Corporate social responsibility is the inclusion of a self regulatory mechanism in any business enterprise. Its goal is to make the business enterprises responsible for all its acts and promote through its actions a positive impact on the environment, employees, consumers, communities and general public at large. It is used to evaluate the enterprise’s social, economic and environmental performance. This term became popular in the late 1960’s and early 70’s after the term ‘stakeholder’ was formed by multinational firms. A business must be completely accountable so that it can take responsibility for all its acts. Social accounting, being a part of it, relates the social or environmental effects to economical effects of the acts of the company.
The benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility vary according to the nature of the business. It makes the consumers and the public aware of the working and functioning of the enterprise. It improves the reputation of the business enterprise among the customers and stakeholders which keeps them always involved with the business. Some customers tend to buy products from companies which are more ethical and socially responsible. A better reputation makes the recruitment of employees easier. Other benefits of this concept are that the employees are more dedicated in their work and stay longer in the company. This makes their relationship with the local authorities better hence business activities can be carried out more conveniently.
It gives the business enterprise a more philanthropic outlook which gives it a distinct image and differentiates them from their competitors. This certainly leads to an increase in the revenue generation of the company and attracts more investors. It also reduces the risk of an unexpected reduction in sales. The companies can not only save the environment but also cut down their production costs by employing recycling and reusing the waste. It is an undisputed fact that customers get attracted to the companies which recycle, reuse and are trying to reduce their waste products. Companies which are socially responsible are given a number of relaxations in legal and taxation regulations in various countries.
Sustainable development is the need of the day and in order to achieve it the companies should become more responsible for their acts of commission and omission to the whole society. This concept is a mode of communication between the business enterprise and its customers. This has led to the development of phenomena where success of a company is directly proportional to the way it carries its responsibilities towards its customers.
SECHANGE works with financial investment firms,
philanthropists and foundations to identify
corporate social responsibility projects. Finding the right social good projects is a complicated business. SECHANGE monitors, measures and assesses international social good projects to ensure continuous progress reporting and evaluation. For more details about social investment returns please visit us.