corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the concept that a business should attempt to balance its economic goals with its social and environmental impacts. It can cover a huge range of issues but at its core it should be about how a business makes daily decisions. Areas addressed under this banner include environment, philanthropy, corporate governance, employee skills, community engagement, human rights, communication, ethics, and values.

Every business has its own interpretation of the corporate social responsibility agenda, which should be aligned to its core commercial objectives with strengths in different areas. Some businesses have taken a more superficial approach and used the concept as only a marketing/PR tool with potential accusations of "greenwash" and hypocrisy.

CSR divides the business world with many citing that the only social responsibility of a business is to return a profit for shareholders. At the other end of the opinion spectrum, others see CSR as the only long-term way to do business as one cannot avoid having to manage the social and environmental impacts. In recent years, the environmental agenda has served to reinforce CSR as a mainstream business management concept as climate change becomes a more and more pervasive element of our working and personal lives.

Other similar terms include sustainability, corporate citizenship, responsible business, social enterprise or ethical business.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “corporate social responsibility”

• Snapfish by HP Supports Make-A-Wish Foundation by Donating Customizable Photo Books

  
  Your Story — Authority: 593
  PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Snapfish by HP today announced its support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America.
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• Loch Striven ship layups: rolling story

  
  For Argyll — Authority: 487
  Update 08.00 3rd December: An issue which looks as if it may be on the horizon is the UK Government selling off more of the remaining Trust Ports. The national debt already at unprecedented - unimagined - levels. The shadow of a potential Dubai collapse (the  now state-owned RBS was, of course, a major lender) [...]
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• After 25 years impact of Bhopal leak lingers

  
  Ohaiyo Business Magazine — Authority: 136
  Controversy still surrounds one of the worlds worst industrial accidents 25 years after an estimated 8,000 people died in the immediate aftermath of a toxic gas leak in Bhopal, India. At around midnight on December 3, 1984, a leak at a Union Carbide plant of methyl isocyanate gas -- a chemical compound used ...
  2 days ago

• Home Based Travel Agency Seminar on Jan 24, 2010 Sun

  
  Tropical Paradise of Asia — Authority: 121
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  3 days ago

• Every Crawler Counts

  
  Earthkeepers — Authority: 118
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• Green Detectives Help Consumers Understand COP15 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

  
  Your Story — Authority: 593
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• Green Detectives Help Consumers Understand COP15 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

  
  Your Story — Authority: 593
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• On the Maersk raft in Loch Striven

  
  For Argyll — Authority: 487
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• Tribal archers target Commonwealth Games (Feature with image)

  
  Thaindian News — Authority: 726
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• Comfortable conservation and global warming

  
  Ohaiyo Business Magazine — Authority: 136
  -- John Kemp is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own -- Energy efficiency will have to make the single most-important contribution if policymakers are serious about limiting greenhouse gas emissions and dampening growing demand for fossil fuels. Energy efficiency will not remove the need to invest ...
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• Australias Copenhagen climate strategy is smoke and mirrors | Fred Pearce

  
  Comment is free | guardian.co.uk — Authority: 164
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• DotAsia To Launch Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) In 2010

  
  China Newswire — Authority: 411
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  Osocio Weblog — Authority: 517
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• ePly Online Event Registration Launches a Pick Your Own Price Campaign

  
  eNewsChannels — Authority: 143
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• Asia's Foremost CSR Awards Programme Awards Winners Announced

  
  China Newswire — Authority: 411
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• Giant Lanterns Festival of Lights

  
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• Could denying bedroom privileges save the planet?

  
  Ohaiyo Business Magazine — Authority: 136
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