CSR for business managers, stakeholders and society - Research Paper Example

?CSR: what does this mean for business managers, stakeholders & society? Executive Summary Corporate Social responsibility or CSR is the “commitment to improve community well-being through discretionary business practices and contributions of the corporate resources” (Kotler and Lee 3). Working against the interests of the society and the environment are labelled as unethical business practices in modern day. Modern customers are well aware of the importance of sustainable development and they deal only with companies which have good reputation in terms of CSR and sustainable development. It is “the society which provides both customers and resources to fulfil the business objectives of the corporate companies” (Kotler and Lee 3). Therefore it is the duty of the companies to work in accordance with the interests of the community and environment. However, only few companies are strictly observing CSR in practice, even though most of the companies agree with CSR in principle. This paper analyses the reputation of Coca Cola in terms of corporate social responsibility. Description of the company Operating in more than 200 countries worldwide, the American company Coca cola is one among the largest soft drink manufacturers in the world at present. “In May, 1886, Coca Cola was invented by Doctor John Pemberton a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. Today, products of the Coca Cola Company are consumed at the rate of more than one billion drinks per day” (Bellis). Even though PepsiCo is causing some serious challenges to Coca Cola in some part of the world, Coca Cola is able to maintain its superiority in most of the regions in the world. Issue Identification According to Jeff Seabright, The Coca-Cola Company's vice president of environment and water resources, “sustainability begins with the simple act of paying attention. You can't manage what you can't measure"(Making Sustainability the Real Thing). In other words, Coca Cola is well aware of the importance of concepts such as corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. However, the accusations against Coca Cola with respect to the violation of social responsibility are growing across the world. In India, the company is facing severe protests from people, because of its effort to exploit the under water resources injudiciously. People from Kerala (India’s southernmost state) have recently conducted an agitation against the underwater exploitation by Coca Cola. Villagers near Plachimada, Kerala faced severe drinking water shortage because of Coca Cola’s uncontrolled underwater exploitation. Coca Cola forced to close down their plant at Plachimada because of the public agitation against them (EMJ). Significance of the Issue Drinking water shortage is one of the major problems facing by people all over the world. Because of injudicious farming activities and heavy industrialization, majority of the water resources such as rivers and streams were polluted in most parts of the world. As a result of that current generation is relying heavily on underwater resources for their drinking needs. Coca Cola like soft drink manufacturers is exploiting these resources and the people near the soft drink bottling plants are struggling to get enough drinking water from the nature. Stakeholder identification Some of the major stakeholders of Coca Cola Company are; ordinary people, Coca Cola employees, shareholders in Coca Cola, government and local bodies. On one side, Coca Cola is trying to make profit and safeguard the interests of the company management and the shareholders. On the other side, ordinary people lose their drinking water resources and the government and local bodies struggle to take proper actions. It should be noted that as part of free trade agreements, it is the duty of the government of India to prepare enough facilities to Coca Cola like companies. Moreover, Indian government is currently trying to attract foreign direct investment at any cost to stimulate economic growth. The investments by Coca Cola would definitely help India’s economic growth. At the same time ordinary people have problems rather than benefits because of Coca Cola’s activities. Recommendations It is illogical and unethical to allow companies to work against the interests of the people and the nature. It should be noted that all living things in Plachimada may face drinking water shortage because of Coca Cola’s exploitation of underwater resources. Therefore, it is the duty of Coca Cola to make sure that their activities may not cause any problems to the communities in which they operate. In other words, Coca Cola should demonstrate their belief in social responsibility in practice rather than proclaiming it in principle. Coca Cola should consider CSR as a responsibility rather than a liability. They should realize that this world is not for the existing population alone. Future generation may struggle a lot if Coca Cola like big corporates exploits the natural resources without any mission or vision. Coca Cola should realize that protection of the environment is their responsibility since the environment provides them the resources needed to sustain their operations. United Nations Global Impact (UNGC) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) are two of the prominent organizations in the world which are monitoring and guiding organizations with respect to their social responsibility. These organizations should take strong actions against all companies which violate their social responsibility deliberately. Possible Implications It is a fact that water is necessary for Coca Cola like companies to sustain their operations or business. Preventing Coca Cola from exploiting underwater resources may cause many damages to the company’s interests. It would be impossible for Coca Cola to make soft drinks without water. Therefore, the company should think about the exploitation of alternate water sources. For example, Coca Cola can think in terms of using rainy water for its operations in Kerala. Moreover, it can think about developing technologies to use ocean water for the making of soft drinks. Drinking water shortage would cause huge problems to the people both in the short run and long run. It is a fact that Coca Cola needs to spend more to find an alternate solution to its water problems in Kerala. Increased spending may reduce its profit and the shareholder’s interests will also be affected negatively. However, Coca Cola should give more importance to the interests of the ordinary people than to the interests of the shareholders since they cannot sustain their activities without the support from the locals. Works Cited Bellis Mary, “The History of Coca Cola”. 2009. Web. 05 December 2013. EMJ. “Coca-Cola and Water Use in India: "Good Till the Last Drop"”. Web. 05 December 2013. Hawkins, David. E. “Corporate Social Responsibility: Balancing Tomorrow's Sustainability and Today's Profitability”. 2006. Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (September 4, 2006) Print. Kotler, Philip Philip Kotler (Author) › Visit Amazon's Philip Kotler Page 4. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. 5. See search results for this author 6. Are you an author? Learn about Author Central and Lee, Nancy. “Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause”. 2004. Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 13, 2004). Print. “Making Sustainability the Real Thing”. 2009. 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