Corporate Social Responsibility What Is It?

The events of recent years have prompted many people to ask themselves just how we can go about building a fairer and more sustainable world

. With unemployment on the increase and wealth, social and educational inequality having risen to pre-war levels, a new debate has arisen about what we can do to resolve the problems facing us and avoid making the same mistakes as past generations. This has coincided with the rise of the activist consumer, with ethical purchasing decisions now common among British shoppers. The Fairtrade brand, which aims to promote a range of social and environmental goals, is a good example of this relatively recent trend.

There has also been more discussion about corporate social responsibility, a term which remains unfamiliar to many and may have the appearance of a buzzword, but does in fact have genuine substance. In short, corporate social responsibility refers to businesses ethical obligations many of which are pragmatic rather than altruistic. It stands to reason that companies, even those which have come to occupy dominant positions in their individual industries, are more concerned about the bottom line than anything else. They are, therefore, also well aware of the impact that negative publicity can have, and sustained campaigns against particular practices have been known to enjoy considerable success in forcing corporations to adjust their approach.

One of the main factors behind the recent drive towards corporate social responsibility is the widespread frustration at the political response or lack of one to the challenges facing humanity. There are those who argue that politicians are themselves overly dependent on corporate donors, rendering them either unable or unwilling to act against the interests of those who either fund them personally or their particular party. Appealing directly to a business sense of corporate social responsibility, in effect, cuts out the middleman and enables consumers whether corralled by pressure groups or acting on their own initiative to register their displeasure with the company concerned. The threat of a consumer action on this level can be seriously damaging to businesses, and forces them to respond quickly to the concerns being raised.

However, there are businesses which have sought to portray an image of corporate social responsibility without having been prompted to do so by activist consumers. Indeed, there are some companies which were founded on an ethical platform and take great pride in placing fairness at the heart of everything they do and with consumer activism becoming an increasingly important global force, these firms could be well-placed to adapt to these changes in shoppers behaviour.

by: Alan Trotter

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