7.6.3

Corporate Social Responsibility

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Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility, known as CSR, is a term used to describe an approach whereby businesses seek to exceed basic legal requirements by considering their impact on society.

Satisfying employees

Satisfying employees

  • Businesses focussing on their social responsibilities may seek to satisfy their employees by offering job security, safe working conditions and fair wages.
Satisfying customers

Satisfying customers

  • Businesses focussing on their social responsibilities may seek to satisfy customers by offering reliable products, fairly priced, which exceed legal safety requirements.
Satisfying shareholders

Satisfying shareholders

  • Businesses focussing on their social responsibilities may seek to satisfy shareholders by increasing share price and through payment of stable and regular dividends.
Satisfying suppliers

Satisfying suppliers

  • Businesses focussing on their social responsibilities may seek to satisfy suppliers through paying fair prices, making regular on-time payments and offering exclusivity.
Satisfying the community

Satisfying the community

  • Businesses focussing on their social responsibilities may seek to satisfy the community by offering employment and funding restoration projects and community facilities.
    • For example, XEROX offers several initiatives to support local communities including the Green World Alliance, the Electronic Industry Citizen Coalition and the XEROX Community Involvement Program. These commitments to social responsibility indicate the value XEROX places on social responsibility above and beyond its pursuit of profit and its obligation to meet basic legal requirements.
Advantages and disadvantages of corporate social responsibility

Advantages and disadvantages of corporate social responsibility

  • CSR can increase a business’ costs through paying for initiatives, offering employees fair wages and agreeing to pay suppliers fair prices.
  • CSR, though initially increases costs, can attract customers to the business and increase market share and sales revenue in the long-term.

Carroll's Corporate Social Responsibility Pyramid

To support businesses wishing to fulfil their social responsibilities, Carroll’s Corporate Social Responsibility pyramid can be used by managers and leaders.

First and second responsibilities

First and second responsibilities

  • The first responsibility a business should fulfil is its economic responsibility; being profitable is the foundation of the hierarchy and allows the business to move through additional responsibilities.
  • The second responsibility a business should fulfil is its legal responsibilities, for example, paying employees the national minimum wage.
Third and fourth responsibilities

Third and fourth responsibilities

  • The third responsibility a business should fulfil is its ethical responsibilities; ethical responsibilities see a business making moral decisions such as, for example, agreeing to pay employees more than the legal requirement in order to support their standard of living.
  • The final responsibility a business should fulfil is its philanthropic responsibilities; here the business supports society and the community through, for example, supporting charitable events and sponsoring public facilities.
The shareholder concept

The shareholder concept

  • The shareholder concept states that businesses have a responsibility only to raise value for shareholders through increasing share prices and paying dividends and that profit maximisation is the only focus of the business.
The stakeholder concept

The stakeholder concept

  • The stakeholder concept states that as well as satisfying shareholders’ needs, the business must place equal emphasis on satisfying the needs of all other stakeholders, including employees, customers and suppliers.
Jump to other topics
1

What is Business?

1.1

Nature & Purpose of Business

1.1.1Why Businesses Exist1.1.2Business Aims & Objectives1.1.3End of Topic Test - The Nature of Business
1.2

Different Business Forms

1.2.1Key Business Terms1.2.2Sole Traders1.2.3Limited Liability1.2.4Non-Profit Organisations & Social Enterprises1.2.5Social Enterprises1.2.6Franchising1.2.7Shareholders1.2.8End of Topic Test - Different Businesses1.2.9A-A* (AO3/4) - Franchising at Blockbuster
1.3

Businesses Operate Within an External Environment

1.3.1External Environments1.3.2A-A* (AO3/4) - Interest Rates in the UK
2

Managers, Leadership & Decision Making

2.1

Management, Leadership & Decision Making

2.1.1Managers2.1.2Management Theories2.1.3Management vs Leadership2.1.4Leadership Styles2.1.5End of Topic Test - Management
2.2

Management Decision Making

2.2.1Scientific Decision Making2.2.2Influences on Decision Making2.2.3Intuition Decision Making2.2.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Cost Leadership2.2.5End of Topic Test - Management Decisions
2.3

Role & Importance of Stakeholders

2.3.1Stakeholders
3

Marketing Management

3.1

Setting Marketing Objectives

3.1.1Setting Marketing Objectives3.1.2Market Calculations
3.2

Understanding Markets & Customers

3.2.1Market Research3.2.2Methods of Market Research3.2.3Interpreting PED & YED
3.3

Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning

3.3.1Segmentation3.3.2Niche & Mass Markets3.3.3Market Mapping
3.4

Using the Marketing Mix

3.4.1Marketing Mix3.4.2Pricing Decisions & Price Skimming3.4.3Pricing Decisions & Price Penetration3.4.4Promotional Decisions3.4.5Promotional Decisions 23.4.6Promotional Decisions 33.4.7Distribution Decisions3.4.8Distribution Decisions 23.4.9Social Media & Influencers3.4.10Digital Marketing3.4.11Evaluating Digital Marketing3.4.12A-A* (AO3/4) - The Marketing Mix & Promotion3.4.13A-A* (AO3/4) - Pricing & Competition
4

Operational Management

4.1

Setting Operational Objectives

4.1.1Setting Operational Objectives
4.2

Analysing Operational Performance

4.2.1Operations Data4.2.2Capacity4.2.3A-A* (AO3/4) - The Problem with Operations Data
4.3

Increasing Efficiency & Productivity

4.3.1Productivity & Efficiency4.3.2Lean Production4.3.3Technology & Efficiency4.3.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Toyota Production System
4.4

Improving Quality

4.4.1Measuring & Identifying Quality4.4.2Total Quality Management4.4.3Evaluating Total Quality Management4.4.4Quality Assurance & Quality Control
4.5

Managing Inventory & Supply Chains

4.5.1Inventory4.5.2Improving the Supply Chain4.5.3Outsourcing
4.6

Business & The External Environment

4.6.1Business Considerations from Globalisation
5

Financial Management

5.1

Setting Financial Objectives

5.1.1Setting Financial Objectives5.1.2Influences on Financial Objectives5.1.3Profit5.1.4Revenue & Costs5.1.5Cash-Flow & Budgets
5.2

Analysing Financial Performance

5.2.1Break-Even & Profitability Analysis5.2.2A-A* (AO3/4) - Assessing Financial Performance
5.3

Sources of Finance

5.3.1Internal Sources of Finance5.3.2External Sources of Finance5.3.3Crowdfunding5.3.4Factors for Financing5.3.5A/A* (AO3/4) - Debt
5.4

Improving Cash Flow & Profits

5.4.1Improving Cash Flow & Profits
6

Human Resource Management

6.1

Setting Human Resource Objectives

6.1.1Setting Human Resource Objectives6.1.2Human Resource Management
6.2

Analysing Human Resource Performance

6.2.1Analysing Human Resource Performance6.2.2Analysing Human Resource Performance 2
6.3

Improving Org Design & Human Resource Flow

6.3.1Organisational Design6.3.2Human Resource Flow
6.4

Improving Motivation & Engagement

6.4.1Motivating & Engaging Employees6.4.2Different Incentives6.4.3Evaluating Incentives6.4.4Taylor's Theory6.4.5Maslow's Theory6.4.6Herzberg's Theory6.4.7A-A* (AO3/4) - Amazon & Netflix Org Design6.4.8A-A* (AO3/4) - Taylorism & Jack Welch
6.5

Improving Employer-Employee Relations

6.5.1Improving Employer-Employee Relations
7

Strategic Position of a Business (A Level Only)

7.1

Mission, Objectives, Strategy

7.1.1Business Mission & Corporate Objective7.1.2Mission, Corporate Objectives & Strategy7.1.3SWOT Analysis7.1.4A-A* (AO3/4) - SWOT Analysis
7.2

Financial Ratio Analysis

7.2.1Financial Ratios
7.3

Assessing Overall Performance

7.3.1Non-Financial Data7.3.2Core Competences7.3.3Assessing Business Performance
7.4

Assessing Political & Legal Change

7.4.1Political & Legal Change
7.5

Assessing Economic Change

7.5.1Economic Environment
7.6

Assessing Social & Technological Change

7.6.1Social & Technological Environment7.6.2Lifestyle & Technological Environment7.6.3Corporate Social Responsibility
7.7

The Competitive Environment

7.7.1Choosing Areas of Competition7.7.2Choosing How to Compete
7.8

Investment Appraisal

7.8.1Investment Appraisal
8

Choosing Strategic Direction (A Level Only)

8.1

Markets to Compete & Products to Offer

8.1.1Product Decisions
8.2

How to Compete

8.2.1Porter's Five Forces8.2.2A-A* (AO3/4) - The 5 Forces
9

Pursuing Strategies (A Level Only)

9.1

Assessing a Change in Scale

9.1.1Growth & Retrenchment9.1.2Challenges of Growth9.1.3Sourcing Resources & Entering Markets9.1.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Diversification9.1.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Diseconomies of Scale
9.2

Assessing Innovation

9.2.1Assessing Innovation
9.3

Globalisation & Internationalisation

9.3.1Internationalisation9.3.2Managing Internationalisation9.3.3Impact of Internationalisation9.3.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Internationalisation in Guatemala
9.4

Greater Use of Digital Technology

9.4.1Assessing Use of Digital Technology9.4.2Impact of Digital Technology
10

Managing Strategic Change

10.1

Managing Change

10.1.1Managing Change
10.2

Managing Organisational Culture

10.2.1Managing Organisational Culture10.2.2Organisational Structures
10.3

Managing Strategic Implementation

10.3.1Managing Strategic Implementation
10.4

Problems with Strategy & Why They Fail

10.4.1Problems with Strategy

Practice questions on Corporate Social Responsibility

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    Factors which contribute to social responsibility:Fill in the list
  2. 2
    What is the foundation of Carroll's corporate social responsibility?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Which of the following are businesses forced to do under the law?Multiple choice
  4. 4
    Which of the following decisions is an example of a business fulfilling additional ethical responsibilities?Multiple choice
  5. 5
    If a business supports charitable events in the community, which social responsibility is it fulfilling?Multiple choice
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Lifestyle & Technological Environment

Choosing Areas of Competition