Symposium csr

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development, improving the quality of life of :

• The workforce and their families,• The local community and, • The society at large.

DEVELOPMENT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• In the 1950s the primary focus was on businesses'

responsibilities towards the society.• In the 1960s, the term "corporate social responsibility"

became popular due to some key events, people and their ideas.

• In the 1980s, business and social interest came closer and firms became more responsive to their stakeholders.

• During the 1990s the idea of CSR became almost universally approved.

• Finally in the 2000s, CSR became definitively an important strategic issue.

Types of Corporate Social Responsibility

1. Economic Responsibilities - A company needs to be primarily concerned with earning profit. This is for the simple fact that if a company does not make money, it won't last long to contribute.

2. Legal Responsibilities - A company's most legal responsibility is, ensuring that it obeys all type of laws. Legal responsibilities can range from securities regulations to labour law, environmental law and even criminal law.

CSR can encompass a wide variety of tactics, from giving non-profit organisations a portion of a company's profits, to giving away a product or service to a worthy recipient. Few broad categories of social responsibility are :

3. Ethical Responsibilities - Ethical responsibilities are responsibilities that a company puts on itself because its owners believe it's the right thing to do, not because they have an obligation to do so. Ethical responsibilities could include being environmentally friendly, paying fair wages or refusing to do business with oppressive countries.

4. Philanthropic Responsibilities -. They involve making an effort to benefit society -- for example, by donating services to community organizations, engaging in projects to aid the environment or donating money for charitable causes.

BENEFITS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• Innovation – In the context of CSR, innovation is a huge benefit to a company and society. For example, Unilever was able to innovate new products such as a hair conditioner that uses less water to save the precious natural source.

• Cost savings – One of the easiest places for a company to start engaging in sustainability is to use it as a way to cut costs. Whether it’s using less packaging or less energy, these savings add up quickly.

• Customer engagement – Using CSR can help companies engage with their customers in new ways..

• New business opportunities - A CSR program requires an open, outside oriented approach. Because of continuous interaction with other parties, the company will be first to know about new business opportunities.

• Employee engagement - Employees want to feel proud of the organization they work for. Because of the high positive impact of CSR on employee wellbeing and motivation, the role of HR in managing CSR projects is significant.

• Long-term thinking – CSR is an effort to look at the company’s long-term interest and ensuring that the company’s future is sustainable.

• Positive PR - CSR provides the

opportunity to share positive stories online and through traditional media.

List of Top 25 CSR ranking companies (2010) in the USA

CSR in India•Among other countries India has one of the most richest traditions of CSR. Much has been done in recent years to make Indian entrepreneurs aware of social responsibility as an important segment of their business activity but CSR in India has yet to receive widespread recognition.

•CSR is not a new concept in India. Ever since their inception, corporate like Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group and Indian Oil Corporation to name a few, have been involved in serving the community. Through donations and charity events, many other organizations have been doing their part for the society.

•The Indian corporate sector spent around US$6.31 billion on social expenditure in the year of 2007-08, up from US$3.68 billion from the last year.

Companies Act 2013

Limitations of CSR The results of CSR compliance are generally viewed as a good thing by most

companies. Disadvantages lie in allocating time and resources necessary to develop a CSR approach that meets governmental and social standards and achieves compliance with informal CSR guidelines related to social and environmental responsibility. Following are its limitations:

1. Role of Profit - CSR requires companies to recognize responsibilities to stakeholders outside of shareholders. While proponents of CSR point out the long-term benefits of taking care of these core relationships, shareholders often rebel at the notion that companies will invest in anything that does not create immediately obvious financial gain.

2. Competitive Disadvantage - One of the most common arguments companies make against CSR policies is the disadvantage it causes as compared to companies that do not participate.

3. Lasting Impact - CSR has existed for decades, but its prominence as a major business consideration has increased due to heightened awareness of ethical issues in business and environmental preservation standards.

ConclusionThe term Corporate Social Responsibility has earned prominence from all avenues. Organizations or companies must realize that government cannot uplift the society alone. They have to contribute something and help the government and take advantage from government in several issues. Due to this the companies can increase their brand image in the society and think for the future planning. The competitor risks also reduced for those companies which are doing these activities. Hence, Corporate Social Responsibility is the harbinger of social change.

Thank You.Made By - Mahak Jain, XII - C