Table of Contents
Tools of Social Responsibility of Business
Smooth relationship and understanding can be developed between the business and the community through the development of communication media or tools which may be the press, trained and educated men and women, local meetings and the social audit.
They are briefly explained as below.
1. Reliable means of Communication
In order to establish a smooth liaison and understanding between business and community, there must be a reliable means of communication. This is provided by a free and vigorous press, which is essential if the company is to discharge its responsibilities. It is through the press that good relationship is developed between the business and the people.
Regular and periodic representation of facts, figures, and statistics through press is a great asset for the business as much as its image in the public eye is brightened. That is why businessmen hold frequent press conferences to explain their points of view and present facts to the press and are prepared to hear its reactions.
2. Trained and Educated Men and Women
The company needs trained and educated men and women to carry on its business. As a citizen, the company has no right to damage the amenities/property of the community.
The presence of bad effluents, smoky chimneys, ugly buildings, heaps of solid waste emitting bad odour, insanitary slums, and polluted atmosphere is an indication of the fact that the business is quite negligent of its moral duty towards the community.
To improve the situation regarding proper siting of industry and housing colonies, the company must work through consultation of the locality, rather than build and own these without having such prior discussions.
The company should allow its workers time off for civic duties and for assisting the technical and other educational programmes.
3. Pubic Meetings
Public meetings serve a very useful purpose in as much as they apprise the community of what a company has done, what it proposes to do and whether its objectives have been accomplished.
Such local meetings should be regular and annually held and open to the representatives of consumers, workers and the community besides those of the shareholders. At such meetings, the chairman gives the report on the general position of the business, the price of its products, their quality and standards, future prospects for their improvement, conditions of employment, prospects of expansion and growth, relation between business and the community and the activities that business has undertaken for the benefit of the community.
4. Social Audit
This is an important tool by which factual assessment of the work done and of the social performance of business is done. The objective of social audit is to find out whether any cooperation and mutual relationship exist between labor and management, and whether the business has fulfilled its economic, social and other responsibilities and maintained its predetermined standard and status; what is the nature of public relations with the customers etc. social audit must be compulsory for all companies.