Corporate Social Responsibility – the Action of Companies

Maturity is the definition of adulthood. Adulthood can be determined by the amount of responsibility that the entity can embrace. Only responsible person can call himself an adult. The same aspect we can find in a business. If the company is mature, it takes responsibility for its actions not only in the business matter, but also in social, environmental and ethical level. Mature doesn’t mean old. Mature means developed and grown enough to take another step to create more opportunities and provide an extra step in the direction of the “good”.

Every business, regardless if operating in the local or the global market, has a huge effect on various groups in the range of its impact. Starting from employees through shareholders and stakeholders to local communities and even entire societies. Pursuing the economic goals, the managers of the enterprise have to remember that some of the activities undertaken by the company may bring undesirable social effects or threaten the safety of the natural environment.

The company must take responsibility for the impact that it has on its employees, as well as the environment, customers, and everything that it has contact with [Drucker 1995, p. 84]. It should therefore act in such a way that, when realizing its objectives, it takes into an account and satisfies the existing needs of various groups of stakeholders. Appropriate solutions for these matters can be found using the mechanisms of managing the company while continually building positive relationships with all groups of the market environment. That means support the commitment to sustainable development, with respect for law, ecology and ethics.

Awareness of the problems regarding the environmental and social struggle, that the Business has to face, hence the commitment to solve them is the key to successfully building identity and social acceptance. Corporate Social Responsibilities is a strategic opportunity and a set of commitments that the company should analyze using the same tools and skills that apply to market strategies [Davis 2005, p. 87]. Therefore, Corporate Social Responsibility will be the next point of the strategy that fits into the company's market activities. One can also look at the issues of corporate social responsibility as a collection of ideas of noble intentions, rather than a consistent theory and set of proven practices [Baron 2001, pp. 7-45]. However, if you want to take advantage of the idea of corporate social responsibility in a company, you should define a certain framework covering this phenomenon. It is possible to observe specific features of this type of behavior, which allow to create a definition of Corporate Social Responsibilities. If we assume that an enterprise being an active participant in the life of a given community has certain 'civic duties', then social responsibility can be defined as an obligation of an enterprise to conduct its business in a way that respects the rights of individuals and supports social welfare [Manakkalathil, Rudolf 1995, p. 25 and n.].

Considering the above, the most essential elements of Corporation Social Responsibilities will be to do good and avoid causing harm [Petkus, Woodruff 1992, p. 154-161]. It will therefore be an undertaking by the company to minimize or eliminate any harmful impacts and increase its long-term beneficial effects on society [Mohr 1996, pp. 48-49]. The firm connection of the enterprise with the public, from a local perspective, thus seems to be an important element for which the individual must pay special attention.

The enterprise does not exist only to implement and satisfy the consumption needs of members of society, but also to stabilize or initiate social change. Thus Corporate Social Responsibility is a set of corporate obligations to protect and strengthen the social context in which it operates [Griffin 2007, pp. 117-120]. This context covers three main areas: external stakeholders (clients, local community, suppliers, employees, interest groups, trade associations, owners / investors, courts, schools and universities, governments, national government, local authorities, creditors), environment and general social well-being. The corporate social responsibly integrates the concept of global citizenship with care for the environment and with sustainable development, and social responsibility refers to the company's ongoing commitment to ethical conduct and contributing to economic development while demonstrating respect for people, local communities, nations and the environment [ Gustafson 2007, p. 190]. Considering the above topic, it can be recognized that Corporate Social Responsibility is the action of a company, which connects with its economic goals, consists in meeting the commonly expected tasks in the field of charity and ecology. It is an action that compliances with requirements and standards more restrictive than those imposed by regulations rights and principles of ethics, as well as taking full, conscious responsibility for all their activities. Corporate Social Responsibility will therefore be built in four main areas. Two related in the economic aspect: market- external environment, and workplace - internal environment; and two concerning the social aspect: environment -natural environment, and society- local environment.  

Cite this page