Corporate Social Responsibility

Bergs

Everyone,

I am here to tell you of the importance of Corporate Responsibility to Businesses and Society.

Businesses and corporations are no longer in a position to be judged purely on their financial performance. Stakeholder involvement is a key issue and one that will continue to grow. This can be measured in a variety of ways from business impact on the environment, contribution to the community, workforce consideration and by extension of all these, its promotion of good industry standards and practices. A business can demonstrate their commitment to social responsibility by developing a Corporate Responsibility Action Plan that identify causes that are important to the business and how it can act to help prevent issues from arising or reverse problems if they have already arisen.

Many people question the motivation behind these moves by business, suggesting that it is primarily done for business reasons, for example public relations and increased goodwill. However those that make such arguments, miss the main benefit of the initiatives. It is always in the business interest to put corporate responsibility at its core. The commitments that businesses make in Corporate Responsibility Action Plans benefit both the business and the community; by definition a win-win scenario.

Corporate responsibility is not a new aspect of business but it is a growing way of doing business. In the past decade there has been a 300% increase in Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) funds ($24.6bn in 2000 to $79.5bn in 2012). These SRIs operate by investing in what they deem to be "socially responsible” businesses. Most of these investment funds prioritise one area of “responsibility” i.e. where they invest in companies that put emphasis on the area that coincides with their core cause. A popular area that these SRI focus on is climate change and sustainability. But many SRI’s exist that invest in other types of “responsible” business including ones that focus on Human Rights, healthcare and education. This incredible increase in funding is something that should be welcomed as it shows that businesses and investors are beginning to put societal concerns
to the fore.

Evidence also exists that shows a link between responsible corporate practices and the attraction and retention of the best talent. If a company wants to succeed, it needs staff that are willing and able to work hard and contribute to that success. If the company is looking for the best talent, then responsible practices are needed and should be encouraged. Other corporate practices that focus on staff wellbeing, can be implemented which can lead to staff taking less sick leave, something that has been frequently cited as a problem facing business. This is another reason for businesses to take these practices seriously.

In addition to the above, there are numerous other benefits to businesses of Corporate Responsibility from a Public Relations standpoint. This has traditionally been one of the main reasons why business have engaged in this type of activity and is a reason why many CSR initiatives are run out of the communications department of companies. This is still the case as the goodwill that can be created from such projects is considerable with research conducted by the Reputation Institute indicating that as much as 73% of consumers are willing to recommend companies that they perceive to be conducting their business in a responsible manner.

With the above in mind, it is in nobody’s interest – shareholders, management or employees - to commit resources to such initiatives without thinking clearly about what they could do, and what they hope to achieve. Clear core commitments must be identified when making decisions on how to pursue Corporate Responsibility such as the areas that the business wants to help or the problems they wish to tackle. An equally important decision has to be made on the targets of each commitment or how would the business know it has achieved its goals? Once this is done, real actions can be taken, tangible results can be achieved and responsible businesses can benefit, along with the societies they have pledged to help.

In this time of austerity as governments step back from providing services, businesses have an opportunity to step up. What can come of the business community’s involvement is immeasurable and the benefits for both businesses and society should be encourages as much as possible.

If you are interested in finding out more and how your own business can benefit from it please let me know
Colm

pedroeibar1

C. R. A. P. Corporate Responsibility Action Program.
Nice one.

Graham

Bergs wrote: »

Everyone,

I am here to tell you

Click

I'm trying to work out if that's a sales pitch, a lecture or are you just someone that's new to interactive media?

pedroeibar1

Graham wrote: »

Click

I'm trying to work out if that's a sales pitch, a lecture or are you just someone that's new to interactive media?

C’mon Graham, surely you’ve heard of these Corporate Responsibility Action Programs? They are the new “new thing” – they’ve taken over completely from Productive Investment in Social Stratagems which in turn was a follow-on from Forward Assessment Research Techniques.
HBR had a paper on it recently, “Work augmentation – new kinetic experiences for researchers”.:P :pac::D

pedronomix

Tis indeed up there with child Presidents and marriages for bees and bees, plus birds and birds. Very serious stuff and scoff at your peril. PeeCee Plod will incarcerate you if you are not a PC zealot!

jimmii

Pretty sad someone do that really.