Corporate Social Responsibility

“Social responsibility [is the] responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment through transparent and ethical behavior that is consistent with sustainable development and the welfare of society; takes into account the expectations of stakeholders; is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international norms of behavior; and is integrated through out the organization.”—Working definition, ISO 26000 Working Group on Social Responsibility, Sydney, February 2007.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an evolving concept that does not currently have a universally accepted definition. It frequently overlaps with similar terms, such as corporate sustainability, corporate sustainable development, and corporate citizenship. Whether or not or to what extent businesses must implement CSR has been a heated topic of discussion through the years, but was particularly vociferous during the debate about conducting business in South Africa during the apartheid era. At the time, many corporate executives maintained that their responsibility extended only to their shareholders.

Milton Friedman argued their case in his 1970 New York Times Magazine article, “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.” In Friedman's Libertarian point of view, a business, since it was not a person, had no responsibility other than to fulfill the purpose for which it was created, that is, to maximize the return on shareholder investment. He said that executives and employees owed allegiance to the firms for which they worked and must keep the profit-maximization goal firmly in mind. He equated efforts to improve society through the conduct of business with “pure and unadulterated socialism.”

Although there are still those who hold Friedman's view, most business executives, including many who self-identify as Libertarians, now acknowledge that companies do indeed have a social responsibility.

This page from an October 2006 British Petroleum brochure touts its commitment to “sustained and valued relationships” during its exploration and extraction of liquid natural gas

Source:http://BP.com