The Role and Challenges of Technology in CSR - Essay Example

M7A2- Corporate social responsibility final Corporate social responsibility entails the voluntary activities of the businesses that aim at meeting the social, ethical and environmental needs of the society. CSR improves the brand awareness, market penetration and financial profitability of the firms. Technology facilitates communication in CSR and highlights the social problems while also minimizing the wastage of raw materials in the environment. However, technology encounters challenges such as loss of security, privacy, unethical practices, unemployment and high costs of access. The paper will reflect on the role and challenges of technology in CSR. The paper will provide an introduction of the benefits of CSR, the roles played by technology in enhancing CSR and challenges associated with technology in CSR. Finally, the paper will make recommendations for further research. Roles and challenges of technology in corporate social responsibility (CSR) Introduction Corporate social responsibility (CSR) entails all voluntary activities that are undertaken by business organizations in order to promote the social welfare of the society (Benn & Bolton, 2011). Companies participate in CSR through conserving the environment and meeting the differing needs of all stakeholders in the organization. Accordingly, CSR promotes business sustainability through ethical practices, making social investments and ensuring transparency in all business activities (Sims, 2003). Modern corporations adhere promote human rights, environmental protection and diversity in order to meet the social expectations of the society. In deed, CSR ensures that businesses acknowledge the negative impact of their operations on the natural environment in order to undertake measures that will conserve the ecological environment and control climate change (Sims, 2003). Modern technology has played numerous roles in facilitating business operations and CSR activities. For instance, superior manufacturing technology leads to higher product quality and efficiency in the manufacturing process thus reducing raw materials wastage. Johnson & Brennan (2002) asserts that the emergence of internet and associated communication technologies has enabled the businesses to monitor the changes in stakeholder needs and establish channels of communication that aim at maintaining cordial relations (Crane, 2008). Proponents of CSR assert that technology can be used to improve the ‘triple bottom line’ through financial, environmental and social returns. In this case, the technology will enhance the human resource processes such as recruitment, retention and risk management in order to minimize instances of corruption scandals in the company (Benn & Bolton, 2011). Literature review Role of technology in CSR Corporate social responsibility is beneficial to organizations since it leads to high brand awareness, brand equity, high brand loyalty, increased market penetration, satisfied stakeholders, higher business profitability and sustainability (Crane, 2008). Businesses have experienced increasingly social obligations since the public opinion supports their involvement in CSR (Crane, 2008). Social responsible businesses are sustainable and attain high long-term profitability than businesses that ignore their social obligations. The use of technology in CSR ensures that businesses adapt to changes in external environment with ease thus creating better business processes. In this case, technology facilitates the new product development, process efficiency and enables the business to reduce the costs of operations through automation of the manual systems (Sims, 2003). CSR discourages stringent government regulation pertaining the health quality of the products and impact of its operations on the ecological environment. CSR and technology has enabled businesses to allocate resources optimally and minimize wastage of the financial resources thus leading to higher economic and social returns in the organization. Innovative communication technologies have led to the sophisticated business communication methods such as websites, e-mails, social networks and videoconferences that facilitate the interaction with the stakeholders in the organization (Sims, 2003). The use of IT in CSR activities such as videoconferencing has eliminated the location challenges and time required to respond to social issues in the society. Crane (2008) demonstrates that companies use e-mails and online chat forums to gather facts and information on the changing societal needs and social problems that need to be addressed by the corporations. The corporations will be better placed to adhere to the international ethical norms and ethical standards that guide businesses in their CSR activities. Technology has facilitated the businesses in implementing ethical codes of conduct and complying with their ethical guidelines in operations and decision-making (Sims, 2003). For instance, advanced cameras and CCTVs have the capability of recording the board room meetings in order to ensure high ethical standards in the award of contracts and procurement and minimize business corruption and scandals the negatively impact on the welfare of the stakeholders (Sims, 2003). Sims (2003) highlights that managers have been capable of monitoring the business activities in different departments from the comfort of their offices through use of technology thus ensuring employees comply with the laid down procedures, policies and ethical framework. Technology safeguards stakeholder interests and ensures good governance especially in dealing with lenders of capital and suppliers. The technologies will streamline the supply chain processes such as the procurement time and ensure suppliers receive their dues within the pre-agreed time-frames. Social media technologies such as social marketing are ideal in CSR since they enable the businesses to instill behavior change attitudes among the customers and society (Sims, 2003). The companies will educate the public in their marketing campaigns such as creating awareness on the need to conserve the environment, the need to use safe drinking water and safety precautions during disasters such as flood storms (Prabakaran, 2008). In addition, technology has facilitated cause-related marketing efforts that aim at collecting part of the revenues from product purchases in order for the companies to make donations to charitable activities such as provision of sanitation facilities in the society (Sims, 2003). Challenges of technology in CSR Although technology plays critical roles in CSR, it has led to numerous challenges in the implementation of CSR in many organizations. The use of technology in CSR has faced numerous criticisms due to computer security challenges and computer viruses that hinder the free flow of information across technological devices (Johnson & Brennan, 2002). One of the challenges of technology in CSR is the protection of client privacy. Modern technologies allow companies to track the purchase behavior of customers and send unsolicited e-mail messages thus breaching the privacy of the customer (Hawkins, 2006). Another challenge posed by technology in CSR is the need to ensure that internet content is appropriate and adheres with the existing cultural norms (Hawkins, 2006).The emergency of the internet has allowed companies and individuals to distribute offensive and nude images on the internet thus leading to decline in the moral values of the society (Prabakaran, 2008). Children are exposed to violent scenes, pornography and risk of slave trade thus leading to more serious social problems in the society (Benn & Bolton, 2011). Technology has led to high unemployment and layoffs in many companies. In this case, several businesses have experienced resistance from employees when implementing new technologies that aim at cutting down the labor costs (Prabakaran, 2008). Accordingly, technology has presented high number of health and safety risks in the companies such as loss of eye sight due to continuous use of computers that affect the eye sight and accidents that result from malfunctioning of the manufacturing equipments (Prabakaran, 2008). Biotechnologies have led to DNA testing and genomics thus affecting the inherent dignity of human beings in the society (Dhillon, 2002). Bioethics assert that DNA testing on animals has opened up way for technologies that aim at artificial reproduction of human beings thus leading to a decline in the moral values of the society and negatively affecting the right to individuality. The bio-technologies threaten the existence of minority communities that do not have desirable physical and genetic characteristics thus disrupting the demographic composition of the population (Dhillon, 2002). Discussion Technology plays a role in promoting the social welfare of the society through aiding in the provision of education, sanitation and social welfare services that are needed by the communities (Dhillon, 2002). Accordingly, modern technologies in the manufacturing industries such as energy saving technology and renewable energy sources will protect the environment from the social hazards and risks (Dhillon, 2002). Technologies enable corporations to reduce the impact of green gas emissions on the environment and other toxic effluents from the manufacturing process. Technology has facilitated businesses to recycle waste products and packaging materials thus conserving the natural raw materials and minimizing soil pollution (Dhillon, 2002). However, the classical economic theory postulated by Friedman holds that management has the primary responsibility of maximizing the economic returns to the shareholders. In this case, the opponents assert that social issue should be the responsibility of the government in free market economy (Dhillon, 2002). Accordingly, the opponents of use of technology in CSR point out that the businesses lack the skills to handle the social problems thus socially-oriented decisions should be made by the people with the expertise in dealing with social problems (Dhillon, 2002). The opponents of the impact of role of technology in CSR assert that it is too costly and does not automatically lead to positive economic returns in the organization. Through participation in CSR, corporations yield too much power which they may misuse thus negatively affecting the welfare of the citizens. Corporations lack social accountability since the political representatives of the public have the core duty to provide the social amenities hence businesses are not directly accountable for the public expectations (Dhillon, 2002). Summary and future research recommendations Business organizations should engage in CSR by integrating the environmental and social concerns in the activities and also in the interactions with all stakeholders in order to improve the welfare of the society. The organizations should go beyond the legal framework and obligations in fulfilling the social needs of the society. CSR differentiates a business from its competitors through enabling the company to attain high brand awareness and brand equity. The legitimacy theory asserts that corporations have implicit contracts with all stakeholders and should focus on the long-term well-being of all stakeholders in their decision making. The society provides the demand for goods and services and businesses have a social obligation to promote societal interests in return for the market. From the analysis, the companies that ignore the environmental and social concerns in their technology will ultimately experience negative brand equity, high stakeholder complaints and high employee turnover. The companies have a social obligation of implementing technologies that aim at conserving the natural environment such as reducing air pollution and at the same time enhancing the efficiency of employees. Future research recommendations In the future, further research is needed on the ethical responsibility of businesses and ways that companies can promote ethical code of conduct in their operations. There is need of research on the negative implications of CSR on the core business activities of the firm and how the businesses can minimize the negative impacts of technology in CSR. Further research on the relationship between the corporations and stakeholder interests is needed in order to fully conclude that businesses must voluntarily do more than meet the legal framework in enhancing the social welfare of the stakeholders. Accordingly, research is needed on the environmental ethical guidelines in businesses that emit pollution and use technology in their operations. In addition, future research should focus on the reasons why the government has intervened in the market-based economy in ensuring that businesses meet their social expectations through the CSR activities. References: Benn, S & Bolton, D. (2011). Key concepts in corporate social responsibility. New York: Sage Publications. Crane, A. (2008). The oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility. London: Oxford Handbooks Online. Dhillon, G. (2002). Social responsibility in the information age: issues and controversies. New York: Idea Group Inc. Hawkins, D.E. (2006). Corporate social responsibility: balancing tomorrow’s sustainability and today’s profitability. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Johnson, V.E & Brennan, L.L. (2002). ‘Examining the impact of technology on social responsibility practices, in (ed) Re-imaging business ethics: Meaningful solutions to global economy”, Research in ethical issues in organizations, Volume 4, pp 107-123. Prabakaran, S. (2008). Business ethics and corporate governance. New York: Routledge. Sims, R.R. (2003). Ethics and corporate social responsibility: why giants fall. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group. Read More