The assignments are a nightmare for the students when the aspect of corporate social responsibility comes attached to it. Though we all know every other organisation engaged with one or other social causes, there is not much to write about the same when the assignments land in. Moreover, the students don’t have enough idea of what can be written. Even if they do, the corporate social responsibility comes with several advantages and disadvantages. Being aware of them is an important thing to answer the assignments.
Corporate Social Responsibility – What Is It?
Things To Keep In Mind While Making CSR Initiatives
The assignments when ask you to create a corporate social responsibility initiative don’t always mention the points you need to keep in mind.
Make sure your policies act for the company and the society
This means that you feed yourself and also others with every dish. Acting for the company is quite obvious –
At the same time, the policy also fulfils social responsibility that is –
See that the social responsibility policies act sustainably
Find relevant theories to formulate social responsibility policies
You cannot make whatever policy you feel like. Understand that there is a due procedure for everything and that you are not above the law. You have to think with respect to the theories and principles that you have studied. Your policy, no matter how important, should not violate those theories and should always work under a set of rules and guidelines. We have a social responsibility to control the population but we cannot execute every other person, can we?
That’s not a social responsibility and if someone is giving you such task, either you have to be an international hitman or a fool.
Your policies should align with the existing practices of the company
Suppose your chosen organisation has a culture of everyone to have a Mercedes Benz above the level of the project leader. This is an existing practice. You came in and said “Boss, you know how harmful it is on the environment? Put yourself in my shoes, I am telling you. You need to end this right now and use public transport. It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO or a junior intern”. You made a social responsibility that is aiming to reduce the pollution caused by all the senior employees. But you cannot go against the existing practice also. So, here you can suggest that the senior members will plant trees and care for them until they are big and reimburse the loss of oxygen their vehicles caused.
What Are Some Initiative You Can Take?
The social responsibility initiatives are never-ending, look around you and you will see the world burning. Hey, it is not actually burning, put down the extinguisher. I was speaking metaphorically. Anyways, there are endless initiatives you can take. The world is full of problems and you can do literally anything to help solve at least one of those problems. A couple of examples are –
These are just a few examples and you can think a lot more. What? You don’t know how to do that? Psst, come here.
I can tell you what to do. Just click on this link here and you can talk to me. You and I will create so many social responsibility initiatives that even UN would have to send a representative to process all the information.
If You Ever Have to Write the Advantages and Disadvantages of Corporate Social Responsibility, What Will You Write?
Every face has two faces. Every social responsibility initiative has some advantages and some disadvantages associated with it.
Advantages of CSR
Better organisation image
Do you know Coca-Cola is taking up so many initiatives to help save the environment? They even have released a Sustainability report for the years 2017 that is available here. The largest retail group in Australia, Woolworths, is also involved in corporate social responsibility. They also have a page on their website about it which you can see here. Apple Inc is also working to reduce their environmental emissions and make sure their technology is greener. That’s their CSR. You can see that here. Were you impressed? Was your reaction like the one below?
Then, my friend, you have got the answer to the first advantage.
Regulatory bodies go easy
When they see you are working so hard for the world around you, they don’t care much about what wrongs you have done. Just kidding. But they actually go a little soft on your organisation than others as you have gained a positive image in the economy.
Disadvantages of CSR
Sorry folks, but the happy train has ended. We are now passing through the bad tunnel.
Taking a bullet
If you are selling some product that you knew was harmful, you have to shut it down when you launch a CSR in the same field. Not everyone can be as smart as Johnson & Johnson.
Profit Driven? Pfff.
CSR fills the employees with a new zeal and makes them think that they are a part of something big and that they are helping in changing the world. Thus, the same which was profit driven earlier is now loose.
I am sorry to leave you like this at a cliff-hanger but I have this super urgent task that I have to take care of. You don’t worry, you can send me your assignment details by the form here or by emailing it to me here. I will check it and get back to you before you even know it. And oh, you can also ask me your queries in the comments below and I will try to answer as many as I can.