Why Companies Engage in CSR - Assignment Example

Companies engage in CSR because, for a number of reasons, they think it will be good for their profit margins”. Critically discuss this view of Corporate Social Responsibility using relevant literature to support your arguments and analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR for short is an institutions responsibility to do something worthwhile for the cause of the society. This is done so as to evoke positive emotions and feelings with regards to the organization which is undertaking such measures. The need is to understand why organizations delve deep into such quarters and do what they essentially do - worthwhile activities and projects for the betterment of all and sundry. There are a number of reasons why this comes about and that too with immense thinking and analysis playing its due part. What needs to be comprehended here is the fact that CSR has been seen as a positive factor all around. It has made people realize where the organizations are filling in the gaps and what new measures are being actively pursued in order to move ahead and bring upon success for just about everyone. Hence the role of CSR is to accumulate as much optimism as possible because this is the end result for a number of areas and zones that the business world is filling to plug in this day and age. This paper will touch upon the areas related with the reasons for organizations to choose CSR as well as the problems related with its adoption within the business quarters. Then there is the engagement of CSR discussion which makes its way within the literature as well as the strategic initiatives which are required in order to make CSR a success. The profit making entity is always at the core of a CSR initiative yet it is not mentioned as such. Hence the paper provides a clear cut basis of how CSR has become a huge phenomenon with the passage of time and how it shall continue to bring in more success in the future. In essence, Corporate Social Responsibility is the amalgamation of all good deeds by an organization to make sure that it remains on track to serve its different publics. What this means is that CSR looks after the organizational good by ensuring that its own work domains do not get affected or cannibalized at any stage. Indeed this is a difficult task because it requires persistence and harmony of sorts but must take place to guarantee that the organization has a positive word of mouth all around. CSR will always take care of the organizational image and identity because it deals with how the organization is serious about its course and how it intends to rely on the people to people interaction more than anything else. This is so needed because it resolves quite a few problems, more so when they surround the basis of knowing where organizations run into areas of financial losses and so on. CSR is therefore an agent of a positive change which keeps on triggering optimistic thoughts and emotions on the part of the different publics, which may or may not be linked with the organizations vision and objectives. This is so needed as it ensures that its different products and services are regularly sold and that there are no hiccups encountered at any level whatsoever. The need is to know that CSR will always be seen as a positive change agent which will shape up the organizational domains in the long run. There cannot be any two opinions on this count whatsoever. The reason why organizations choose CSR is either due to the norms that the industry has adopted, both locally or worldwide, or due to an understanding that it is needed in order to win favors from the domains of the society. These are imperative agenda points when one discusses the fore of CSR within the modern day and age. It pinpoints where the role of CSR can be embedded and what must be done in order to bring help and support for the organizations in the long run with the facilitation of CSR. In fact, CSR brings more good than any harm that one can think of or recount. CSR helps the organization find a focus. It assists the organization to know how it can give back to the society - the same people from whom profits seem coming. It is indeed a symbiotic relationship which is at work, and which helps the cause of everyone here. This is testimony enough that CSR is bent on bringing positives out in the open and shutting the doors on the negativities that people find attached with social measures. When these undertakings get an organizational cover, the working ideologies become better and hence all such issues settle down for the overall well-being of the many publics that are being catered to. The organizations therefore choose CSR because it helps the cause of the society at large and brings everyone on the same platform - which is indeed a much required and much cherished formula. When CSR is adopted within organizations as a major force to reckon with, there are problems that come about as well. This means that CSR has its definite issues which need to be properly outlined and addressed. What this suggests is that CSR has to be studied as a phenomenon in order to reap the benefits that remain attached with it. Having said that there is a dire need to find out why CSR is always difficult to adopt especially since it has a number of positives attached with it. The reason for this is that CSR is a separate area which is quite different to what the business essentially deals within. The CSR angle looks to settle the problems of the society while the business enterprise may not be related with how the society thinks or feels. The business perspective may be catering to a different set of audiences while CSR is a separate tangent altogether. Hence adoption of CSR takes away the concentration of the business from its core competencies and asks of it to focus attention on the societal angle. Even though the business may have separate units and functions to take care of the same, the facts remains that opening up a CSR unit is always difficult and more so even harder to adopt in this day and age. The business focus should remain the same even though there have been efforts by the organizations to combine CSR with the core businesses yet somehow there is not much success achieved from such quarters. Engagement of CSR within several different organizations has been a case in point as far as many discussions are concerned, which more or less surround the talk of CSR coming into full circle and showing its prowess. What this implies is that CSR has acted as an agent of immense change and advancements whereby it can even take the business one step ahead and explore how the profit-making entities can be made better and more stringent. The focus remains on the core business and when CSR attaches itself with this core business, there is little doubt that there would be any problems encountered at any level or stage whatsoever. Therefore engagement of CSR within organizations is an item that requires much significance because people look up to the different areas under which the organization is doing its utmost to make sure that the business domains and the CSR realms are handled hand in hand with one another. The overall well-being of the organization is something that CSR has to ensure and which will mean much success for the organization, its varied publics and the society as a whole. When this engagement comes about in full circle, CSR plays its dire role in a proper way and hence success is achieved without much difficulty. Having said that it is always a good premise to take care of the many different manifestations which come about within the realms of CSR and which remain pivotal towards achieving sound results, all said and done. There are a number of positive ramifications coming out from the strategic moves that organizations receive when they have CSR embedded within their fore. This means that these moves are more or less dictated by the will to bring a change - a change which is for the betterment of the society and the organization in essence. Read More