What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility (Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR for short) refers to the company's responsibility to consumers, the community and the environment while creating profits and legal responsibility to shareholders and employees. Corporate social responsibility requires that companies must go beyond The traditional concept of profit as the sole goal emphasizes the attention to the value of people in the production process and the contribution to the environment, consumers, and society.

Corporate social responsibility

(Social responsibility of the company)

As early as in the mid-to-late 18th century, after the completion of the first industrial revolution in Britain, enterprises in the modern sense have fully developed, but the concept of corporate social responsibility has not yet emerged, and corporate social responsibility in practice is limited to the moral behavior of individual owners. within. The starting point of corporate social responsibility is Adam Smith's "invisible hand". Classical economic theory holds that a society can best determine its needs through the market. If a company uses resources as efficiently as possible to provide the products and services that society needs, and sells them at a price that consumers are willing to pay, the company will do its best. To their own social responsibility.

By the end of the 18th century, the social responsibility concept of western companies began to change subtly.

With economic and social progress, companies must be responsible not only for profit, but also for the environment, and assume corresponding social responsibilities

Double responsibility

First of all, enterprises should assume and fulfill their economic responsibilities, play their due role in greatly enriching the people s material life, and for the rapid and stable development of the national economy. The most direct way is to make profits, expand sales as much as possible, reduce costs, make correct decisions, and ensure benefits

Some international organizations in the world attach great importance to the promotion of corporate social responsibility, and have established related institutions and organizations, and corporate social responsibility work is rapidly expanding globally. As implemented by the United Nations in 2000,

In 1924, the American scholar Oliver Sheldon proposed in his book "The Philosophy of Management"

1. Run a business well, make it stronger, bigger and longer

2. All business management behaviors of the enterprise shall conform to ethical standards

3. Community welfare investment

4. Social Charity

5. Consciously protect the natural environment

(1) Corporate responsibility to the government.

In modern society, the government has increasingly evolved into a social service agency, playing a role of serving citizens and various social organizations and implementing social justice. Under this institutional framework, enterprises are required to play the role of social citizens, consciously operate in accordance with relevant government laws and regulations, legally operate, pay taxes in accordance with regulations, bear other responsibilities and obligations prescribed by the government, and accept government supervision and legal intervention.

(2) The responsibility of the enterprise to shareholders.

In modern society, the ranks of shareholders are getting larger and larger, covering all areas of social life, the relationship between enterprises and shareholders gradually has the nature of the relationship between enterprises and society, and the responsibility of enterprises to shareholders is also social. First of all, enterprises should strictly abide by relevant laws and regulations, be responsible for the safety and profit of shareholders' funds, and strive to give shareholders a generous return on investment. Second, enterprises have the responsibility to provide shareholders with real and reliable information on operations and investment, and they must not deceive investors.

(3) Corporate responsibility to consumers.

Business and consumers are a contradictory unity. Ultimately, the maximization of corporate profits is achieved through the purchase of consumers. As an organization that obtains profits by providing products and services to consumers, it is the bounden duty of the company to provide consumers with affordable, safe, comfortable, and durable goods and services that meet the material and spiritual needs of the company. Social responsibility. Social responsibility to consumers requires companies to take responsibility for the quality of products and services they provide, fulfill their commitments to consumers in terms of product quality and service quality, and must not deceive consumers and make huge profits, and be conscious of product quality and service quality Under the supervision of the government and the public.

(4) The responsibility of the enterprise to employees.

Corporate responsibility to employees is a matter of internal stakeholders. Companies must consider employees' status, treatment, and satisfaction with considerable attention. In the context of globalization, the rights of workers have received widespread attention from governments and social groups around the world. In the 1990s, after the fact that Levi-Strauss, a well-known American jeans manufacturer, used young female workers under prison-like working conditions, it was revealed that in order to save its image, the first corporate social responsibility code was introduced, followed by some transnational In order to cope with the fierce global competition, companies have followed suit. In 1997, the Economic Priority Committee (CEP), which has long been engaged in social and environmental protection, established the Accreditation Committee (CE2PA), and was renamed Social Responsibility International (SAI) in 2001.According to the ILO Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights International Conventions such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international conventions have formulated the world's first international standard for corporate social responsibility, namely the SA8000 standard and its certification system (revised in 2001).

(5) Responsibility of the enterprise for resources, environment and sustainable development.

Practice has proved that, while industrial civilization has brought unprecedented prosperity to human society, it has also caused disastrous effects on the natural environment on which we depend. Enterprises have played a major role in the pollution and consumption of the natural environment. The environmental revolution in the past half century has changed the company's attitude towards the environment-from denying the damage to the environment to taking responsibility for no longer harming the environment, and then hoping to exert a positive impact on the environment. However, the environment is getting better and better only in developed countries, and the entire human race has not taken the path of sustainable development. The root cause of this situation lies in the rapid population and economic growth of emerging countries. Although these political and social issues are beyond the jurisdiction and ability of any enterprise, the only organization that integrates resources, technology, global influence and sustainable development is the enterprise, so the enterprise should assume the responsibility of building a sustainable global economy. This heavy task, and then use this historic transformation to achieve its own development.

(6) Corporate responsibility to the community.

Business is a part of society, but also a part of the community in which it resides. Building a harmonious and harmonious relationship with the community is an important social responsibility of the company. The responsibility of an enterprise to the community is to give back to the community, such as providing employment opportunities for the community, providing charitable donations to the community's public welfare undertakings, and disclosing to the community relevant information on business operations. Socially responsible companies realize that it is their obligation to return a portion of their profits to their communities through appropriate means. World-renowned management masters Kongz and Werrick believe that companies must communicate with the social environment in which they live, respond to changes in the social environment in a timely manner, and become active participants in community activities.