CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

1

CORPORATESOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Due

Companies operate with the aim of providing goods and services to thepeople, making a significant change in their industry, but their mostessential purpose is generating profits. Besides the entrepreneuractivities, organizations also engage in corporate socialresponsibility (CSR). The practice involves donating part of thecompany’s proceeds to charity or projects that promote asignificant change in the society. The paper seeks to analyzecorporate social responsibility and determine its importance in newventures. It shall also explain how firms demonstrate theircommitment to CSR in their business plan.

An analysis of corporate social responsibility indicates that it isdeveloped around the concept that enterprises should go beyond theeconomic aspect and focus on the surrounding community. When acompany achieves its set objectives, it recognizes other stakeholderssuch as the employees, but fails to consider the society that alsocontributes to the growth and development. The non-recognition iswhat led to CSR. According to Wang &amp Gao (2016), most firmsengaged in corporate social responsibility because it enhances theirreputation, reduces the level of competition among rivalcorporations, promotes survival of the business, and improvesprofitability. It is evident that the practice was more centered onthe benefits the companies enjoyed. However, with time, themanagement of the various organizations has realized that CSR needsto go beyond the interests of the firms. Besides, the society hasalso become conscious of the aim of the companies that engaged inCSR, and thus, do not focus primarily on their activities, althoughthey continue to have a positive impact on the public.

New businesses tend to participate in CSR because it ensures theirsustainability. The starting companies can perform CSR activitiessuch as implementing ethical practices within their service deliveryto customers and work performance. When employees are treated fairly,they handle the consumers with higher standards, which promote thesuccess of the enterprise. CSR is also important to new ventures asit shows that they are not focused on generating profits, but alsofacilitating social change. For instance, when an upcoming firmparticipates in charity or support environmental programs promotingconservation, they demonstrate to the stakeholders of theirpotential. New companies are known to be experiencing variouschallenges such as availability of finances (Wang &amp Bansal,2012). Therefore, if organizations can still manage to participate inCSR amidst their small profits, they show that they have thepotential of doing greater things when they grow to large enterprisesthus enhancing their image.

The commitment to CSR in the business plan can be demonstrated byincluding the expenses to be incurred in the financial section.Budgeting for CSR activities enables the management to implement thesocial responsibility since they planned early and cannot argue thatthere are no finances. Secondly, the management can make CSR part ofthe goal the company wishes to achieve. Including them in theobjectives of the firm allows the management to develop a program onhow the activities shall be implemented, monitored, and evaluatedwithin a specified time frame. Thirdly, organizations can develop aCSR strategy that aligns with those of the enterprise. This approachallows the company to develop a framework that incorporates thechanges within the business environment that may affect the successof their plans (Gazzola &amp Colombo, 2014).

In conclusion, the analysis of CSR reveals that it is an essentialapproach that allows the company to build its reputation while at thesame time improving the same way. CSR is significant among newventures as it promotes their sustainability and allows them tocontribute to social change. Firms can demonstrate their commitmentby budgeting for the projects, including in the company’s goals andby developing a CSR strategy that aligns with those of the business.

References

Gazzola, P., &amp Colombo, G. (2014). CSR Integration into theCorporate Strategy. Cross-Cultural Management Journal, 16(2),331-337.

Wang, S., &amp Gao, Y. (2016). What Do We Know About CorporateSocial Responsibility Research? A Content Analysis. Irish Journalof Management, 35(1), 1-16. Doi: 10.1515/ijm-2016-0001.

Wang, T., &amp Bansal, P. (2012). Social responsibility in newventures: profiting from a long-term orientation. StrategicManagement Journal, 33(10), 1135-1153.doi:10.1002/smj.1962