Corporate Social Responsibility and Your Assignments

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?

It was decided that the corporates had an obligation to the economic advancement and the economic consequences. But it soon was understood that apart from this, the corporates also have an obligation to the social and environmental activities. This was termed as Corporate Social Responsibility. Now corporates have The companies have a number of CSR initiatives. So, if your assignment says you are founding a new company and you have to make a corporate social policy initiative for the same, here is how you can proceed.

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 –

• Make profit
• Earn extra revenue
• Reduce the expenditures
• Build a brand image
• Save costs on operations
• The organisation grows
• Improved financial performance
• Increased customers and retention rate
• Attracting investors

At the same time, the policy also fulfils social responsibility that is –

• Having a positive impact
• Creating public values
• Professional development
• Personal development
• Improved client relationship

See that the social responsibility policies act sustainably

I don’t think I need to tell you what sustainable development is, right? good. The CSR initiatives have to design in a way that the sustainable development goals are met. You know what, I have an amazing idea for that. What you can do is check out the list of 17 sustainable development goals that is released by the United Nations to be achieved and understand every single one of them so that you can formulate your corporate social responsibility policies to fulfil them. Read these and see what can you do for them. I don’t think there is any business or company out there which cannot meet even one of these 17 goals. I refuse to believe that and so should you. If you are not able to think, consult with me and we will find a solution together.

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 –

• Donate to charity. Fill a big amount on a cheque and give it to a charity you feel is doing some real work out there.
• Supply the material of basic amnesties and necessities to the areas where there is extreme poverty. It can be sending water trains, sending slippers or shoes, giving them clothes, etc.
• Organising training camps for poor children free of cost
• Provide medicines at a subsidised cost
• Sponsoring treatment of someone who cannot bear the expenses alone

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.