What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?
Managers must consider how the products or services they provide affect both people and the environment. It is a given that companies must provide products and services that are innovative and appealing to the consumer, and efficient to produce or provide (as a service). However, today’s technologies allow consumers, communities, public interest groups and regulators to be well informed about all aspects of a firm’s performance. As a direct result, all stakeholders can have a strong view about firms that fail to respect the environment or that engage in unethical conduct.
Many companies now realize that “doing what’s right” and doing it properly can be beneficial to all its stakeholders and maintain or increase their margin rates (i.e., profitability). Companies that practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) introduce polices that consider environmental, societal and financial impacts in their decision making. As managers consider approaches to CSR, they find it helpful to consider the concept of creating shared value. Shared value suggests finding policies and practices that enhance the firm’s competitiveness while simultaneously advancing the social and/or economic conditions in the communities in which they operate. For example, Tesla, Toyota, Nissan and now Ford and GM find shared value in low-emission vehicles…. vehicles that increase their competitiveness world-wide, while meeting society’s interest in low emission vehicles.
Operations functions – from supply chain management to product design, to production, quality assurance, packaging and logistics, provide an opportunity for finding shared value while meeting CSR goals.
Research Assignment- Select a public or privately-owned company that has demonstrated either a positive CSR approach or a negative approach to social responsibility.