The Role of Ethics in Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility or CSR is an umbrella term under which the ethical rights and duties existing between companies and society is debated. CSR is generally seen as the business contribution to sustainable development which has been defined as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs and is generally understood as focusing on how to achieve the integration of economy, environment and social imperatives.

The globalisation has not only opened the doors for any companies to make their territory border less but also to adopt the practices being practised by different companies in different cultures, and CSR is one of them

Some argue that it is an attempt to pre empts the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful multinational corporations. CSR is more than philanthropy-or “giving back to the society” as some corporate see it. The role that companies should play in the development of the society and the economy, in which these exist, differ substantially. But what remains the bottom line is that all the companies are responsible for taking required step for the welfare of the societies and the economies.

The time has changed the financial goal of the company, from “maximization of profit”, to “optimization of profit”. Now, not only listed companies are taking initiatives to adopt CSR practices but mid size companies are not left behind in this race, which is becoming a major marketing tool for them.