Tetiana Yablonska, International business, group D

CSR are for-profit business responsible to the society? Why or why not and to what extent?
Corporate Social Responsibility is a management concept whereby companies integrate social
and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their
stakeholders. CSR is generally understood as being the way through which a company achieves
a balance of economic, environmental and social imperatives, while at the same time
addressing the expectations of shareholders and stakeholders. Key CSR issues are:
environmental management, eco-efficiency, responsible sourcing, stakeholder engagement,
labour standards and working conditions, employee and community relations, social equity,
gender balance, human rights, good governance, and anti-corruption measures. CSR is
increasingly crucial to success because it gives companies a mission and strategy around which
multiple constituents can rally. The businesses most likely to succeed in todays rapidly evolving
global environment will be those best able to balance the often conflicting interests of their
multiple stakeholders.
CSR broadly represent the relationship between a company and the principles expected by the
wider society within which it operates. It assumes businesses recognize that for-profit entities
do not exist in a vacuum and that a large part of their success comes as much from actions that
are congruent with societal values as from factors internal to the company. CSR is an argument
of economic self-interest for a business. In todays brand-driven markets, CSR is a means of
matching corporate operations with stakeholder values and demands, at a time when these
parameters can change rapidly. Another justification for CSR holds that pro acting is better than
reacting. This basically means that pro acting (anticipating, planning and initiating) is more
practical and less costly than simply reacting to social problems once they have surfaced.
Finally, it has been argued that business should engage in CSR because the public strongly
supports it. Today, the public believes that, in addition to its pursuits of profits, business should
be responsible to their workers, communities and other stakeholders, even if making things
better for them requires companies to sacrifice some profits. The case against the concept of
CSR typically begins with the classical economic argument that management has one
responsibility and that is to maximize the profits of its owners or shareholders. Social issues are
not the concern of business people and that these problems should be resolved by the
unfettered workings of the free market system. A second objection to CSR has been that
business is not equipped to handle social activities. This position holds that managers are

oriented towards finance and operations and do not have the necessary expertise (social skills),
to make socially oriented decisions. Ethical products are a niche market, but actually all goods
and services continue to be purchased on the basis of price, convenience and quality. Although,
ethical mutual funds have grown in size, they have had no measurable impact on share prices.
Mainstream investors still rarely consider a firm`s CSR record in deciding which shares to buy,
sell or hold. Resulting from all the reasons given above, one can conclude, that CSR does not
necessarily pay.
To sum up, effective CSR rests on developing the appropriate CSR strategy where CSR activities
are directed at improving stakeholder relations and, at the same time, improving social welfare.
The right CSR strategy is the one that pursues issues which demonstrate a convergence
between economic and social goals.
The way in which you respond to people is linked to what you believe in, what you consider
important and what interests you. As for me, I want others to care about me and treat me well.
I want good things to happen to those people I care about and I value their opinion of me. I try
not to hurt anyone, because that hurts me and influences my good reputation. These values
may be compared to guides in my life which strongly affect my behavior. For example, I would
never offend anybody even if something negative was said to me. I also try my best to correct
my mistakes in relationships with close people. I also realize that there is nobody responsible
for my words and actions except me. Certainly, such values have direct impact on my position
regarding CSR.
Nowadays contradictions whether business should be responsible to the society gain more and
more points of view concerning both benefits and disadvantages. One can assume that the
business environment has significantly changed and that we are entering a new world in which
CSR has become critical to the success of all or even most firms, but he or she will be mistaken.
If company doesnt pay attention to the requirements of its stakeholders, surely, it will fail in
any case, that is why social corporate responsibility is relevant today. Yet it must not turn into
charity deeds for society, as business` main aim is to make profits, not to lose. Managers should
try to act more responsible and not to expect the market reward them. In other words,
managers of all levels have to avoid decisions, which may lead to the problems of corporate
social responsibility, but in case of emergencies happen, organization has to take responsibility
for its actions. It can be concluded that CSR and the maintenance of high ethical standards is
the primary obligation for business.

References
1. Chapter 1: What is CSR? , http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/34698_Chapter1.pdf
2. CSR doesn`t pay by David Vogel,http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/16/csr-doesnt-pay-leadcorprespons08-cx_dv_1016vogel.html
3. The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Concepts, Research and
Practice by Archie B. Carroll and Kareem M. Shabana, International Journal of Management
Reviews (2010)
4. UNIDO. What is CSR? , http://www.unido.org/en/what-we-do/trade/csr/what-is-csr.html