4 facts that everyone should know about CSR
Business grows when the community grows. Here are 4 quick facts about corporate social responsibility;
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable—to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. (Chen, 2020). Business has a responsibility to develop the communities within which it operates.
While (CSR) has been in play since the 70s, the forms and shapes that it adopts have changed. The modern CSR movement can be traced to Article 23 in the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which called for the right to employment, favorable work conditions, equal pay for equal work, and the right to join trade unions. (Moore, 2014) Over the years CSR gained momentum through awareness raising activities and globalization.
Fast forward through the past two decades, and you can see the influence of the CSR movement by looking at today’s business language: corporate citizenship; sustainability; triple bottom line; ESG (environmental, social and governance); inclusive business; cause related marketing (CRM); pro-poor value chains; bottom of the pyramid business models (BOP); socially responsible investing and impact investing; social enterprise; social purpose; public-private partnerships; green economy; collective impact; license to operate/ license to lead; corporate ethics; and corporate volunteerism and employee engagement. (Ibid, Moore)
Nowadays, nearly every company has a CSR department and publishes a report at the end of each year, detailing the efforts that have been undertaken and how these efforts contribute to the ESGs. This is an accountability measurement. CSR is not going anywhere anytime soon and those that choose not to practice responsibility in business will suffer the consequences and lose market share!
These are a few simple points to help you understand CSR and its roots. All business owners (both big and small) should take time to reflect on how their companies can contribute socially and environmentally.
