The Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility - Term Paper Example

Doing the right thing’ – A complex personal and corporate business decision AFFILIATION: Introduction of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) In the last few years, there has been a growing trend of conducting ethical practices within and outside the organisations as the entities exist to provide benefits to the community and its people. In order to demonstrate that the corporations are engaged in right and ethical business activities, the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CST) was introduced to provide guidance on ensuring compliance with the ethical code of conduct and fulfil their role as a responsible body on a national level (Cragg, 2005). According to Hahn (2009), the management of an organisation has been given fiduciary responsibility on the economic resources of the society that comprise of both human and natural resources. It is important for every organisation to consider the social, economic and environmental systems in which it is operating; the corporations that develop a long-term vision for their business along with their responsibilities towards the society are able to sustain their development in economy (Albareda, 2008; Crane et al., 2008). Considering the environment in which the organisation is operating is important so that all organisation functions are running in the right perspective and in an ethical manner. When the organisations accept their right of controlling economic resources of the society, the management agrees to take the duty of being accountable about using the assets. This level of accountability needs to be conducted on fair grounds and in a sincere manner by the organisation. Even if the organisation faces losses, it should realise that it needs to be accountable for the situation rather than indulging in false excuses. As the individuals in the management department are looking for a model that can help them in fulfilling their societal responsibilities, the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ (TBL) concept was presented (Park & Stoel, 2005). The introduction of this concept acted as a vehicle for proper reporting about the articulation of the corporation’s environmental, economic and social performance (Ketola, 2009). Performances related to the environment and social concerns can be monitored with the help of the TBL concept. TBL has grown in popularity as it assists an organisation in determining the extent to which it is successfully meeting its responsibilities towards the community. The concept of TBL has given a direction to the management of organisations in developing the goals and objectives of the organisation according to the business environment. By following the guidelines specified in TBL, many organisations have been successful in “doing the right things” in today’s competitive and tough business environment (Buchanan, 2008). Once organisations have certain set of guidelines to follow, the path becomes clear and so does the achievement of organisational objectives. Importance of ‘Doing the right thing’ in 21st century The decision making process is one of the vital aspects for every organisation and for individuals and there are many factors that influence this imperative process. Decisions are made by considering all viable options and deciding the best option for any given situation. The top management needs to review the resources they possess the financial stability of the firm, the future strategic initiatives of the organisation and then make their decisions. Out of these factors, the financial stability of the firm is one of the major concerns for organisations and they have to give this aspect a lot of weight before deciding things (Crane et al., 2008). In order to do the right things, an organisation has to ensure that it utilises the resources properly without causing any harm to the environment and provide a working environment that is supportive and conducive for the employees (Berenbeim, 2006; Colney & Williams, 2005). An organisation needs to be concerned about the environment in which it is operating as this concern impacts the image of the organisation for its shareholders, stakeholders and valuable customers. The employees of an organisation have to incorporate ethical behaviour both within and outside the organisation; within their firm, they are accountable for their compliance with its code of conduct and outside the premises, they have the responsibility of behaving like a sensible and responsible citizen. Demonstrating an ethical behaviour by an individual both within and outside the organisation allows a professional attitude to be reflected in the individual’s personality (Crane et al., 2008). Employees having ethical behaviour help organisations to have a loyal and dedicated workforce for their organisation and this behaviour is reflected in the performance of the workforce. Ethics is often referred to as doing the right thing as it allows the organisations to differentiate between right and wrong and undertake the activities that will make an acceptable contribution in the society. Organisation having the image of being an ethical organisation in the minds of the consumers adds on towards the success and profitability of the firm (Berenbeim, 2006). With the advent of time, like corporations, individuals have realised that they have certain responsibilities to their environment, society and economy; it is vital for them to ensure compliance with the ethical code of conduct at their workplace and as a part of the society as well. It has been stated by Shaw (2009) that ethics is a set of moral values that are developed by corporations and individuals on the basis of their experiences, virtues and principles. Whenever a decision is made, it is greatly influenced by a certain set of perceptions that are either self-created or influenced by external factors such as media (Schwartz, 2012). Complexity in decision making When organisations decide to fulfil their societal responsibilities, there are some areas of concern for them as they tend to impact their decision making process. A concern for the society is an important responsibility to be addressed by all organisations. As a result of globalisation, the organisations have become more conscious about their decisions as they have to demonstrate that they conduct their business activities within the ethical corporate behaviour such as Fair Trade, ISO 9001, UN Global Compact Principles, MSU policy and etc. (Bhattacharya, Korshun & Sen, 2005). Organisation in a way is compelled by certain international bodies and policies that have a major influence while they take decisions. When conducting CSR activities, the corporate values emphasised in them should be part of the business operations so that the employees can see that the management is fostering integrity and fairness (Ketola, 2009). When employees are of the view that the organisation is operating strictly under an ethical code of conduct then the employees would be careful in demonstrating an ethical behaviour at workplace. One of the crucial decisions that the organisations have to make is about maintaining the environmental sustainability and it should be made part of the business strategy. When organisations work upon developing their long tern strategies, they need to value environment and design the organisational strategies accordingly. For instance, should a company open a new plant near the city or at a distant place; should it use diesel or petrol run vehicles for transportation and should it ensure compliance with laws related to employees’ rights or allow some leverage in leaving some laws aside and many more (Crane et al., 2008; Shaw, 2009). For organisations that cause pollution, they should locate their plants away from residential area and for future plant locations, they should look for land which is away from residential plots so that the resident of the area do not have to suffer any type of air pollution. As most of the organisations decisions are driven by economic factors such as culture, profit making, competitive advantage, compliance and culture, a corporation has to ensure that it makes its final decision within the ethical boundaries that seem to be best for the sustainability of its business operations (Carrasco & Yakvolev, 2007). At times profits and competition may cause organisations to think about ignoring rights of the community or the employees, this act should be avoided by all ethical firms. Taking unethical decisions may seem attractive in the initial stages, but in the long term it may allow the organisations to observe heavy consequences especially earning a bad reputation and image. No matter how attractive profits are, firms should not opt for any type of unethical act. CSR should be properly implemented within the organisation so that everything is done in right way. However, it has been argued by that organisations are using CSR activities to make money and they have their hidden benefits beneath these activities (Shank, Manullang & Hill, 2005). It is a fact that all organisations are working for monetary benefits but their monetary gains should not violate the rights of anyone in the organisation or in the community. From an individual’s point of view, the decision making process is highly impacted by the person’s viewpoint about importance of ethical and personal values, perception towards environmental issues and extent of understanding about ethics that how it can help in the development of moral framework (Schwartz, 2012). For each individual, the decision making criteria have various factors that may differ from other individuals. For instance, how a person responds to a religious person is based on his own perception and it tends to influence his/her opinion about that person and decision making as well (Hahn, 2009). Similarly, people who love to buy only environmentally friendly products will buy brands such as The Body Shop, Shell, Colgate-Palmolive and etc. as these companies have demonstrated from their CSR activities that give high value to their ethical responsibilities (McMannus, 2008). Now-a-days, every individual ensures that he/she makes his final decision in accordance with the ethical practices so that they are doing the right things. Conclusion Every organisation has to ensure that it is doing the right thing by allocating the resources in a highly efficient manner that help it in preserving the environment and ensure that valuable contribution is done in the society as a whole. Organisation operating at a global level also need to ensure that with their business activities, the community is gaining benefits with the business operation such as the number of jobs are more and people are becoming employed and also improvements in the economy of the country are being observed with the business operations. As corporations and individuals are integral part of the society, it is mandatory for them to engage in activities that will make worthwhile additions and will prove to be beneficial for everyone. When decision regarding doing the right thing is made, an organisation or individual has to carefully analyse the factors that are influencing their final decision as they need to strike a balance between the economical, environmental and social aspects of the TBL. References Albareda L., 2008. Corporate responsibility, governance and accountability: from self-regulation to co-regulation. Corporate Governance, 8(4), pp. 430-439. Berenbeim, R.E., 2006. 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