Definition of CSR
Corporate Social Responsibility is internal to an organization; it dictates the manner in which it has to plan about the courses of action it has to carry out with respect to the society. This term basically deals with the organization’s set of operations that it carries out for the welfare of the society while existing within itself. It helps the humanity in more than one ways, to train and educate them and to ponder upon issues, which can really change the fate of coming civilizations. It all comes under this heading of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Role played by Government and Citizens in CSR
The Government must play its role in harnessing the skills attached with the corporate sector in finding out the better means in which it can benefit the society. For that certain loans and grants can also be fixed for a certain company depending on its market level in the business world.
Extensive research has found that corporate responsibility is becoming an essential part of any company’s day-to-day undertakings. Thus, the responsibility played by the Government as well as the citizens in this regard should be quite eloquent and expressive. Their voice is given due value by the company and it does just about everything to get more and more customers and consumers which in turn excites it to search for better means to get the very same people. This, in turn, attracts the company to sponsor big events and sports galas, competitions as well as come towards social welfare works, which really benefits the society in more than one ways.
Mr. Higgins, who completed a research on the local community, was not that enthusiastic about the role played by these companies in the social sector. People, according to him, were of the view that these companies filled in social responsibilities to a certain limit and not beyond that extent where other large organizations jumped in and took the lead. For the small business owner, CSR means a different thing altogether. He sees it in a different attitude encompassing his own business and its responsibilities fulfilled for the betterment of the society or let alone none at all.
Pros and cons of CSR
The Advantages
Corporate Social Responsibility helps as a survival agent for any business in the new atmosphere of economy. By that it means whenever the economical climate changes, it favors the CSR that has been initiated by a business with respect to its role in fulfillment of the social responsibilities. This can be regarded as an advantage of CSR whereby the business gets a slight edge as opposed to the other ones in the corporate world who haven’t actually started with the idea of investing with consideration to the society in the forms of different sponsors, helping of non-Governmental organizations and the like.
The Disadvantages
The major disadvantage that CSR possesses within its fold is that it doesn’t have any profits in the short-term duration but hope can certainly be placed on the longer ones. This can be regarded as a short-term con, which can banish with the changing times of the business situation.
Application of CSR to Business and its Purpose
Corporate Social Responsibility can be applied to a business in a very innovative way. The company can invest in the social arena with much return in mind, not in the short-term but of course in the long run. Such is the example of Shell, which has introduced education programs for children all over the globe thus acting as a consumer-friendly company. People in return like to buy products of Shell because it gives them the pleasure that some proportion of the money earned by Shell would be spent on its different social and literary programs.
Culturally, CSR can prove to be a very vital agent that can really highlight the problem areas of different people within a particular society and then go about correcting and reforming them in the best manner possible with the aid of funds and grants. This is the basic way in which CSR has been acting to do something for the sake of community welfare. The companies from the economic aspects can earn a due share with arranging all sorts of cultural activities in the name of charity that will benefit their cause and help the poor and needy.
