What Is Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate business operation without a corresponding show of responsibility is synonymous to abuse. Responsibility is a vital ethics not for corporate entities alone, but extends to other human activities. Man as a social being is expected to demonstrate a good amount of responsibility towards others and the entire ecosystem. The subject is very important so attempting what is corporate social responsibility quest is a very timely one because failure to take and show responsibility leads to abuse, and where there is abuse, there will be decay, and where there is decay, there will be corruption, anarchy, and eventually death. A great example is the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where the country’s largest oil deposit is located, oil drilling companies like Shell PLC, abused the region for a long time shunning responsibility by allowing oil spills to flow unabated into land and rivers destroying the ecosystem and the consequences – anarchy, fractions, birth of militant rebels, not to talk of hunger, deprivation, poverty and death in their thousands. This is one among numerous example of consequences of corporate responsibility and why the quest of what is corporate social responsibility is compulsory. What therefore is corporate responsibility, should corporate profit be a determinant or sole motivation in demonstrating CSR?
Corporate Social Responsibility Defined
There are a lot of fancy definitions about what is corporate social responsibility, all aptly describing the subject but in other not to bore you, a simple definition will be provided here and it is the act of corporate entities giving back to the society especially the locality where they operate. Been accountable, and liable are fundamental human traits and anyone who does not exhibit these traits is said to be irresponsible and most times are abusive living trails of poison everywhere they go. The same way, corporate entities are expected to give back to the society they find themselves especially if the operation in the entity affects the environment negatively as in the case of oil drilling companies like: Shell, Chevron, Mobil etc, these companies drill crude oil which possesses very harmful poisonous elements, when come in contacts with the environment destroys life, add to this is the process of drilling which involve creating unsightly holes and gullies in the sites causing erosions and leaving the environment ugly and opened to environmental disasters like floods, erosion, famine, etc. For this reason and more, the law of responsibility under these conditions dictates that organizations behind this destruction should be accountable and liable by correcting the evil created in the process of operation thus preventing these bad circumstances.
This is one example of corporate social responsibility featuring oil drilling companies, the same goes for manufacturing entities like the aviation, automobile, mechanical industries, food and beverage, plastic industries etc. These industries usually have factories that in most cases emit dangerous substances in the environment affecting life and ecosystem around the locality of the industries. So companies demonstrating social responsibility in the society they are localized is a must and it depends to a large extent on the understanding of what is corporate social responsibility.
Arguments about CSR
Should corporate social responsibility be hinged on profits? In other words should companies demonstrate accountability to the society on the motivation of selfish gains of corporate goals of profits? What do you think? Free market fanatics like Milton Friedman is a major supporter to the motion that companies should aim solely for profits in demonstrating social responsibility, this assertion was buttress in a book he titled “capitalism and freedom”. According to him corporate entities should operate singularly to increase profits, meaning all the services, products, and other activities including CSR should be hinged on profits without committing illegalities in the process, and the reason – to avoid harming the process of capitalist economy structure. Although the theory is logical it however disregarded a very important subject, man’s exploitative tendencies that could run haywire if not checked. So in the real world the theory may not have much substance.
On the other hand, corporate entities in their quest of executing what is corporate social responsibility quest are expected to aim at the general good of the society disregarding companies good which is profits. Today the light of CSR is increasing in response to the need to keep the environment safe thus throwing the profits motives into the dustbin.
Relevance of CSR
Responsibility is a valid ethics and like all ethical structures have a positive effect to the life of the people involve. Below are some of the importance of CSR
· A company that demonstrates responsibility is one that shows equity, obeys gender discrimination ethics, and corporate social rules and regulations.
· Increase profit: A company does not need to deliberately aim at profit while observing CSR, the fact is that simply showing responsibility to the society triggers respect, brand loyalty, and recognition from the society at large. These result in increase in profits because responsibility is an attractive trait that provokes love and interest from people.
What is corporate social responsibility issue should go beyond just asking questions to outright action. Countries should be involved in the activities of companies making sure they show responsibility to the environment thus averting evil consequences that may arise.
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