Essay On Social Responsibility

There are hundreds of definitions of corporate social responsibility, or CSR. The one we think says it the best comes from the International Organization for Standardization’s Guidance Standard on Social Responsibility, ISO 26000, published in 2010. It says:

“Social responsibility is the responsibility of an organisation for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical behaviour that:
•Contributes to sustainable development, including the health and the welfare of society
•Takes into account the expectations of stakeholders
•Is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international norms of behaviour, and
•Is integrated throughout the organization and practised in

This values shift has been identified by the World Values Survey as part of a broad-based values shift that began after World War II among westernised societies (Inglehart, 2000). As these societies successfully overcame material challenges in the aftermath of war, such as provision of jobs and housing, they moved gradually to embrace post-materialist values, in which personal expression, individual freedom and satisfaction of higher-order societal needs prevail. CSR in the USA arose as a business expression of this values shift, embraced initially by a handful of influential and vocal entrepreneurs with an almost religious zeal. Businesses such as Ben and Jerry’s (now owned by Unilever) and Stonyfield Farm (now owned by Danone) had a disproportionate influence on business policy debate. By “selling out” to multinational corporations, they have attempted (possibly successfully) to mainstream CSR into business

A strategic view of CSR is thus more prevalent among UK-based firms. The UK-based organisation Business in the Community (BITC) was established in 1982 in response to perceived failures of business against a backdrop of rising unemployment and urban rioting and attempts to integrate considerations of societal impacts into business