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Challenges of CSR & Examples

The document discusses various challenges facing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. It outlines shrinking government resources, increased customer interest in ethical business practices, competitive labor markets demanding improved working conditions, lack of community participation and awareness of CSR activities, the need for visibility of CSR efforts, narrow perceptions of CSR, and lack of clear CSR guidelines. It then provides examples of CSR programs and initiatives from the UAE, Google, Xerox, and Target that have had positive business and social impacts.

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Akmal Hassan
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441 views

Challenges of CSR & Examples

The document discusses various challenges facing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. It outlines shrinking government resources, increased customer interest in ethical business practices, competitive labor markets demanding improved working conditions, lack of community participation and awareness of CSR activities, the need for visibility of CSR efforts, narrow perceptions of CSR, and lack of clear CSR guidelines. It then provides examples of CSR programs and initiatives from the UAE, Google, Xerox, and Target that have had positive business and social impacts.

Uploaded by

Akmal Hassan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Challenges of CSR

Many companies think that corporate social responsibility is a peripheral issue for their
business and customer satisfaction more important for them. They imagine that customer
satisfaction is now only about price and service, but they fail to point out on important changes
that are taking place worldwide that could blow the business out of the water. The change is
named as social responsibility which is an opportunity for the business.

The survey obtained responses from participating organizations about various challenges
facing CSR initiatives in different parts of the country. Responses obtained from the participating
organizations have been collated and broadly categorized by the research team. These challenges
are listed below:

The Shrinking Role of Government

Governments have relied on regulation and legislation to deliver social and environmental
objectives in the business sector in the past. Shrinking government resources, coupled with a
distrust of regulations, has led to the exploration of voluntary and non-regulatory initiatives
instead.

Increased Customer Interest

There is evidence that the ethical conduct of companies exerts a growing influence on the
purchasing decisions of customers. In a recent survey by Environics International, more than one
in five consumers reported having either rewarded or punished companies based on their
perceived social performance.

Competitive Labour Markets

Employees are increasingly looking beyond pay checks and benefits, and seeking out employers
whose philosophies and operating practices match their own principles. In order to hire and
retain skilled employees, companies are being forced to improve working conditions.
Lack of Community Participation in CSR Activities
There is a lack of interest of the local community in participating and contributing to CSR
activities of companies. This is largely attributable to the fact that there exists little or no
knowledge about CSR within the local communities as no serious efforts have been made to
spread awareness about CSR and instil confidence in the local communities about such
initiatives. The situation is further aggravated by a lack of communication between the company
and the community at the grassroots.

Visibility Factor
The role of media in highlighting good cases of successful CSR initiatives is welcomed as it
spreads good stories and sensitizes the local population about various ongoing CSR initiatives of
companies. This apparent influence of gaining visibility and branding exercise often leads many
nongovernmental organizations to involve themselves in event-based programs; in the process,
they often miss out on meaningful grassroots interventions.

Narrow Perception towards CSR Initiatives


Non-governmental organizations and Government agencies usually possess a narrow outlook
towards the CSR initiatives of companies, often defining CSR initiatives more donor-driven than
local in approach. As a result, they find it hard to decide whether they should participate in such
activities at all in medium and long run.

Non-availability of Clear CSR Guidelines


There are no clear cut statutory guidelines or policy directives to give a definitive direction to
CSR initiatives of companies. It is found that the scale of CSR initiatives of companies should
depend upon their business size and profile. In other words, the bigger the company, the bigger is
its CSR program.
Example of CSR around the World

UAE Green Development Strategy

The strategy includes six tracks:


The first track: promote renewable energy, clean fuels, and energy efficiency
usage.
The second track: encourage investments in green economy and green
technologies and to create job opportunities for citizens.
The third track: The green city and it includes urban planning, sustainable
transportation, and clean air initiatives.
The fourth track: deal with climate change through reducing carbon emissions,
encouraging organic agriculture, and preserving biodiversity.
The fifth track: rationalize the use of water and energy resources, encourage
recycling, and raise environmental awareness.
The sixth track: green technology and will focus on carbon capturing and storage
technologies plus generating energy from waste.

Google Inc.
Aggressive moves has been made by the search giant company on multiple fronts toward good
citizenship, but it is clear that, every single effort is paying off for one of the worlds largest
corporations. For example, Google Green is a corporate effort to use resources efficiently and
support renewable power. But recycling and turning off the lights does more for Google than
lower costs. Investments in these efforts have real-world effects on the bottom line. Google has
seen an overall drop in power requirements for their data centres by an average of 50 percent.
These savings can then be redirected to other areas of the business or to investors.

Xerox Corporation
The printing giant has multiple programs for donating and supporting programs for social
responsibility. Their Community Involvement Program encourages it by directly involving
employees. Since 1974, more than half a million Xerox employees have participated in the
program. In 2013 alone, Xerox allocated more than $1.3 million to facilitate 13,000 employees to
participate in community-focused causes. The return for Xerox comes not only in community
recognition, but also in the commitment employees feel when causes they care for are supported
by their employers. By incorporating a limited number of paid work hours per year for volunteer
efforts, the dual effects of helping the community as well as increasing their employee morale
can be enjoyed and therefore productivity.

Target Corporation

Since 1946, Target has been committing more and more effort and assets toward local and
environmental support for the communities in which they have stores. Over the past several
years, the companys effortsfrom growing sustainable practices to educational grantshave
amounted to 5 percent of its profit going to local communities about $4 million each week. In the
area of education alone, Target has donated more than $875 million since 2010.

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