CSR in Business in the UK and China - Case Study Example

Project Report Contents CSR in business in UK and China 3 CSR in Business in UK 3 CSR in Business in China 6 Conclusion 8 Reference 9 Bibliography 11CSR in business in UK and China CSR in Business in UK In the current face of globalisation of financial market and economies and industrial environment characterised by relocation, restructuring and also subcontracting the ethical and social role of enterprise are highly scrutinised. The concept of CSR tends to cover the voluntary practises which are to be carried out by enterprises. As per findings based on previous research it can be said that UK is one of the restricted developments of CSR but in recent times there have been signs of incorporating CSR activities into business (EMCC, 2003). In the midst of Euro zone crises recent publication of CSR made from the European commission have stated number of significant features mainly for those which are concerned in improving the reputation. The report states that CSR is mainly the responsibility of enterprises for the impact on the society and CSR is all about minimizing the negative social, environmental and economic impacts and further maximising the positive impact. The report suggests clear clarification of business practises in areas such as human rights, tax strategies and in supply chain (The Guardian-a, 2011). In the last few decades, EU has been witnessing major growth on CSR as more than 80% of the fortune 500 address the issue on their own websites. The government of UK has been taking initiative and setting ambitious vision for corporate social responsibility. Strategy towards CSR is to promote the business activities which brings in social, economic and environmental benefits, aims to work in partnership with community bodies, private sector, stakeholders and consumers; encourage innovative initiative and development and application of the best possible practise and create framework to encourage and enable the business to behave responsibly through business practises and achieve sustainable goals. The UK is usually seen as one of the leading contributor of CSR practise globally. The government aims to encourage business to tackle the social exclusion and in a way build stronger and healthier communities. Business will thus gain new opportunities as well as customers. CSR highly encourages the companies to view the interest of stakeholders at a wider range which in return can widen the understanding of the opportunities and risk for business in the process of offering environmental and social gains. In some of the cases practise of CSR has also lead to greater efficiency Some of the individual organisations like Cooperative Bank and BT quantify the impact of CSR activities over the competiveness. The use of CSR is encouraged for business practise because of sustainability issues and helps secure better quality of life both at the current market environment and for the future. The UK government has played major role in the corporate social responsibility and has made significant contribution towards understanding and generating awareness of CSR and the significance of it for different companies irrespective of sizes and sectors and operating in various places. The government believes that CSR is relevant for all companies both in national and global markets (Department of Trade and Industry, 2004, p. 8-10). According to ABI, “Association of British Insurers” about 80% out of 100 listed companies in UK tends to report their CSR performance. CSR can also be viewed as a competitive advantage which helps to fight uncertain conditions and also in case of employee retentions. As per survey conducted in UK employees it was founded that about 57%of the employees desire to work more for CSR activities. The correlation between CSR and employee engagement cannot be ignored by the employers in UK particularly those who desire to increase productivity. More than half of UK employees believe that the employers should engage or encourage charitable activities or CSR during the working hours. Thus it can be inferred that workforce of UK cares about CSR and thus expects the same level of commitment from the employers (HR magazines, 2011). Responsible business depends upon individuals but with the recent financial crises has made it difficult for the corporations to maintain transparency or healthy business activities and engaged on issues such as executive pay, avoidance of tax and corruption. In addition externalisation of environmental and social responsibility has also occurred across the globe. The coming years will also notice more involvement with triple bottom line and with an expectation that business should operate within the concern of the society. The initiatives and strategies implemented by the government bind business to behave in a socially responsible manner and should be put in practise by every business operating in UK (Morrison, 2012). In an interview with “Stephen Howard, the Chief executive Director at Business in the community” with respect to the current CSR practices for companies operating in UK, it was revealed various inter related priorities concerned with the business. First was to review the processes in order to ensure that they are the correct level of introspection which takes place at the highest level. Secondly, rebuild the trust between society and business and reduce the economic impact occurred due to recession on its key stakeholders and make essential business decisions in supportive and transparent way (CSR Europe-a, 2009). CSR has now become an integral part of business and it can be seen that almost every business tends to incorporate corporate social responsibility. One such example is of Boots UK which is one of the trusted brands operating in UK. Boots is an international pharmacy and beauty and health group operating in UK. CSR for Boots is integral for which they are and has embedded in every aspect of its business. The company’s pharmacists is said to make difference in the lives of people by showing generosity of colleagues, business partners, customers and its approach towards sustainability which acts a key driver for business growth and ensures that the resources are utilised responsibly (Boots, n.d). CSR in Business in China CSR is one of the most popular and important topic in the business world and organisation irrespective of their size has been strictly implementing CSR practises into business. Corporation should engage into activities which are like “strictly business.” Whilst the literature of CSR had flourished in general, the literature on CSR from Chinese perspective is rather limited. The Chinese companies are not standard setters in case of Corporate Social Responsibility but in contrary to many reports, the Chinese companies are now implementing as well as following the best possible CSR practises. Over the past years, news and reports have highlighted incidents which had demonstrated poor CSR practices in China. Some of the most popular topics were faulty consumer products, suicides of workers, overworked as well as underpaid employees and toxic emission. However the government of China along with the organisations have attempted to bring about sea change within the corporate practise. In a way CSR practise in China are unique as the level of benefits and severity of CSR practises tends to vary and are likely to de culturally, geographically and politically dependent (Sarkis, Ni & Zhu, 2011). In between 2004 and 2008 the number of CSR report which was released by companies operating in China had increased from 4 to 130 approximately. With the introduction of Labour contract law and Taida Environmental Index in 2008 in Shenzhen Stock Exchange, a variety of framework had encouraged socially responsible activities with respect to the Chinese companies (Sutherland & Whelan, 2009, p. 5). The business case with respect to CSR in China aims to secure domestic license in order to operate and also help in shaping the global competitive environment and reward sustainability. The MNC are most likely to encounter scrutiny for environmental and social performance and are expected to demonstrate their contribution towards the national priorities of China. Some of the national priorities include green growth, improvement in livelihood and integration of business in china in global world. China’s influence in the global market had increased engagement in SCR and offers wide opportunity to influence the forces that tends to shape the global business as well as sustainable development. In the recent past few year China had experienced economic rise, developing infrastructure along with ambitious business community. According to a survey for Chinese business executives conducted in 2010 by Fortune magazine it was revealed that 89% agreed to CSR and believed that it can contribute positively towards business performance in the long term. The rise in the CSR activities in China can be illustrated with the increased number of companies issuing the CSR reports and also the MNC reporting on the impact and the activities in China. More than 700 companies publish annual report based on social and environmental performance and about 71 out of the 100 largest companies in China publishes CSR report (NCF, n.d, p.7). In order to determine the CSR activities of business in China, an illustration of the banking sector has been provided to analyse the level of CSR and sustainability. China is now the path towards responsible growth in business and also sustainability of the same. China banking regulatory had recently released “green credit guidelines” in order to secure global leadership in China across the banking sector and the guidelines are made compulsory for every financial sector. Green business practise is pre condition for the domestic stability in China and hopes for a sustainable global economy. The 12th five year plan of China had set out determined intentions towards environmental protection and plans to invest US$450billion into renewable energy and about US$600billion into smart grids. It also plans to pilot the seven domestic carbon markets in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Chongqip, Guangdong and Hubei (The Guardian, 2012). Currently more and more Chinese business are integrating CSR into business practises as the enterprises are facing a tough challenges to survive in the global competitive world along with financial crises. And with more Chinese companies issuing CSR report it can be said that CSR movement in China is steadily on rise and is moving forwards. It is believed that irresponsible businesses are more prone to suffer in economic crises whereas responsible enterprises will be in a better position to fight back crises and thus every business and enterprise should adapt to the responsible measure in order to get through the hard times and survive in the future. According to Gefei Yin, the director and VP of “China WTO Tribune and the Development Center for Chinese CSR” stated the four major achievements made by Chinese companies with respect to CSR and they were, the enterprise has learned to consider CSR as responsibility towards the stakeholders; the CSR practise of Chinese companies had improved; thirdly, disclosure of CSR information is prominent and finally the Chinese enterprise have realised the global responsibility (CSR Europe, 2009). Conclusion Therefore analysing corporate social responsibility in business in UK and China it can be concluded that the government in UK and China are playing an essential and vital role in initiating the CSR activities among business in order to ensure sustainability in the domestic and international market environment. China have realised the importance of CSR activities and business in China have recently started acting and implementing the CSR activities to ensure stronger sustainability rate, transparency in business allowing investors to invest and also creating competitive advantage. However CSR practise in UK and China differs in certain way although the meaning remains the same as in other developed countries and CSR is practised for common goal, towards the sustainability of environment and community as a whole. As the business environment tends to become much more complex with time, companies thus needs to implement sophisticated approach towards CSR. Lastly CSR in business is highly essential and is acting as sustainability and competitive advantage for most of the business in today’s era and government in both developing and developed countries are concentrating towards CSR activities. Reference Boots, No Date. Corporate social responsibility. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.boots-uk.com/Corporate_Social_Responsibility.aspx> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] CSR Europe, 2009. CSR in China - building responsible competitiveness in global supply chains. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.csreurope.org/news.php?type&action=show_news&news_id=2368> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] CSR Europe-a, 2009. Business in the Community. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.csreurope.org/pages/en/focus_bitc.html> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] Department of Trade and Industry, 2004. Corporate Social Responsibility: A Government update. [Pdf]. Available at: < http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file48771.pdf> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] EMCC, 2003. Corporate social responsibility in France, Germany, Hungary and the United Kingdom. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emcc/content/source/eu03002a.htm> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] HR Magazines, 2011. CSR could be the key to boosting engagement and productivity, research suggests. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/1019386/csr-key-boosting-engagement-productivity-research-suggests> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] Morrison, J., 2012. Business responsibility for its social impacts: moving beyond CSR. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/business-responsibility-social-impact-beyond-csr> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] NCF, 2012. Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Economic Development in China: Implications for Business. [Pdf]. Available at: < http://www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/international/files/17296_China%20Corp%20Social%20Responsibility_Opt.pdf> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] Sarkis, J. Ni, N. & Zhu, Q., Winds of Change: Corporate Social Responsibility in China. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/social-responsibility/winds-of-change-corporate-social-responsibility-in-china#.UQILsa73qYI> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] Sutherland, D. & Whelan, G., 2009. Corporate social Responsibility in China’s Largest TNCS. [Pdf]. Available at: < http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cpi/documents/discussion-papers/discussion-paper-51-csr-ds.pdf> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] The Guardian, 2012. China: the path to responsible business and sustainable growth. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/blog/china-sustainability-corporate-social-responsibility> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] The Guardian-a, 2011. EUs new CSR report offers realistic initiatives to promote sustainability. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/blog/eu-corporate-sustainability-report-policy> [Accessed 25 Jan. 13] Bibliography Brejning, J., 2012. Corporate Social Responsibility and the Welfare State: The Historical and Contemporary Role of Csr in the Mixed Economy of Welfare. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Idowu, S. O. & Filho, W. L., 2009. Global Practices of Corporate Social Responsibility. Springer. Wu, Z., 2009. China in the World Economy. Taylor & Francis. Zu, L., 2009. Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Restructuring and Firms Performance. Springer. Read More