When corporations and businesses participate in Corporate Social Responsibility, it not only benefits the business itself, but its employees, customers, community, and the world as a whole.
What is Corporate Social Responsibility?
Corporate Social Responsibility can also be considered corporate citizenship, or responsible business. It is a business model adopted by corporations that wish to improve their company, communities, and more. It is a self-regulating system that commits the corporation to following the laws of business, maintaining a high ethical standard, and following international norms. Often, Corporate Social Responsibility results in businesses committing themselves to certain social goods, or even an attempt to improve the environment. Overall, Corporate Social Responsibility is a company’s promise to create a positive impact in the world; this does not mean they do not have a profit motive, it merely means they care about the world while trying to make money.
One of the main benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility is to the business itself. It creates a positive image for the business, and will result in more customers. Often, customers will want to support a business that does good for the community. This is because when the customer supports that business, they are also helping themselves in the future. In addition, investors are more likely to become a part of the business, because people want to invest in a business that has high ethical standards and has a strong customer base. Also, energy-saving measures, or increasing sustainability, will save the company energy and money in the long-run. Overall, Corporate Social Responsibility will result in winning over customers and more investors, which will give the business more money.
A survey conducted on “Net Impact” found that more than half of workers wish to be a part of a company where they can make an impact, and that making an impact would make them happy. This means that a corporation that practices Corporate Social Responsibility will have happier workers, which benefits the company and the employees. In addition, 35% of the respondents said that they would accept a pay cut in order to work for a company that practices Corporate Social Responsibility. This statistic is very telling; to many people, money is less important than making a difference in the world, and this indicates that a business that cares about the world will be more successful as a whole.
Community and the World
The benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility to the local community and the world is self-explanatory. A company committed to Corporate Social Responsibility will often support projects that will do things like lower pollution, or lower energy output, or in some cases, companies will even give portions of their profit to charities, or will have their employees volunteer for community-building non-profits. Overall, a commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility will help the community surrounding the corporation, but it will also have a larger impact on the world, particularly if multiple companies commit to it.
An example of Corporate Social Responsibility is through “The Body Shop.” The Body Shop published a full report on their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, and they were one of the first to do so. The founder Anita Roddick was committed to protecting the environment, as well as protecting the rights of both humans and animals. The corporation has even founded their own charity titled The Body Shop foundation, which helps fund those pioneers in business. The Body Shop has also started a fair trade program, with a strong anti-animal testing stance. Since then, it has made profits of over $60 million a year.
The Body Shop is just a single example of a corporation that is committed to Corporate Social Responsibility, but it is a trend that has been growing over the past few years. The benefits to Corporate Social Responsibility expand past simply helping a charity, or giving the company a good image. It affects everyone in the business, including shareholders, employees, and customers, as well as everyone in the community, and in some cases, the world.
– Corina Balsamo