Business in Global Context - Coursework Example

Business in Global Context Introduction The study is based on the role and importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the current business scenario across the world. The main motive of this discussion is to analyse whether the CSR principles of any organisation is influencing their corporate conscience or it is totally focused on the growth of the business and revenue generation. CSR can be defined as the sense of responsibility of any organisation towards the social as well as ecological environment and community in which it operates (Needle, 2004). CSR policies mainly follow a self-regulatory procedure which enables any business to ensure whether their activities are in compliance with laws, regulations, international norms and ethical standards (Needle, 2004). The further discussion will illustrate different principles of CSR and their effects on the ethical and moral conscience of organisations. It will also evaluate the effect of CSR on the process of influencing the targeted consumers of any organisation. The principles of corporate social responsilbility mainly include the financial, social and economical goal of any organisation under an ethical framework. These principles of CSR emphasise on influencing the social responsibility behaviour as well as profit-seeking behaviour of businesses. The main principle of corporate social responsibility is to integrate the different needs of society and business to incur benefits for both the parties. This principle of CSR mainly motivates organisations to concentrate on the legitimate needs of their stakeholders. Apart from the employees, consumers, suppliers and government authorities, the stakeholder of any organisation also includes the society and environment in which they are operating (Needle, 2004). Various organisations consider the CSR activities as a cost for their company. They have argued that the CSR activities lead organisations to misuse their valuable resources which can be utilized to increase their shareholder value. This view has been contradicted through establishing the strategic importance of the CSR activities. The strategic view of CSR has evaluated that these activities can produce tremendous growth to the organisation within the society and environment of their business operation (Needle, 2004). The CSR programs generally motivate the organisations to invest their resources and expertise for the benefit of the society. The social and environmental improvement will subsequently influence the business operations of the organisations (Ditlev-Simonsen and Wenstøp, 2013). Integration of the needs of society assists organisations to properly analyse the cultural, social and environmental preferences of their stakeholders. These preferences of the stakeholders play a vital role in driving the organisation towards different CSR activities (Ditlev-Simonsen and Wenstøp, 2013). For instance, Greenpeace movement of various NGO’s has motivated Shell Company to eliminate the practice of dumping the oil wastages from Brent Spar in the Atlantic. This movement has assisted the organisation to strengthen their bond with the international market by enhancing their market reputation (Ditlev-Simonsen and Wenstøp, 2013). Another principle of CSR allows organisation to prioritize the important issues of the society and provide solution to those issues. This kind of social responsibility mainly varies with the characteristics organisations such as their major operations, locations and size (Needle, 2004). Due to the internationalization of businesses, organisations are witnessing various social and environmental issues of different geographical locations. Companies are facing increased expectation from their stakeholders which is subsequently influencing them to get involved into different CSR activities (Farache and Perks, 2010). These activities encourage them to improve the social, economical and environmental condition of the stakeholders. These efforts not only contribute to improve the condition of the society but also allow the organisations to enhance their reputation within the internal as well as external stakeholders. This reputation will further enable the organisations to grow their business and revenue generation capacity (Needle, 2004). As per example, during the phase of AIDS pandemic within different parts of Africa, a number of organisations have ignored the issue to reduce different hazards in their business process (Needle, 2004). On the other hand, prioritization of this issue has awarded exceptional recognition to various organisations. The management of GlaxoSmithKline had indulged their research procedure to search for a solution for this issue. Introducing an effective medical solution to the problem not only assisted the society it has also enabled the organisation to gather huge profit and market reputation (Needle, 2004). As per different principles of CSR, organisations should not indulge in major social issues without sufficient financial backups. It has been contrasted that SMEs can be considered as economical institute which mostly run for profit. Investing in different CSR activities may hamper their overall profit ratio (Sarbutts, 2003). On the other hand, different researches have conveyed that CSR activities not only focused on the process of profit generation, these activities have also helped the organisation to create a sustainable position for the business in the local market. Various social as well as ecological issues can have an extensive effect on the business processes of small and medium organisation along with the big corporations. Adequate participation in the CSR processes will allow them to protect their business processes from the effect of different hazards (Sarbutts, 2003). The principle of CSR generally guides businesses to choose a distinctive path or position which influences them to encourage ethical activities within the organisation and its stakeholders. These ethical activities also motivate organisations to properly follow the multiple bodies of legislation such as corporation laws, government regulation and international laws. These movements also allow them to create a strong competitive advantage within their operating market (Needle, 2004). The ethical movement of Credit Agricole Bank encourages them to offer various financial solutions which are lined with environmental betterment such as special deals for organic farming and energy saving projects. This unique path has assisted the organisation to create a strong position in the market. It has also enabled the society to shift their attention towards the improvement of different environmental measurement (Needle, 2004). The CSR activities not only influence the organisations to indulge in different social and ecological welfares but it also encourages the consumers to participate in various activities that generate social sustainability. The rise in CSR programs has also increased the tendency of ethical consumerism. CSR efforts are generating the awareness of the customers regarding the social as well as environmental implications of their product consumption decisions. This influences the consumers to actively participate for the betterment of the society. This process is also improving the sales growth of the environmentally sustained organisations (Ditlev-Simonsen and Wenstøp, 2013). In the present era, organisations are also getting actively involved in the CSR advertisement. These advertisements assist organisations to impart knowledge regarding their social responsibilities to the consumers. It enables the consumers to perceive value and norms of the organisational activates to the society and environment. It also assists organisations to change the perception of consumers towards the performance of the organisation (Farache and Perks, 2010). The CSR investments of the organisations allow them to encourage the ethical behaviour of the consumers as well as other stakeholders. These ethical values also direct the consumers to create a sustainable atmosphere for the organisations (Farache and Perks, 2010). The active participation of SMEs in different CSR activities is also improving the lifestyle, working culture and behaviours of huge numbers stakeholders of the organisations. This situation is also improving the reputation of the organisation in the competitive market (Farache and Perks, 2010). The CSR activities are also creating shared values with their consumers and other stakeholders. It is enabling the organisations to educate and guide the community with different solutions for health, environmental, social and cultural issues. This influences the consumers to lead a healthy and better life. It also assists the organisations to improve the consumption capacity of their potential market (Ditlev-Simonsen and Wenstøp, 2013). The CSR practices of various organisations have also encouraged the consumers to follow the legislations and regulations of state as well as federal governments. This guidance and motivation has enabled the consumers to reduce poverty, illiteracy and crime rate with their society. In the long run it has assisted the organisations to improve their market structure and market reputation (Needle, 2004). Conclusion The analysis of the effect of corporate social responsibility and its influence on the business activities has illustrated its importance to generate corporate consciences. It has described that the CSR campaigns of organisations are mainly focused on improving the condition of the society and community. The organisations are investing their financial and human resources to create a sustainable environmental and cultural condition. Most of these CSR activities are improving the social, economical and environmental situation of different community and geographical locations. These developments are also helping the organisations to enhance their business growth and financial position by increasing their market reputation. These CSR efforts are assisting them to improve the awareness of their consumers that subsequently improving the sales ratio of the sustainable products of the organisations. Word Count: 1,465 Reference List Ditlev-Simonsen, C. D. and Wenstøp, F., 2013. How stakeholders view stakeholders as CSR motivators. Social Responsibility Journal, 9(1), pp. 137-147. Farache, F. and Perks, K. J., 2010. CSR advertisements: a legitimacy tool? Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 15(3), pp. 235-248. Needle, D., 2004. Business in Context: An Introduction to Business and Its Environment. Connecticut: Cengage Learning EMEA. Sarbutts, N., 2003. Can SMEs “do” CSR? A practitioners view of the ways small-and medium-sized enterprises are able to manage reputation through corporate social responsibility. Journal of Communication Management, 7(4), pp. 340-347. Read More