"What the public thinks of your company is critical to its success," Schmidt told Business News Daily. "By building a positive image that you believe in, you can make a name for your company as being socially conscious."
This week the focus was on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This is businesses being socially accountable by working to have some sort of positive impact on the community, the environment, or the economy.
In Skye Schooley's article, "What is Corporate Social Responsibility,"she states that there is no one "right" way for companies to practice CSR. In the same article she quotes Susan Cooney saying, "If decisions [about CSR] are made behind closed doors, people will wonder if there are strings attached and if the donations are really going where they say." This made me think about a CSR initiative run by BP Gas in my home state of Louisiana. In 2010, the oil rig, Deepwater Horizion, exploded because of negligence on their part. By 2011, just about every Children's Museum, park, and school had a plaque somewhere that a new addition as provided with funds from BP. What should have been a thoughtful act of CSR, came across as nothing more than an attempt to buy back a positive company image.
Respond to the W08 prompt:
- Why do you think CSR has become more popular in recent years?
I think that CSR has become more popular in recent years because consumers expect more out of the companies they buy from. People have more options today than ever on where and how to spend their money. It is also much easier to know details about the companies with the internet and quick access on our phones. Because of this, we want the most from companies. There was a statistic in the reading this week that said, "more than 60% of Americans hope businesses will drive social and environmental change in the absence of government regulation." People want changes around them and when government doesn't make the change, people want businesses to be the "bigger man" and make the positive changes.
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