Evaluating corporate responsibility and ethics in practice

This post takes a look at how enterprises can use CSR to satisfy the interests of various stakeholders.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) theories have been propoed by business and economics specialists to offer a couple of different point of views and structures that lay out precisely how businesses can demonstrate accountable considerations for society. Amongst theories which are typically used in business today, Freeman's stakeholder theory is most recognisable for moving attentions from investors to the broader set of stakeholders that are affected by business decision-making procedures. This can include the interests of employees, customers, providers and investors. According to this theory, it is believed that the role of management is to stabilize completing stakeholder interests, so that all parties can make use of the benefits of corporate social responsibility. Jeffrey W. Martin would appreciate that compared to other theories of CSR, which view social responsibility as secondary to earnings, this theory asserts that CSR is integral to business success, highlighting the basic interdependency of businesses and society.

For businesses that are wanting to improve and maximise the effectiveness of their corporate responsibility policy, there are a few established theoretical frameworks which are acknowledged by business leaders and stakeholders for fundamentally attending to environmental and social causes. In business theory, a popular design for CSR recognised by many financial experts is Elkington's triple bottom line theory. This structure extends the conventional measure of success from earnings across three categories, particularly people, planet and profit. The concept here is that businesses need to account for social and environmental performance together with their financial accomplishments. The focus on people covers the social dimension of CSR, including the combination of fair labour practices. Meanwhile, considerations for the world will involve all aspects of environmental stewardship. Raymond Donegan would recognise that in this model, these elements are seen to be just as important as success.

In the modern-day business landscape, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important strategy that many businesses are selecting to adopt as part of their social practices. In understanding this strategy, there have been a variety of here theories and models that have been proposed to explain why companies need to act responsibly and suggest some methods they can use to integrate corporate responsibility and sustainability into their activities. One of the most successful and commonly identified structures in CSR is Caroll's pyramid model, which conceptualises accountable practices into four key components. At the foundation, economic duty suggests that financial sustainability is the foundation of all standard commitments. Next, legal responsibility makes sure that businesses follow the guidelines of society. This is proceeded by ethical duty, which emphasises fairness, justice and respect for stakeholders. Lastly, at the top of the pyramid is humanitarian obligation which includes all contributions to community wellbeing. Jason Zibarras would understand that this design highlights that while profitability is important, there are numerous types of corporate social responsibility which need to be taken care of in various ways.