a necessity, an expectation, an opportunity

Theocharis Papadopoulos

To start with…

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What is Corporate Social Responsibility (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. European Commission

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CSR may be…

• Internal
  • Concerns the internal environment of business (human resources)

• External
  • Concerns the external environment of business (natural environment, customers, consumers, suppliers, society)

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CSR may have…

• Compensatory character
  • Minimization of negative externalities and/or compensation for the total

• Charity character
  • Offering to the total that is excessive of the damage, if any, caused by business activity

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The pyramid of corporate responsibility

Carroll (1991)

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The expectation Gap

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Companies can’t stay silent on social issues

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Companies generating discussions

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Factors favoring the growth of CSR

• Growth of multinationals

• Globalisation

• Civil society

• Post-material needs

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Responsible consumerism

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Responsible post consumerism

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Some criticisms on CSR

• Corporation’s purpose is to maximise returns to its shareholders, commitment to CSR is a dangerous deviation
• CSR helps to greenwash the company’s image, to cover up negative impacts by saturating the media with positive images of the company’s CSR credentials
• Privatization of public interest and democratic deficit
• CSR often targets the symptoms not the causes of problems

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Class Activity : Which CSR initiative?

• Jim is an 8-year old boy from York with the rare incurable disease of adrenoleukodystrophy or ALD (disease famously depicted in Hollywood’s film, Lorenzo’s Oil). Our company will cover all the expenses for his treatment (including relevant travel expenses for him and his family).

• “Heart” is an organisation offering support to elder people suffering from coronary heart disease and our company will sponsor their work.

• “Don’t Let me Down” is an organisation offering support to children with Down’s Syndrome and to their families. Our company will sponsor their work.

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Why CSR?

• Differentiate yourself from your competitors
• Develop and enhance relationships with customers, suppliers and networks
• Attract, retain and maintain a happy workforce and be an “Employer of

Choice”

• Save money on energy and operating costs and manage risk
• Generate innovation and learning and enhance your influence
• Get access to investment and funding opportunities
• Improve your business reputation and standing and generate positive publicity and media opportunities due to media interest in ethical business activities

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Differentiate yourself

• Price and quality have been traditionally used as sources of competitive advantage. CSR offers a new way to differentiate from competitors.

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Develop and enhance relationships

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Be an “Employer of Choice”

• 80% of young professionals are interested in securing a job with a positive environmental impact (Monster TRAK recruitment survey)
• 50% of young professionals would turn away from an employer that lacked good CSR policies (Monster TRAK recruitment survey)

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Save money and manage risk

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Generate innovation and learning and enhance your influence

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Get access to investment and funding opportunities Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)

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Improve your business reputation and standing

• 83% of people will trust a company which is socially responsible (USA today)

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Food for thought

“Corporate social responsibility is a hard-edged business decision”. [We do it] “not because it is a nice thing to do or because people are forcing us to do it…” [but] “because it is good for our business”

Niall FitzGerald, Former CEO, Unilever

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References

Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34(4), 39–48

Cohen, J., Ding, Y., Lesage, C. et al. (2017) Media Bias and the Persistence of the Expectation Gap: An Analysis of Press Articles on Corporate Fraud. J Bus Ethics 144, 637–659

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