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Corporate Social Responsibility
The VON TREPKA & PÜHL Consulting Group GmbH & Co. KG defines Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a concept whereby companies integrate social an environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis.
The fact that CSR ist the integration of social and environmental concerns within business operations means that CSR is not a philanthropy. The emphasis is on how enterprises do their daily work: how they treat their employees, how they produce goods, how they market them, and so on. CSR is not so much about what enterprises do with their profit, but how they make the profit.
The interaction with stakeholders is a crucial aspect of CSR. Effective CSR requires dialogue and partnership with stakeholders such as trade unions, public authorities, non-governmental organisations, and business representative organisations.
By describing CSR as voluntary, this definition implies that CSR relates to what enterprises can do in the social environmental fields over and above what they are required to do by law. This aspect of definition works well within the European Union and in other contexts where the rule of law generally applies. In some countries, however, CSR can in the first place be a question of getting enterprises to comply with their legal obligations.
CSR is a very wide-ranging concept, which is one reason why measuring its uptake and impact presents complex methodological problems. It is often divided into four areas:
The interaction with stakeholders is a crucial aspect of CSR. Effective CSR requires dialogue and partnership with stakeholders such as trade unions, public authorities, non-governmental organisations, and business representative organisations.
By describing CSR as voluntary, this definition implies that CSR relates to what enterprises can do in the social environmental fields over and above what they are required to do by law. This aspect of definition works well within the European Union and in other contexts where the rule of law generally applies. In some countries, however, CSR can in the first place be a question of getting enterprises to comply with their legal obligations.
CSR is a very wide-ranging concept, which is one reason why measuring its uptake and impact presents complex methodological problems. It is often divided into four areas:
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- Workplace CSR refers to how a company treats its employees. It includes issues such as recruitment, work-force diversity, pay and working conditions, health and safety, and recognition of trade unions. It can also refer to human rights issues.
- Market-place CSR covers the way in which a company operates in relation to its suppliers, customers and competitors. It covers issues such as responsible advertising and marketing, dealing with customer complaints, anti-corruption measures and ethical practice, and imposing social and environmental requirements on suppliers.
- Environment-related CSR describes the measures a company can take to mitigate its negative impact on the environment, for example energy efficiency measures or less use of pollutants. It can also refer to goods and services that actively help to improve the environment.
- Community-related CSR refers to the relations between the company and the citizens and communities that may be affected by its operations. It includes issues such as human rights, dialogue and partnership with potentially affected communities, and active contribution to community well-being, for instance through employee volunteering schemes.
Some of these areas inevitably overlap in pratice. For example, the environmental dimension of CSR can be of great importance in relations with communities affected by the operations of an enterprise.
Transparency and communication about social and environmental performance are crucial aspects of CSR which cut all across these four areas.
The practice of implementing CSR strategies and processes as well as publishing sustainability or CSR reports has become increasingly common, especially amongst large enterprises.
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VTP Case Study: Corporate Social Responsibility - Realisation of ISO 26000 in entrepreneurial experience
