Introduction
Most companies in the modern day world are facing a new role; to meet the societal expectations through what is referred to as the corporate social responsibility, (CSR). Corporate social responsibility is defined as the expectation that a company ought to fulfill with the aim of positively impacting the social environment. This is the requirement for an organization to be referred to as a good corporate citizen (Walsh & Weber, 2003).
There are different schools of thought regarding the need for and against social responsibility. The proponents of social responsibility argue that it is no longer ethically acceptable for an organization to continue making profits without caring about the impact of its actions on the very parties that help it make the profits.
They therefore propose that a company should exercise due care and social responsibility that ensures it is a good corporate citizen. The opponents of social responsibility argue that it is the duty of the government to look after the society social welfare since the organizations pay taxes to the government (Goswin & Hai, 1990).
They therefore charge the government with the responsibility of looking after the societal welfare. This essay analyzes company Q’s attitude towards corporate social responsibility. It also recommends areas of improvement regarding the company’s attitude.
Company Q’s attitude
From the information provided, the company does not support the concept of social responsibility. First, the company has closed down several stores because those stores are consistently losing money. This could be caused by several factors. One of the possible reason is that the authority does not provide adequate security to the business environment thus exposing the businesses to the risk of losing money (Goswin & Hai, 1990).
The government, has therefore, neglected its responsibility to provide a social need such as security. The company is therefore reluctant to participate in the social responsibility exercise since it feels the government needs to play its role.
The scope of CSR covers the legal, ethical, commercial, and public expectations of the company. As such, Q company seems to be flaunting some of these scopes. For instance, the community expects the grocery to stock some organic foods. This is to the welfare of the customers and the community at large. The company was compelled to introduce these organic products though in small quantities.
Corporate social responsibility also entails the company adherence to the ethical expectations. The company chooses to throw away day old food instead of donating to the food bank. This seems like an unethical act considering its lack of donating and lack of trust on its employees.
Areas of improvement regarding the social responsibility of the company
One important way of improving social responsibility, is establishing the true opinions of the company’s stakeholders. The different stakeholders, both internal and external have a role to play in determining the success of the company’s social responsibility. Most companies are using social responsibility to generate more revenues through indirect contribution to the society (Goswin & Hai, 1990).
Most activities are now advertised through the media and companies go public about their social responsibility activities. Q company therefore needs to critically evaluate the stakeholders’ view on its attitude and then devise way and means of improving its CSR. One important way is developing trust on its employees. This will definitely impact on its face internally and as a result, the employees can become its external agents to the society.
The other area of improvement on company Q is that the company should communicate to the external stakeholders about their social responsibility objectives. This would help reduced the perceived attitude about CSR. Once the company communicates this to the external stakeholders such as the suppliers, it would set a first step towards recovering the negative perception from the general public.
The company would also adopt a system where it would sell products that promote consumer welfare. This would not only act as a double bottom-line, but also communicate to the public about the company’s improved social responsibility. The other importance of such a move is that it would also show the commitment of the company in delivering quality products to the public.
In the recent past, the consumer world has experienced a tremendous metamorphosis in that consumers not only look at the prices charged for the goods and services but also the future benefits of the company in terms of their welfare.
Conclusion
The topic of corporate social responsibility has become a center stage to many organization. Over the recent past organizations are even evaluated and ranked in order of adherence to social responsibility. The society has in effect, become an inevitable group of stakeholders whose interests have risen to become part of priorities among many companies. Company Q should therefore, re-evaluate the essence of social responsibility and have an objective look at the benefits.
In addition the company should evaluate the cost benefit aspect of the social responsibility while regarding the financial and the non financial aspects of the social responsibility. The management of company Q should therefore have a holistic approach in improving the social responsibility attitude of the company.
References
Goswin, S., & Hai, Y. (1990). Attitudes Towards Corporate Social Responsibility and Perceived Importance of Social Responsibility. Journal of business ethics, 71-77.
Walsh, J., & Weber, K. (2003). Social issues and management: Our lost cause found. Journal of Management, 21(3), 859-881.