So lately I myself, as an aspiring public relations practitioner, have been extremely curious in what the heck corporate social responsibility means. Of course it makes sense that it would have something to do with companies and their corporate section and its connection to social responsibility. That has to be too simple of an answer though, right?
So I arrived on time as usual to my social media and public relations class, only to discover that the day’s topic was corporate social responsibility. So here is the definition I got from my professor: “Describes the relationship between business and the larger society.” So basically, it pertains to how corporate sectors of a company interact with employees, potential consumers, other companies, and the environment.
Management and other corporate entities must ask themselves how they are treating their employees, the environment, etc.
There are four components to corporate social responsibility:
1. Economic: A profit must be made
2. Legal: Procedures must follow laws and regulations
3. Ethical: A connection must be made with employees who feel safe and comfortable in the work environment. It also means making ethical decisions and being transparent
4. Discretionary: The philanthropy component
I feel as though these are excellent points to look at in order to run a successful company. While this topic isn’t necessarily “pr related,” it’s just another factor of the greater picture: success and lots of it.
Corporate social responsibility doesn’t just help the company however; it also emphasizes the importance of human rights, environmental protection, and other areas of interest. That means making sure that a company isn’t harming an ecosystem, say through an oil spill: BP in the Gulf of Mexico. It means bringing clean drinking water to less fortunate people in the world: Ethos Water. It means caring about fuel emissions. It means various things, but in my perspective, it means being a good world citizen and doing so for reasons other than success. As a public relations student interested in humanitarian pr, I would say this is one of the most important topics of conversation that companies can have these days. We are facing global problems in civil rights, environmental protection, poverty, disease, etc.
It’s time to take action. It’s time to be responsible. It’s time to be a global citizen. Let’s hope companies take the same interest in these values because we’re all in this together.
