CSR -The Modern Approach

CSR – The Modern Approach

CSR is being viewed now in a three facets approach. The first one is that of CSR as philanthropy. Here the traditional giving to good causes and sending the check towards anti social practices is given importance. There is little firm involvement and no general connection between the giving and core competencies of the business. It is better left to the shareholders to do on their own. The second face of CSR is that of reputation management. Nowadays corporate reputations are increasingly subject to growing threats and assaults from organized groups. CSR initiatives are used to defend these actions. Moreover it is critical for the business to build a reserve of public trust to cushion potential blows in the long run. Companies now embrace CSR as a defensive strategy by adopting internal and global codes of conduct and engaging in public giving. They act by building alliances with non governmental agencies and other groups to carry out interventions.

However the three facets approach of CSR has many shortcomings. This approach is totally diffused and unfocused and lacks differentiation. It is not driven by the activities of the firm alone but guided mainly by personal beliefs and values of managers. It relies mostly in cash or kind in transactions and tends to use skilled volunteers for unskilled volunteer labor. It is inefficiently managed and costly to administer. This approach does not generate much value for the shareholder (Flor 2008). 

CSR has become an employee engagement and response issue. It is not important now to tell what the organization is doing but it is important to tell the employees what they are doing. Corporate philanthropy is now strategic in the same way modern CSR is about skill based philanthropy. The focus has shifted from leveraging the time and general management skills of the employees to working on projects that leverage the specific skills of the employees and the organization. Now more and more green initiatives are moving from the periphery to the mainstream business. Philanthropy is no longer an adjunct activity for better community relations. It is all about core business strategy (Happ 2008).

At its root CSR is still forming. It is a little bit of art and a little bit of science. CSR has grown from a mere sustainability operation to a catalyst which would enable business to become an advocacy and public engagement organization. It is all about development of a new culture that prioritize engaging and influencing the public just as much as running marketing and other strategies. New CSR attitudes envisage corporates to work along with the government and other agencies to meet and solve global challenges. Businesses should be never absolved in providing a solution. They should be able to turn compliance into economic competitiveness which would enable them to plan and implement strategies that fall within the social contexts.

In the modern digital world, CSR has moved from simple corporate responsibility towards community campaigning. These campaigns are not delivered out of a sense of responsibility but responsiveness. It has moved from a ‘nod’ to the stakeholders to an activity that needs to be genuine with the consumers and their communities at heart. Corporates now strive to achieve these objectives rather than go for the traditional old concept of CSR. They have welcomed more innovations and inventions in this area. They have recognized the value of employees and the community. This has given rise o increased employee involvement and engagement in corporate matters.

When talking about new developments in the CSR area, it is really worth to mention about the ISO 26000.this is an ISO international standard giving guidance on social responsibility. This is intended to be used by both private and public sectors in assisting them to operate in a socially responsible manner that the society increasingly demands. ISO 26000 will provide Social Responsibility guidance to all types of business. ISO’s expertise is in developing harmonized international agreements based on double levels of consensus among the principal categories of stakeholder, and among countries. Will cleanse a globally pertinent understanding of what social responsibility is and what organizations need to do to function in a socially responsible way. It provides guidance on:

• Perceptions, terms and definitions related to social responsibility
• Background, developments and characteristics of social responsibility
• Ethics and practices relating to social responsibility
• Core topics and issues linked to social responsibility
• Incorporating, implementing and endorsing socially responsible behavior throughout the organization and, through its policies and practices, within its area of influence
• Identifying and appealing with stakeholders
• Communicating obligations, performance and other information associated with social responsibility (ISO 26000 – Social responsibility. 2011).