Companies linking CSR to their marketing strategies
The main focus of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is on stakeholder analysis, business strategies and the resulting competitive advantages. A special focus has been given to the link between CSR and a company’s financial performance.
CSR has been defined as the continuing commitment by businesses to conduct their activities ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce, the local community and the society at large.
This focuses on the relationships between business and society and how businesses behave towards their key stakeholders including employees, customers, investors, suppliers, communities, and special interest groups.
There are several companies that are practicing CSR; these include the ExxonMobil which has made several efforts towards good corporate citizenship. It contributes over $35 million each year through its foundation to a wide variety of CSR causes particularly in areas of education, health, environment, museums & arts, community services, women and towards the interests of the minority.
More than 80% of the company’s contributions are made in the area education within the US even though its economic lifeline is oil exploration, refinement and processing that is done overseas. The $35 million contribution is primarily in form of cash grants to charitable organizations whose programs are not linked in a tangible way to ExxonMobil’s business objectives and strategy or its core activities.
The decision by Shell to sink the Bret Spar Oil storage facility in the North Atlantic is an illustration of how misalignment between Shell’s CSR efforts and business decisions hurt the company’s reputation and bottom-line in Europe. The Monsanto Company provides another example of a conflict between business and CSR strategies.
It engaged in consultative process with international NGO’s to explain and understand issues around marketing of genetically modified seeds. The company’s business units aggressively sought approval to market the seed in Brazil, Europe and India despite strong negative public reactions.
Despite concerns expressed by its CSR staff, Monsanto decided to introduce the controversial seed technologies in these markets. Later, prominent development organizations like Grameen and CARE cancelled their plans to collaborate with Monsanto on community projects in Bangladesh, Tanzania and India (Werther, 2010).
Linking CSR to human resource management
Social responsibility is about caring for people especially those whose health care needs are to be addressed as well as the employees. It also considers the impacts of the business on the global society and the local community.
This interprets social responsibility and thus implicitly, the human resources management role is portrayed as a caring one. In some other cases, this can be interpreted as paternalistic attitude towards employees. Some other companies expand the aspect of social responsibility to the support of the local community.
Sustainable development can be enhanced through its adoption in every aspect of a company’s activities. Implementation of sustainable development relies on policies particularly in its human resource policy which deals with the social aspects. In this context, the employees are at the heart of the groups’ success and the human resource policy is decisive in maintaining its performance and sustainable development (Ehnert, 2009).
The human resource department should be responsible for the development of a formal policy on sustainable practices involving employees. This approach shows support for the local community and thus builds a positive team spirit in the organization and helps to create a winning environment at the work place.
The human resource department should design an orientation program for newly recruited candidates in a manner that addresses the corporate philosophy about CSR. The commitment of the top management toward CSR is crucial, and it should be expressed in tangible terms to reinforce the right behavior in an organization.
The designing of performance management system should be done in a way that measures the social responsibilities initiatives taken by the employees. This is important in internalizing CSR in an organization’s culture which requires that appropriate behavior is appraised, appreciated and rewarded.
The training facilities may also be made available to instill the CSR culture among the employees; this enables the employees to learn and practice the CSR activities. Empowerment of managers by giving them the decision making authority can greatly aid in executing social responsibility at a local level. This is particularly useful for an organization with plants or units at multiple locations around the world.
Ways for companies to report on their CSR activities
A popular reporting system used is the “One Report” as defined by Eccles and Krzus. It portrays a comprehensive, networked, real-time, living and breathing system that through integrated reporting provides a single version of the truth to all concerned parties inside and out. Viewed in this context, rethinking of reporting is not as boring but it is at the very heart of the success and survival of companies and the economy (Eccles & Krzus, 2010).
The digital revolution has greatly enhanced the efficiency of this form of reporting. The internet has evolved from a network of websites that enable organizations to simply present information to become a computing plat-form.
The elements of a computer and computer programs can be spread out across the internet and seamlessly combined as necessary. The internet generally has become a giant computer that everyone can program; it provides a global infrastructure for creativity, participation, sharing and self-organization.
Sharing a global computer with all stakeholders enhances a new world of possibilities for positive transparency and engagement while at the same time appropriately protecting intellectual property, legitimate corporate secrets and the privacy of individuals.
Various associations produce reports on the business case for corporate responsibility, these include the business council for social responsibility, world business council for sustainable development and the international business leaders’ forum which in its report, shows quantifiable and enduring business advantage towards doing the right thing (Crane, 2008).
Reference List
Crane, A 2008, The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility, Chicago: Oxford Handbooks Online.
Ehnert, I 2009, Sustainable Human Resource Management: A Conceptual and Exploratory Analysis from a Paradox Perspective, Geneva: Springer.
Krzus, R. G 2010, One Report: Integrated Reporting for a Sustainable Strategy, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Werther, W 2010, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment, Texas: SAGE.