Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example

Corporate social responsibility, in other words, addresses how the company manages its economic, social, and environmental impacts along with its stakeholder’s relationships in all the key spheres of influence (SEEP, 2009). With the modern advent of the concept of corporate social responsibility, it is now expected of businesses and companies, in general, to be transparent and accountable in terms of their social performance.

This idea of corporate social responsibility both reflects as well as drives the societies’ changing customs along with the social roles the businesses are expected to play (SEEP, 2009). In other words, corporate social responsibility is basically about what the organizations do to be socially responsible. It encompasses the way the company’s managers respond to the diverse expectations that its stakeholders have from the company in terms of stakeholder management, issues management, as well as environmental scanning (Black, 2006).

Given the neo-liberal economists, the concept of its contribution to society was thought completely absurd. Despite the formation of a welfare state in the post-war years, notable efforts had started to be initiated for engaging businesses in society. However, increasing constraints were put on the social aspirations of businesses following the expansion of the corporate economy throughout the 1940s and 50s. While, 1970 onwards the general interest of businesses towards corporate responsibility started to rise again which was finally consolidated in the 1980s (Marinetto, 1999).

Corporate social responsibility got developed due to the extension of a few contributing factors, such as the advent of the increased focus on human rights. The race to gain more competitive advantage has also, in a way, influenced the pressures for corporate responsibility beyond traditional forms of compliance (SEEP, 2009).

People are more in favor of those organizations and businesses that are friendly and transparent, not only to their customer base but also to their workforce.