“Why Companies Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Their Social Responsibilities”
Independent Article Report:
“Why Companies Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Their Social Responsibilities”
Theme of the Article Over the years, the perspective of corporate social responsibility has evolved in Corporate America. Today, many businesses have made promises to contribute to current social problems, such as the environment and labor standards. Companies are now looking at corporate social responsibility as a sustainability tactic that can benefit their overall market value. Companies that do not pay attention to their social and ethical responsibilities are more likely to be shunned by consumers and other stakeholders as well as “stumble into legal troubles, such as mass corruption or accounting fraud scandals” (Wharton 1). In simple terms, it is nearly impossible for businesses to get away with ignoring the social and ethical standards that they need to go by. The article also points out that many businesses do not have separate corporate social responsibility departments because they use corporate social responsibility by “closely relating social causes to their core businesses” (Wharton 2). One example given was the Coca-Cola Company and how they created the “5x20 Program.” The objective of this program is to bring five million women into Coca-Cola’s business by the year 2020 as local distributors and bottlers of Coca-Cola products. The whole point of this program is to not only empower “young women entrepreneurs,” but to also “increase revenues and more workers for business” (Wharton 2). Another example is Visa. They have organized partnerships with nonprofit organizations and local governments that are financially focused. This gives people in the developing world a way to finance themselves through electronic and mobile payments, using Visa’s services. While this benefits people in the developing world, it also benefits Visa by increasing the amount of users of its services. For both Coca-Cola and Visa, the article uses
“Why Companies Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Their Social Responsibilities”
Theme of the Article Over the years, the perspective of corporate social responsibility has evolved in Corporate America. Today, many businesses have made promises to contribute to current social problems, such as the environment and labor standards. Companies are now looking at corporate social responsibility as a sustainability tactic that can benefit their overall market value. Companies that do not pay attention to their social and ethical responsibilities are more likely to be shunned by consumers and other stakeholders as well as “stumble into legal troubles, such as mass corruption or accounting fraud scandals” (Wharton 1). In simple terms, it is nearly impossible for businesses to get away with ignoring the social and ethical standards that they need to go by. The article also points out that many businesses do not have separate corporate social responsibility departments because they use corporate social responsibility by “closely relating social causes to their core businesses” (Wharton 2). One example given was the Coca-Cola Company and how they created the “5x20 Program.” The objective of this program is to bring five million women into Coca-Cola’s business by the year 2020 as local distributors and bottlers of Coca-Cola products. The whole point of this program is to not only empower “young women entrepreneurs,” but to also “increase revenues and more workers for business” (Wharton 2). Another example is Visa. They have organized partnerships with nonprofit organizations and local governments that are financially focused. This gives people in the developing world a way to finance themselves through electronic and mobile payments, using Visa’s services. While this benefits people in the developing world, it also benefits Visa by increasing the amount of users of its services. For both Coca-Cola and Visa, the article uses
References: Knowledge@Wharton. (2012, May 28). Why Companies Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Their Social Responsibilities. TIME Magazine. Schnietz, K. E., & Epstein, M. J. (2005). Exploring the Financial Value of a Reputation for Corporate Social Responsibility During a Crisis. Corporate Reputation Review Vol. 7, 327- 331.