Business entities had been paying great focus on profit maximization at the expense of sustainability until the mid of 1970s. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the ethical practice that businesses engage in during their operations. They take into concern the affairs of people and the entire planet. Companies strive to create a positive impact on people and in the environment where it operates; their operations must incorporate the actions of social enterprises (Blowfield & Murray 2010). CSR is for all businesses as it builds the image of these businesses. This essay will discuss the comparisons that exist between the goals and objectives of British American Tobacco and the Unilever Company when they engage in CSR.
British American Tobacco makes high-quality tobacco products and imports them around the world as it is committed to a high standard of corporate social responsibility. BAT has a heavy task in providing its concern towards the public in the process of selling its products, which has killed many users of the products. For example, in 2007, the government of Nigeria claimed that BAT was targeting to finish the youths in Africa. This claim made many African countries take legal action against the company; some sought advance payments for damages associated with smoking tobacco (On Corporate Social Responsibility and The BAT Foundation – Ventures Africa 2012).
BAT has launched initiatives that discourage smoking among the youthful generation; it has laid strategies that make the youthful generation responsible individuals. For example, this information ‘smoking is not for under age’ discourages the youths to smoke, as it proclaims that it is harmful to children (CSR governance 2012). Moreover, BAT through its scholarship scheme has supported the education of Nigerian citizens who could not have accessed basic learning activities. It aimed at empowering the youths in Nigeria by promoting skilled workforce development towards the Agricultural sector (Corporate social responsibility 2009). Additionally, the Engineering Artisan Programme focuses on boosting and developing professionalism among the youths.
Furthermore, the BAT supports regulations covering the promotion and sale of tobacco products; it has contributed to the discussion towards tobacco control in Kenya (On Corporate Social Responsibility and The BAT Foundation – Ventures Africa 2012). For instance, BAT is one of the stakeholders towards the improvement of the Tobacco Act, which regulates packaging and restricts public smoking, adverts, and sales to the underage. Conversely, BAT requested for a delay in using DDT as it carried out research on what could have caused the annual death of over 550,000 children; this occurred due to numerous complaints from customers on the effects of DDT on tobacco. The incident was against BAT’s code of conduct; as a result, they had to apologize to the government and the people of Uganda.
In Rwanda, the BAT has been supporting both the health and education sector. Markedly, it has assisted the health sector in banning all tobacco adverts with an aim of discouraging underage smoking. In the education sector, BAT filled University libraries with reading materials, presented computers to schools, and launched scholarship programs for university students. Besides, the BAT came up with an agreement with the Rwandese Government that it will continue supporting the country thereby boosting the image of its social responsibility. In East Africa, the BAT supports the Jua Kali industry through a series of annual exhibitions, which give room for Jua kali businesspersons to learn skills towards marketing and quality control. Jua Kali is an informal small-scale business that takes place in the open. It is comparable to cottage industries. This initiative has boosted the Jua Kali industry, as it has created over 80% of new jobs in East Africa. Further, BAT aims at developing tobacco-growing activities as a way of reducing poverty in East Africa. In the Democratic Republic of South Africa, BAT initiated key programs that ended homelessness among the small service providers and their properties. Moreover, BAT gives information, referrals, capital, and other required services for starting a business. For instance, it donated over R110, 000 to Cape Town University to be used for training students on key business skills (On Corporate Social Responsibility and The BAT Foundation – Ventures Africa 2012). The BAT donated this amount towards a scholarship for a two-year program undertaken by university students in Cape Town.
The Unilever Company, on its part, produces multinational consumer goods such as beverages, foods, and personal care products. On the CSR, the Unilever Company together with the Earth Institute introduced an initiative towards hand washing using soap. This initiative is aimed at saving the lives of close to 600,000 people in the villages. Under the Sustainable Living Plan, people wash their hands using soap hence improving their health as germs that cause diseases are washed off. In South Africa, this initiative through the Lifebuoy soap brand has saved over 40 million lives through hand washing using the soap. The Unilever Company came into another partnership with Population Service International (PSI) as well as UNICEF in the Unilever Foundation in order to continue saving lives (Unilever Sustainable Living Plan Helping to Drive Growth 2013).
Notably, the Unilever Company has ensured that wastes are eliminated from the environment through the provision of Household Bins in urban centers. The majority of Unilever factories send no waste to landfills; they remove these wastes at the processing point thus minimizing environmental pollution. The company is practicing recycling and reuse of wastes as a means of reducing soil, air, and water pollution. Landmarks have demonstrated how Unilever factories are friendly to the environment. This program has enabled the company to save more than € 60 million since there is no capital expenditure.
The Unilever Group of Companies launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan that aimed at improving its positive social impact to ensure that they achieved their 100% target on sustainability. The objective of the Unilever Company is to minimize, water scarcity, and unsustainable farming practices with the purpose of increasing food supply (Unilever Sustainable Living Plan Helping to Drive Growth 2013). In September 2012, the launching of the new soap in France saw Unilever’s first product to promote tomatoes growth. According to the Unilever Sustainable Code, tomatoes sustain growth. In West Africa, Unilever has been co-joined in the running of field schools for pastoralists; this initiative made it be certified.
Unilever Company through its hygiene brand has come up with initiatives to raise awareness towards sanitation using toilet paper. It also campaigned for the building of public toilets in London. This initiative reached many people since sanitation is a basic human right. Unilever, through its Sustainable Living Plan, has ensured many people improve their health using toilet paper. The program has reduced death cases and diseases associated with poor sanitation. Domestos, a brand from the Unilever Company, is toilet hygiene used by families in offering protection from germs (Unilever Sustainable Living Plan Helping to Drive Growth 2013). Unilever continues to produce this brand in large quantities to fight poor sanitation. By 2002, the Institute of Business Ethics supported Unilever in training business people in London; this program aimed at imparting CSR skills to the business people. By the end of the year, business people had begun caring about other factors in the environment apart from profit-making. Evidently, Unilever is working towards meeting its strategic goals and objectives in implementing its CSR.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is permitted in enquiring information it needs in carrying out its strategic objectives. In the case of BAT, the chairperson of the CSR committees has a duty to report the outcome to the Board committee. The company’s secretary prepares the report assessed during the evaluation by the Board committee where they identify action points. The action points may include the committee’s focus and forward, composition, and review of peers (Baker 2004). According to Baker 2004, CSR addresses social, economic, and environmental impacts that affect the interests of their stakeholders. The agenda aims at upholding high standards of corporate conduct, reducing product risk, addressing the effects of the group’s business on the environment, and ensuring that it deals with the right people all the time. In addition, they positively work for the social-economic and environmental impacts in supply towards the group. The major principle of CSR is to lay out the expectations for the proper running of the group’s business. Some of the principal provisions are responsible product stewardship, mutual benefit, and good corporate conduct. The CSR approaches towards human rights follow its guideline in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as well as the UN declaration of human. In ensuring that their reports are sustainable, they have been producing independent reports from the year 2000 (Baker 2004). This shows a strong commitment to the work; it results in sustainability in the group. On the other hand, group companies get guidance on selection, management, and evaluation of Corporate Social Investment (CSI) activities. Nevertheless, societal needs vary depending on the people and, therefore, they spend according to the tastes, preferences, and cultural practices of the local inhabitants (Matten, Moon & Siegel 2009).
These companies, therefore, have large customer bases, which they must protect in order to remain productive in the business world. In manufacturing these numerous products, the Unilever Company uses different ingredients such as water, sugar, and other additives. In addition, the company packs its products in materials that can have effects on the environment and consumers’ health. Their industries also produce effluents that have adverse effects on the adjacent environment and the local inhabitants. Daily, they consume a lot of energy to run their operations. This energy has its source from the environment (Energy 2012). As a result, The Unilever Company should bear a great deal of responsibility to its customers, the public, and the environment. On the energy conservation, BAT just like Unilever is highly taking a proactive tactic to reduce emissions. For example, Corporate Responsibility – Environment elaborates, “Supporting alternate employee commute options” The Unilever Company also started a program where it is rewarding those who opted to walk or cycle to work; this initiative reduces CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Additionally, these companies encourage the use of natural sources of energy like windmills. Since they rely on the environment to run their activities, they must take exceptional responsibility for its sustainability.
While others may have contrary views of the companies’ involvement in these activities, I fully support their actions. These individuals may reason that other companies are enormously harming the environment but are not taking any action in minimizing their acts. Therefore, other companies do not need to take an immense deal of responsibility. Factually, an unhealthy environment is unsuitable for all businesses, and the less concerned included. A company that is responsible for the environment, the public, and its customers builds a positive image globally, thus improving sales and retaining skilled employees. Simultaneously, these companies train their employees on the impacts of using their products and even involve communities and government agencies in creating this awareness. Additionally, their concern for the environment is evident in their goal of recycling and treatment of used plastics before releasing it to the environment (Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) n.d.). The two firms try to meet their objectives and goals through CSR. For instance, Unilever through its Sustainable Living Plan, contents that too much CO2 in the environment is a threat to their operations since a change in climate affects the production of their raw materials (Unilever Factories and Logistics Reduce CO2 by 1 Million Tonnes 2013). Evidently, reducing CO2 emissions is a goal of this company; therefore, it cares for the environment in the process of limiting emissions from the factories.
On the other aspect, BAT has strategically placed itself at incorporating its stakeholders in all their activities. For example, the company engages public health communities, NGOs, farmers, customers, and employees on matters that affect them and in giving their views on issues such as selling tobacco products to underage adults. In addition, BAT uses dialogue on sensitive topics with their stakeholders. After choosing the topic, the company invites a wide range of stakeholders in order to engage the senior managers. The inclusion of many stakeholders is beneficial as the group contains even the critics of the company. The dialogue assists the company to engage in and solve relevant issues that affect the stakeholders and the environment. In this line, BAT uses both the integrative and ethical theories of CSR. Integrative theories hold that companies rely on society for continuity and development; as a result, companies should include societal needs in their activities (Secchi 2007). On the other hand, ethical theories state that there are ethical values that bind society and businesses together. Clearly, these theories do not view businesses from the economic aspect of profit-making. The profit-making aspect corresponds to the utilitarian theories, which do not consider other aspects that occur inside and outside the business environment. The analysis has revealed that both Unilever and BAT have made their mission and goals compatible with CSR (Secchi 2007).
The two companies should understand that the future is full of new technological inventions; therefore, they should adopt new tactics that will enable them to continue serving the communities at that time. BAT, for instance, should expand its educational awareness program given that children continue to mature at an early age as this may avoid cases of children using tobacco products. In addition, the global world requires Unilever to adjust its corporate strategy on CSR, as there will be numerous social actors. Steady and effective regulations and adequate corporate CSR will make employees enjoy their work hence effectively engaging in social activities. BAT and Unilever can position themselves as social enterprises to enable the public to have close contact with their products and CSR. Social enterprises predominantly focus on eliminating social problems such as malnutrition, famine, and unemployment in society. In the future, these firms should have moral practice as a training course within their premises. This approach will impart knowledge and skills to its stakeholders about the importance of CSR. The continued interaction among people easily leads to loss of morals (Janice 2011). Since the benefits of CSR are not direct, these companies should put more value on the indirect benefit than their competitors. Clearly, an attempt to engage in CSR creates a positive impact on the environment and people. The firms should also have numerous initiatives that may assist them in protecting the environment such as using renewable sources of energy in running their factories, just like the Apple Company.
CSR is an initiative that requires the involvement of all businesses irrespective of their sizes and locations. For instance, any negative actions on the environment will affect all the businesses even if they are the actors or not. If a company emits effluents into the surrounding, environmental pollution becomes prominent. Such an effect affects everything on earth. It should be a government policy that all businesses should outline their strategies on CSR before launching their operations.
References
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