Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
It is undeniable that companies, especially the largest and international ones, have a great impact on the world around us, both from a social and environmental perspective. Due to this, what is called corporate social responsibility arises. or corporate social responsibility or socially responsible investment, which is nothing other than the actions carried out by a company to improve the world through its activity, either directly or indirectly. If you want to know a little more about what is corporate social responsibility with examples quite illustrative, keep reading Green Ecology and we will tell you about it.
What is corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is the voluntary actions carried out by a company to improve the world, especially from a social and environmental perspective. It is very important to bear in mind that these are actions that are carried out on a voluntary basis. That is to say, go beyond the law. There are certain laws that force companies to take actions that improve the world. For example, companies are required by law to pay certain taxes that finance public services. However, the act of paying taxes cannot be considered as an action of corporate social responsibility, since it is something that they have to do in a mandatory way by law.
On the contrary, if a company carries out positive actions for society or the environment As a further addition to the mandatory compliance with the law, then it can be considered as an example of corporate social responsibility. For example, we would be talking about corporate social responsibility actions in the cases of a company that allocates part of its benefits to be reforested areas affected by fires, or in the case of a company that allocates part of its profits to the provision of study grants for people without resources. In both cases, it would be two actions that go beyond the legal obligation of the law, that is, they constitute a added social action, which contributes to improving the added value of the particular company.
Corporate social responsibility: reasons and objectives
There are different reasons why companies may choose to perform corporate social responsibility actions. In general, there are two main reasons:
The company as a social engine
The first, and most important of all, is that the company contributes to a better world in one of the specific aspects in which it collaborates with this social action. This is because, although the original motive of any company is to obtain profits, companies are also social agents capable of promoting positive or negative changes in society and the environment. In this way, certain companies conceive themselves as social drivers for change. This starts from the premise that each company, in addition to seeking profit, also identifies with certain values, moral principles or ideas that go beyond the economic dimension of the sphere of business action. In this way, for example, a company that manufactures clothing, will be able to implement certain actions that are related to its activity and the values in which it believes as a company. For example, a company that manufactures clothing may take the initiative to run used clothing collection drives to help people in need. Or you could also carry out used clothing collection campaigns with the aim of recycling these fabrics to minimize their environmental impact in the manufacture of your products.
Loyalty strategy
On the other hand, in addition to the first reason that motivates companies to carry out corporate social responsibility actions, we also find another one that is worth mentioning, which is the capacity that these types of actions have to retain certain audiences. As consumers, each person also identifies with certain values, moral principles or ideas. In this way, knowing that our actions as consumers affect the world around us, we direct our consumption to those products that most identify with our values. For example, a person who is aware of the fight against animal abuse is very likely to look for food and clothing products that do not adversely affect animals. In this way, it is very likely that you will avoid the consumption of clothing and accessories made with leather, or it is very likely that, when making the purchase, you will select vegetarian or vegan products or avoid buying chicken eggs that you know have been caged. In this way, it will direct its consumption to those products or services of companies that are in accordance with this type of values. This, of course, in addition to generating a positive impact on the world, also generates an economic impact on the company.
In this way, companies can retain certain customers thanks to their products. This will be seen reinforced with corporate social responsibility actions, They will normally be in line with these types of customers. Continuing with the example of a company that manufactures clothing free of leather and suitable for vegans, it is very likely that this company can carry out corporate social responsibility actions in this area, for example, allocating part of its profits in campaigns in favor of well-being animal, or carrying out campaigns for the adoption of animals that have suffered abuse.
Examples of corporate social responsibility
These types of actions will be adapted to each of the values of each company, which will normally be in line with the product or service they provide. The examples of corporate social responsibility they are almost as broad as the companies. Some of the most common that we can find are the following:
- Actions aimed at restoring the damaged environment.
- Actions aimed at protecting and conserving the threatened environment.
- Actions aimed at protecting and helping people or groups in danger or at risk of exclusion.
- Actions aimed at educating and making society aware of certain values.
- Actions aimed at allocating economic resources to other social agents.
- Actions aimed at promoting research in the form of R + D + I.
- Actions destined to act as patronage of artistic and cultural projects.
- Actions aimed at promoting fair trade.
If you want to read more articles similar to Corporate social responsibility: examplesWe recommend that you enter our category of Projects, associations and NGOs.
