Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns into their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders (employees, customers, shareholders, investors, local communities, government), on a voluntary basis. Stakeholders Employees Investors Customers Local Communities Shareholders Government Sustainability CSR is closely linked with the principles of Sustainability, which argues that enterprises should make decisions based not only on financial factors such as profits or dividends, but also based on the immediate and long-term social and environmental consequences of their activities.

A Global Issue

CSR has become prominent in the language and strategy of business and by the growth of dedicated CSR organisations globally. Governments and international governmental organisations are increasingly encouraging CSR and forming CSR partnerships. CSR is rapidly becoming a major part of all business management courses and a key global issue.

How companies benefit from the CSR concept

No matter the size of an organisation or the level of its involvement with CSR, every contribution is important and provides a number of benefits to both the community and business. Contributing to and supporting CSR does not have to be costly or time consuming and more and more businesses active in their local communities are seeing significant benefits from their involvement: