Question

Write a persuasive essay on why CSR should be mandatory to all businesses.

Answer 1

Corporate social responsibility is rapidly gaining importance for businesses all over the world. Over the years, the idea of CSR has been significant an there has been considerable debate, commentary, theory structure and research. Even after the ongoing discussions as to what it means and what it endorses, it has established and progressed in both academic as well as in practitioners communities around the world. The notion that corporates have some responsibilities to society besides making profits for the shareholders has been around for centuries. The late 1980s saw a change in expectations when pressure was exerted by some environmental activists on entities that were seen as being environmentally irresponsible. Events such as the explosion at Union Carbide in Bhopal, India in 1984 and the oil spillage in Alaska in 1989 all but added weight to why corporations must be forced to treat the environment in a more responsible manner. The effect of the explosion in Bhopal of 1984 is still being felt by the unlucky residents nearly 20 years after the incident, Union Carbide on other hand, are still paying the legal costs of the incident up till now. It did not take much persuasion for companies and investors to accept that the environment is very important and any irresponsible damage to it will cost them dearly.

Many writers and academicians have different definitions. Johnson defined CSR as “a socially responsible firm whose management adjust a variety of interests, instead of struggling only to maximise profit for stakeholders, a responsible enterprise also looks its employees, suppliers, local communities and the nation as a whole”. It is important to note here that, Johnson’ s definition hits at the possibility of stakeholder approach as he made reference to a “multiplicity of interests” and names several of these interests groups specifically. He further reiterated that, in this approach, social responsibility in business is the attainment of socioeconomic objectives through the elaboration of social standards in stated business roles, or business conducted within a socio-cultural system that clearly show through standards and business roles particular ways to respond to particular situations and outline in detail the manner to conduct business affairs

The case against the concept of CSR begins with the classical economic argument pushed forward by the Milton Friedman (1962). Friedman held that management has one responsibility and that is to make the profits for the owners. He argued that social issues are not what a business is established to engage in and that these issues should be solved by the unrestrained activities of the free market system. Also if the free market cannot solve the social problems, it falls not upon business, but upon government and legislation to do the job. A second objection to CSR has been that business is not capable to handle social activities. A third objection to CSR is that it dilutes businesses’ primary purpose and so to adopt CSR would put business into fields of endeavour that are unrelated to their ‘proper aim’ (Hayek 1969). A fourth argument against CSR is that business already has enough power, and so why should we place in its hands the opportunity to exercise additional power, such as social power. A fifth argument is that, by pursuing CSR, business will make itself less competitive globally. These arguments outlined here were made years ago, though some people still hold them and that the oppositions to the concept of CSR applied when the idea was once more narrowly conceived.

However those in favour of CSR do not agree with the position against CRS, they are of the conviction that if business is to have a healthy climate in which to operate in the future it must take actions now that will ensure its long-term viability. A second argument in favour of CSR is that it will ‘ward off government regulation’. Two arguments in favour of CSR include ‘business has the resources’ and ‘let business try’. These views maintain that, because business has a good number of managerial ability, functional knowledge and resources, and because others have tried and could not solve social problems, business should be given the chance .