freer culture that an individual chooses for himself. Being a business, they are often expected to justify their actions and beliefs that support these actions.   Because of this, companies need to carefully choose and structure their norms such that it would be reasonable to its employees, gain approval from their market, and beneficial to their business. Although it has been argued that businesses are not expected to behave as society does, I still believe that a business is a member of society.   A company has most of the rights and obligations as each individual and is therefore bound to the legal and moral codes specific to the society.   This status of being a member of the community is what motivates a company to be socially responsible.   A company participates in both social issues and legal matters of the state, as in cases where a company leads in setting standards of living that could, through their lobbyists, influence new laws.   Moreover, a company plays an important role in advocating social issues when the government alone is unable to provide for the community.   A company, therefore, is concerned for the society because of the underlying notion that, even if it exists for profit, it is part of- if not one with- the community. CSR is very important to society as it plays a major part in its economic and social growth. A company that is socially responsible could help cultivate a society with the presence of its business, but it could also affect them negatively. We note that a company is, internally, also a society. It defines its principles upon following what may be a legal code, but also with profit returns as their goal.   The actions that a company does basing on these principles would determine their level of responsibility.   As an outcome, the society’s people and economy could either be well-developed or stagnant. How a company handles its social responsibility creates a profound effect on the community, and so it is imperative that a society is actively concerned in its programs. There are both advantages and disadvantages to each of these behaviors, and it is important that whichever a company adopts, extremity should be avoided as it may not be beneficial to both the company and society.   However, being a strict constructionist could prove better for a company, as CSR and philanthropy, albeit controlled and used as strategy, are still embedded in their goals. Being a strict constructionist, a company is specific in following not only legal standards but also moral codes. Since profit is the primary concern, it is important for a company to earn its market’s trust by delivering good standards, and loyalty by investing profit back into society.   These non-profit programs that a constructionist company initiates following a moral code are often the reasons why it is viewed as an ethical purist.   Overall, being a strict constructionist still allows a company to help the society but in a more practical strategy, needed for expansion- which create s more business opportunities and plenty of room to help. Yes, it is possible for a company to address both profit concerns and social responsibility at the same time, or â€Å"do well by doing good†.   By repackaging their products and services to fit a specific community, a company is able to expand their market to majority of the world’s population. Since they are provided with affordable commodities, technology, healthcare and education as well as employment, consumers patronize a company’s products and services and provide profit returns. Microfinance that turn profits and pooling of financial resources for a loan are some of the trends used to help people improve their standard of living- especially the poor and working poor- in financial terms. By providing affordable rates and lending money even to the low-income class, people become motivated to pay for their loans, and profit is ensured.   Another example of â€Å"doing good† but with a different kind of approach to ensure a more long-term â€Å"do ing well† is the collaboration of toy company Lego and scientific equipment company National Instruments (NI) where they sponsor a Science and Technology competition attended by 9- to 16-year-old students. By exposing the young to their products, they not only promote Science and Technology but also guarantee brand recognition and future market, when the kids grow to become buyers themselves. A company must adhere to the rules and standards specific to their marketed society in order to be able to, in the first place, stay in business. For this reason, the type- even presence- of CSR depends largely on the culture of a society as well as its social concerns.   A society that is particular to the rights of its individuals warrants the company to pay attention to the treatment of its employees and to have strategically impacting CSR activities. On the other hand, a society that is, say, well-supported by its government may not set a very high expectation in the company’s CSR involvement. With the society’s norms and present social concerns in mind, a company must adjust to these factors and design a CSR strategy that would create a positive effect to the society, or at least not hurt its image.   As a result, the quality and density of a company’s CSR activities vary from state to state. The presence of a company do not always benefit a society, and this conflict come in different situations. Multinational companies often involve a long chain of production, which could be rigged in the process and cause harm to consumers at the end of that chain. These result to news of food and chemical scares that have been known around the world or counterfeiting problems. Also, for-profit lending firms who view microfinance as money-well place higher costs for their loans and mortgages, even up to twice the amount of the loan, and end up hurting consumers’ credit instead of helping them to alleviate their standard of living. However, businesses sometimes hurt the society in the process of trying to help its members.   In order to effectively deliver or affordable products and services and offer employment to a community, another group of people is displaced.   These adverse effects could either be intentionally or unavoidable brought by the company but sadly, there is no universal standard that would prevent companies from falling into harmful ventures. IT systems are used in order to manage and report on a company’s CSR. Through information technology, a company is able to quantify their toxic emissions and determine whether they need to manage or reduce amounts of input.   With the results, the company is presented with the opportunity to help reduce the amount of pollution towards the environment.   However, IT systems themselves- especially the hardware- contain a great amount of toxic. Aside from that, these data-gathering technologies consume a lot of electricity and air conditioning, which would produce harmful greenhouse gases.   In the end, the employment of IT as part of CSR could enable a company to help the planet but also raise environmental problems in the process. For me, tool regulation and strategic usage determines the balance between the two opposite effects. Some societies do not have a strong stance on transparency between company and consumer, but it should be a requirement for a more trusted business.   Patronizing a business involves trust on the part of the customers. It is then their right to be well-informed about the products that they use and services that they employ.   As customers place their trust on a company by availing their products, it is the company’s responsibility to make sure that the customers understand the process to which they engage in.   Failure in this part results to issues that could be harmful for the customer.   Aside from that, nondisclosure of certain characteristics and aspects of a product or service would make the customer distrust a company and the company loses business. Corporate Social Responsibility, 8 Nonprofit programs, like any investment, should be cultivated with a strategy.   I agree that these programs should be run like business in order to make CSR work out for the company as well as the society. Handling nonprofits as one handles any business requires a well-defined procedure and guarantees a positive outcome. Furthermore, the program is evaluated to determine whether it has been successful, or needs further detailing.   Giving without a goal may contribute to the company’s visibility but it still tends to be irrelevant to the society and therefore ineffective. This is why â€Å"smart philanthropy† is a significant principle in most companies as it enables them to be active in philanthropic activities and also promote their company’s reputation: do well by doing good. III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conclusion We hope for a better community once businesses, especially large-scale ones, enter the society but at some point adverse effects and behaviors happen, and the community is affected. Once a business goes wrong, the society’s economy, people, and even environment would suffer.   Businesses, on the other hand, are affected by the beliefs and behaviors of the society.   A company that has no regard for the norms are criticized and since the society is its market and reason for existence, its policies need to be adjusted accordingly. Therefore, the relationship between company and society is inter-dependent: the company relies on the society for revenue, and the society looks up to the company for economic leadership. Because of this relationship, a company makes it a point to be socially responsible and invests profit back into the community so to gather loyalty and be able to expand at the same time. These programs that show responsibility, in turn, would encourage customers to patronize products and services.   In totality, corporate social responsibility is what keeps this relationship balanced and intact.