Our author highlights corporate responsibility in chapter 5. Corporate responsibility has become more important for companies in all industries over the past few years. Corporations are making efforts to do the extra things that would make them appear socially conscious to their constituents. These corporations must be sure to conduct business ethically and lawfully. A negative public viewpoint of a company could affect their reputation and potentially cause them to lose valuable business. Therefore, even if it’s the last thing they would prefer, a company has to be socially responsible to survive in their industry.
The Go Green campaign is a prime example of companies being socially responsible. Taking care of our environment and being less wasteful as a nation is the goal of this campaign. Corporations are taking the lead role in the movement by manufacturing products that are environmentally friendly. Companies are going paperless and conducting business electronically. Companies are also getting more involved in the community and starting fundraisers and foundations like the JP Morgan Chase foundation that donated 2% of its $4.5 billion dollar income in 2004.
Corporate responsibility protects the environment as well as the consumers. As long as corporations have the public keeping an eye on everything they do, they will continue to handle their business ethically and lawfully. This here is a link that gives us the details of what companies have to do to be socially responsible.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-corporate-responsibility.htm
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Corporate responsibility, as we discussed in class, covers a vast area of business. Whether it be moral, economic, or even environmental, every business has the obligation to corporate responsibility. I've worked around sports on a collegiate or professional level for many years and athletes are always giving back. For example, charity work is done by every sports team at IUP as part of their team obligation. Many coaches have their players do several extra community service projects and charity work in and out of season to give back to those in their community.
ReplyDeleteI have attached an article from NASSM (North American Society for Sport Management) which talks about professional team's obligation to corporate responsibility. Different organizations have incorporated many different projects for example in the NFL, many trees are planted in and around the areas surrounding the Super Bowl location to help eliminate the carbon emissions from the thousands of spectators traveling to the area for the event.
http://www.nassm.com/files/conf_abstracts/2009-028.pdf
Clarence has excellent points. Corporate responsibility is very important. I know from my own personal experience at work, we have the option of signing Go Green pledges. We do community work like Light the Night and have a blood drive every 2 months. Attached is a link to an article about abou how Fortune is ranking the world's largest companies on how they conform to social responsibilty practices.
ReplyDeletehttp://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391850/index.htm
Corporate Responsibility is extremely important and is becoming even more important the more competitive the business world becomes. It really is no longer an option to a company if they are willing to help out a cause or their community. They must do this to show that they are really out to help the world become a better place. Some companies may do it just to say "we are socially responsible." Some are genuine and really want to help a cause. I feel a majority participate in their community just because they have to. It is easy to give money to a cause or help out on earth day, however it shows determination to get involved with a disease and fight for a cure. A company I worked for was always a sponsor of Race for the Cure, however the employees were never asked to get involved with the event or to even just register and participate in the event.
ReplyDeleteMcDonalds was creative by creating their own charity, the Ronald McDonald house. They were also one of the first companies to start the "green" movement. Here is their corporate responsibility website which describes each part of their mission to be socially responsible. http://www.mcdonalds.com/contact/contact_us/social_responsibility.html
Corporate Responsibility is an important aspect of business operations for all businesses. When I worked for a local newspaper as an intern, they felt it was their responsibility to be a community organizer. They went out of their way to support the local community. There was an especially large focus on supporting members of the community using local businesses instead of driving to Pittsburgh or somewhere else. This was largely a reciprocal relationship. While the newspaper felt almost obligated to be a community organizer type it was very beneficial to them. The other businesses in the surrounding area were very responsible themselves by buying ad space (when they had cheaper other options) as well as give good word-of-mouth about the newspaper. While additional corporate responsibility may seem like a necessary evil in my experience is can be beneficial to all involved.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Corporate Responsibility is a very important aspect of a corporation's overall business practices. Not only does it usually help to support a good cause, but it can also add to enhance a company's reputation which can, in the long-run, lead to greater profits and success. I have been involved in a few different activities that involved Corporate and social responsibility. One was when I participated in an Autism Walk in which many different organizations throughout the Pittsburgh region supported the walk. This support that these companies showed is an example of corporate responsibility.
ReplyDeleteI have included a link that outlines all the activities of corporate responsibility that IBM participated in last year. You can click on the various examples to view details of each practice.
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/
I agree with the other posters that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is very important. A major questions that arises when determining a companies extent of their CSR is the effect it will have on business and the ability to maximize shareholder wealth. Often, particular in present day as it has become such a buzz-word, CSR takes the front burner at an organization and the very nature of the business that put them in the poisition to help is negated.
ReplyDeleteAs a member of Sigma Tau Gamma, I have had the privledge of working with the Books for Kids campaign to raise funds to provide both education and leisure based reading material for children, with a special emphasis on low-income and at-risk preschool-aged children. The effort has certainly not overshadowed the intent of the organization to exist as a fraternity but rather bolstered its resume and exhibited the values the brotherhood posseses.
This is a link to the 'Books for Kids' site that may shed a bit mroe light on their efforts:
http://www.booksforkids.org/main.html