CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the term for the moral measures that a corporation takes to guarantee that its operations do not have a detrimental influence on the community by balancing the needs of the economy, the environment, and society. Sustainability may not always result from CSR. CSR and sustainability differ slightly from one another. The former examines a company’s past and present acts and how they affect stakeholders, whereas the latter is futuristic and focuses on how actions will affect the next generation (Friedman, M. 2007). In-depth analysis of CSR and sustainability is provided in the study.

The Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility

Being a good citizen has many benefits, claims M. Friedman in 2007. One, it is ethically correct for the corporations to make right the messes they have brought to the community such as pollution. Two, being socially responsible protects the corporations from fines and stiff regulations by the government, for instance, fines for emitting effluents and other pollutants. Finally, social responsibility accords corporations an opportunity to build strong positive public relations with the community and an opportunity to attract the top talent in the industry.

Benefits and Challenges of Pursuing a Sustainability Strategy

A company that pursues a sustainability strategy faces benefits and challenges on equal measure. On the merits, a company can attract top talent in the industry since new robust leaders prefer companies with going concern strategies. Two, a company can have operational efficiency by reducing wastes for instance; a company can decide to recycle the byproducts if it is a manufacturing company. Three, a company can encourage responsible innovation which would turn out to be profitable. The disadvantages that would face such a company include but not limited to having weak, making unreachable targets, making goals in disordered priorities and incurring high costs of reporting the sustainability strategy (McWilliams, A., & Siegel, D. 2001)

The Manager’s Role in CSR and Sustainability

A manager’s attitude towards CSR affects a strategy since the manager is directly involved in the allocation of resources towards the strategy. The pyramid of CSR can explain how managers can have different attitudes and the effect on a strategy. The most basic are economic objectives followed by legal, ethical and philanthropic objectives (McWilliams, A., & Siegel, D. 2001). A manager who puts philanthropic objectives first would allocate few resources towards sustainability while a manager who considers ethical objectives before philanthropic ones would have a better sustainability strategy.

The Importance of Social Corporate Responsibility (SCR)

I am for Social Corporate Responsibility for many reasons. One, SCR enables a company to give back to the community for instance, by offering free training programs and scholarship opportunities. Two, the companies can use their resources to correct environmental problems such as pollution. Three, it is through SCR that companies can create a good rapport with the community and avoid fines and other regulations from the government.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Social Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability strategy are two critical components of an organization that have more merits than demerits as vividly discussed.

References

Friedman, M. (2007). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Corporate ethics and corporate governance, 173-178.

McWilliams, A., & Siegel, D. (2001). Corporate social responsibility: A theory of the firm perspective. Academy of management review, 26(1), 117-127.