Corporate Social Responsibility, Study notes of Business Ethics

Download Corporate Social Responsibility and more Study notes Business Ethics in PDF only on Docsity! Why has CSR become common practice for many international companies in the past 30 years? Corporate social responsibility concerns the ethical implications within the strategic corporate vision and is manifested in the desire to contribute to collective well-being. This means the company's commitment to increasingly meet the expectations of the countless internal and external stakeholders. It is the set of responsibilities that the company and its management have towards the various subjects influenced by the company's work, in order to encourage cooperation for the creation and fair distribution of the value created and to contain negative effects on the stakeholders themselves. The character that is insisted on is the voluntary nature of the interest, driven therefore by a moral duty and not by the mere respect of legal obligations. Being socially responsible means, in fact, not only fully meeting the applicable legal obligations, but also going beyond them by investing "more" in human capital, the environment and relations with other stakeholders (European Commission Green Paper, 2001). CSR is based on the desire to implement a respectful business activity in order to contribute to the maintenance of sustainable development and social balance. This translates into the adoption of a corporate policy that is able to reconcile economic objectives with the social and environmental objectives of the area in question, with a view to future sustainability. Today, the task of companies is no longer only to create profit, but also to deal with the problems of today's society, becoming actors not only in economic development but also in social development. Integrated CSR management involves incorporating socially responsible practices into strategic planning and day-to-day business operations. This integration affects all areas of management: from production (reduction of environmental impact, worker safety, attention to product quality and safety) to marketing (consumer satisfaction and response to the need for transparency and reliability), from human resources management (career path management, training policies, redundancy management) to financial and risk control aspects (Perrini, Russo, &Tencati, 2007). In general, the drives to adopt socially responsible behaviour are:  The moral obligation that drives companies to respect ethical values, individuals, communities and the environment;  Environmental sustainability, in respect of which companies aim to meet current needs while preserving resources so that future generations can benefit from them;  The licence to operate, which consists of the tacit or explicit consent that each company must obtain from the government, the local community and other stakeholders in order to operate legitimately;  Reputation, i.e. the return on the company's image. The strategic strand of corporate social responsibility eliminates the gap between social responsibility and economic performance. Integrating CSR into the daily management of the value chain means, in fact, implementing a virtuous circle between socially responsible behaviour and corporate efficiency. It is a way of looking at social welfare and economic profit no longer as a zero-sum game but as a mutual gain. From this point of view, CSR is seen as an investment aimed at producing lasting competitive advantages and minimising risks. Responsible management practices would therefore prove to be a tool capable of having a positive effect on the overall performance of a company. For example, the adoption of socially responsible practices in human resource management (such as safety in the workplace, management of employee training, ensuring a work-life balance, equal pay and career prospects) can result in greater ease in attracting and retaining skilled workers. A reduction in resource consumption or in pollutant and waste emissions, on the other hand, can lead to a reduction in environmental impacts. Such a strategy can benefit the company by reducing its energy bill and waste disposal costs and by lowering the cost of raw materials and anti-pollution measures. A greater ethical awareness of one's own work assumes a fundamental importance within the core business of the company, becoming a real intangible resource that does not contrast the economic interest with that of the community but, on the contrary, allows collaboration. Socially responsible behavior:  Contributes to creating and maintaining a high level of reputation capital  Ensures strong cohesion with stakeholders  Creates a better, safer and more motivating working environment  Improves the efficiency of business management  Protects against boycott actions  Facilitates access to credit  Reduces business risk