07-05-2012, 11:34 AM
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming an increasingly important activity to
businesses nationally and internationally. As globalisation accelerates and large
corporations serve as global providers, these corporations have progressively recognised the
benefits of providing CSR programs in their various locations. CSR activities are now being
undertaken throughout the globe.
What is corporate social responsibility?
The term is often used interchangeably for other terms such as Corporate Citizenship and is
also linked to the concept of Triple Bottom Line Reporting (TBL), which is used as a
framework for measuring an organisation’s performance against economic, social and
environmental parameters.
The rationale for CSR has been articulated in a number of ways. In essence it is about
building sustainable businesses, which need healthy economies, markets and communities.
The key drivers for CSR are1:
Enlightened self-interest - creating a synergy of ethics, a cohesive society and a
sustainable global economy where markets, labour and communities are able to
function well together.
Social investment - contributing to physical infrastructure and social capital is
increasingly seen as a necessary part of doing business.
Transparency and trust - business has low ratings of trust in public perception.
There is increasing expectation that companies will be more open, more accountable
and be prepared to report publicly on their performance in social and environmental
arenas
Increased public expectations of business - globally companies are expected to
do more than merely provide jobs and contribute to the economy through taxes and
employment.”
Asia Pacific Perspective
Corporate social responsibility is represented by the contributions undertaken by companies
to society through its core business activities, its social investment and philanthropy
programmes and its engagement in public policy. In recent years CSR has become a
fundamental business practice and has gained much attention from chief executives,
chairmen, boards of directors and executive management teams of larger international
companies. They understand that a strong CSR program is an essential element in
achieving good business practices and effective leadership. Companies have determined
that their impact on the economic, social and environmental landscape directly affects their
relationships with stakeholders, in particular investors, employees, customers, business
partners, governments and communities.
The Asia Pacific context is distinct. On the one hand, there are long-standing traditions of
respect for family and social networks, and high value placed on relationships, social stability
and education. Diverse religions and cultures also bring distinct attitudes towards community
social behaviour and engagement as well as support and philanthropic contributions.
Governments in the region also play distinct roles – often stronger in terms of influence on
economic and social priorities, yet not as advanced in terms of social safety nets. This has
resulted in the drivers for corporate citizenship being very different from those in other
regions.
Many of the large corporations in Asia Pacific are private, and many do not have the same
public pressures on corporate behaviour that public companies in Europe and North America
have for progress on corporate social responsibility, although this is changing. Yet many of
the larger companies in Asia Pacific have strong localized philanthropic programmes. Also,
regional companies that are engaged in supply chains of major global corporations, and local
affiliates of global corporations from Europe and America have significant pressures and a
strong business case to develop corporate citizenship policies and practices within the
region, not least on the environment, human rights and labour standards.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Unlocking the value
According to the results of a global survey in 2002 by Ernst & Young, 94 per cent of
companies believe the development of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy can
deliver real business benefits, however only 11 per cent have made significant progress in
implementing the strategy in their organisation. Senior executives from 147 companies in a
range of industry sectors across Europe, North America and Australasia were interviewed for
the survey.