Corporate social Responsibility

Introduction

The business sector has faced many challenges that are threatening the positions the businesses hold. One of the challenges is the way to satisfy customers. Their needs change as days go by hence organizations having a hard time in coming up with the best way to make the customer comfortable so as to achieve a competitive edge. According to Smith, (2008) it is not possible nowadays to measure the business performance with profits only. The purpose of businesses has changed in the 21st century as businesses are meant to contribute a lot to the well being of the social constituents on top of making profits. For the organizations to acquire a competitive edge against their competitors, they must be in a position to make use of corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility abbreviated as CSR is defined as the way an organization is able to relate policies and operations with the society in ways that are of benefit to them and society as well. The actions are obtained for reasons that are far beyond the legal and economic obligations of the organization (Matten and Crane, 2005). Some of these actions are sometimes said to be purely voluntary and philanthropic and are meant to benefit the social constituents of the organization. It is an important tool in organization development. Those organizations that make use of the concept acquire more benefits such as trust from the clients, customer loyalty, and improved attitudes on the brands, improved financial performance and positive publicity. The aim of this paper is to describe the role played by CSR in the process of developing competitive advantage and customer satisfaction with the aim of enhancing profitability. I intend to use the early model usually referred to as Carrol’s pyramid where responsibilities such as philanthropic, economic, legal and ethical will be used. I will also focus on the political, instrumental and integrative theories to discuss the way CSR can improve the organizations. The works of Roger Hallowell (1996) and the effects of corruption on the economy Vito and Tant staff paper 1998 will be used. I also intend to do a comprehensive further study on the impact of CSR on customers in the banking industry which will form the basis of my next research.

Continuing Evolution

History of CSR

Reference List

Matten, D. and Crane, A. 2005. Corporate Citizenship: Toward an extended theoretical conceptualization, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 30 No. 1 pp. 166-179.

Smith, A. D. 2008. Corporate social responsibility practices in the pharmaceutical industry, Business StrategySeries, Vol. 9 Iss: 6 pp.306-315.