Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was
once an exotic interest and ambition of `alternative thinkers' and corporate
`do-gooders'. It is now commonplace and it is almost impossible to find
organizations, especially multinational companies,
not expressing a CSR commitment. Websites are replete with such phrases as `a desire to
put something back', `committed to being a global citizen', `investing in
communities', etc. The wordings may be slightly
different, but the themes remain somewhat constant
- we may be giant organizations, even involved in not very
environmentally-friendly operations, but we care for more than
just our profits and bottom line. Companies, not only have CSR statements, but also
CSR managers who can be based in various parts of organizations, including in separate
units or in PR and HR departments.
CSR can be known by a variety of other names and terms, such as
corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship and
a mix of terms such as responsible, sustainable and ethical business. CSR is a nebulous
and elastic concept than can mean very different things to various people and
constituencies. It is also one of those `motherhood
and apple pie' concepts, seen as, a priori `a good thing'. After all, not many
organizations would propound that they did not
have any CSR. As such, it is one of the most popular, fashionable areas of
management today. |
