Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

      Provide a definition of CSR using academic sources.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) sets guidelines of behaviour for organisations, so they act ethically within society. Organisations should comprehend the different rights and interests of various stakeholders when considering CSR (Mullins, 2010).

             Identify an organisation from the FTSE4GOOD list or from your visit to the Eden Centre which is an excellent demonstration of CSR in practice.

One organisation which demonstrates excellent CSR is The Body Shop. The founder of the Body Shop was Anita Roddick, who was a Human Rights Activist, so therefore it is understandable that the foundation of The Body Shop is CSR; this business’s main aim is to provide business ethically.

      List and explain 3 examples of CSR within this company.  What are the benefits to the company of these 3 initiatives

The Body Shop is against testing their products on animals. The Body Shop state that they have never tested their products on animals nor do they participate in any business with suppliers who test products on animals. (The Body Shop, 2012)  The benefit for this practice is that the public are aware of the importance of endangered animals and animal cruelty, furthermore the environment is respected, the benefit The Body Shop have towards this practice is that they are able to state that they are a part of the positive change.

The Body Shop sources responsibly, this organisation is a big believer of fair trade, so this means that all of The Body Shop suppliers get a good return for their business. The Body Shop carries out business with over 25,000 reliable farmers and producers worldwide. This shows good CSR in practice as it illustrates that The Body Shop want to give everyone worldwide business opportunities. Customers also realise that by purchasing products from The Body Shop, they will be helping poorer suppliers by just paying a little extra for products. (The Body Shop, 2012) The benefit to resourcing responsibly is that this will create a positive brand image for the business; furthermore The Body Shop will be able to help change lives of poorer suppliers while at the same time being able to run a successful business.

The Body Shop follows the policy of protecting the planet, their commitment is to seek and sustain natural materials and ingredients while using all of the planet’s resources wisely. The Body Shop set challenging environmental targets, (The Body Shop, 2012) instead of using plastic carrier bags, The Body Shop use bio-degradable paper bags which advertise recycling. The benefit to this practice is that it helps make the public be more aware of the importance or recycling, this practice allows The Body Shop to consider the earth’s natural ingredients and the importance these resources have.

References

Mullins, L.J. (2010) Management & Organisational Behaviour. ninth ed. London: FT Prentice Hall.

Body Shop (2012) Saying no to animal testing [online]. Available from: http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/_en/_gb/values-campaigns/against-animal-testing.aspx? [Assessed date: 6th May 2012]

The Body Shop (2012) Sourcing responsibly [online]. Available from: http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/_en/_gb/values-campaigns/community-trade.aspx? [Assessed date: 6th May 2012]

The Body Shop (2012) Our Values [online]. Available from: http://www.thebodyshop.com/_en/_ww/services/aboutus_values.aspx [Assessed date: 6^th May 2012]