IS Corporate Social Responsibility essential for every organisation?

One of the frequently asked question and debate topics is ' what is Corporate Social Responsibility anyway and is it an important add-on for every organisation?'

    

CSR is one controversial topic that till these day has no unanimous definition. There are so many arguments for and against the concept and this makes for an interesting read. Basically, there are two categories of people associated with the CSR as a concept.

1. Those who see it as a philanthropic model; that is companies make their profit and then decide what charitable cause to support. Most companies focus on education and training, healthcare, environment, infrastructure, voluntary sector empowerment, corporate community involvement. This is often referred to as Corporate Philanthropy.



2. Those that see it primarily as a company operating in a socially responsible way by ensuring the company's operation does not affect the community/society and also invest in communities for good business reasons.

The latter category is the European model and I personally believe this model is more viable because it makes social responsibility an integral part of wealth creation. Also, unlike the philanthropic approach to CSR where the first thing companies cut off in hard times is 'charitable giving', organisations who see CSR as an integral part of the company's operation would even practice CSR more and  better in difficult times.

The publication 'Making Good Business Sense' by Lord Holme and Richard Watts defines Corporate Social Responsibility as.... 

"the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large".

Business also defined Social Responsibility as ‘operating a business in a manner that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business’.

Well, there's a third category and this category of people hold the notion that there's no such thing as Corporate Social Responsibility. They believe the goal of every organisation is to make profit and has no business with being socially responsible. They believe strongly that social responsibility is the government's duty and should be left as such. 

There's more to Corporate Social Responsibility than philanthropy. If companies begin to see CSR beyond philanthropy and start seeing it as a way the company ensures its operation does not affect its operating community, the company acts in accordance with the law, corporate community involvement etc. then it would easier for more organisations to practice CSR.

According to a statement released by Startbucks, it's been proven that consumers are more attracted to socially responsible firms. Also, one of her (Starbucks) CSR annual reports reads;

“...shareholders are more inclined to invest in businesses with outstanding corporate reputations. Quite simply, being socially responsible is not only the right thing to do; it can distinguish a company from its industry peers”.

I believe no organisation is too big or small to be socially responsible, Responsibility starts from the smallest of things and no organisation is too small/young to be responsible,

There are numerous examples of organisations that were not socially responsible and the consequences they faced afterwards. A popular example is the Bhopal gas disaster at Union Carbide Industrial Limited n India.  Thousands of people were killed due to negligence on the part of the organisation. The community got furious and protested heavily; eventually criminal and civil cases were filed against the organisation and some of its employees even  jailed. 

Trust me no company wants to go through this phase. Hence, it pays to be socially responsible.