CSR

Corporate social responsibility is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.

There is a tendency for the companies to take a paternalistic view of their role in society, or be reactive to the inequality and poverty around them. Some have been made their community involvement more strategic, however. For example, a logistics company is involved in teaching school kids how to cross the street (because street accidents were hampering their delivery services), while a car manufacturer has engaged college students in road safety planning (because they want to be known not just for selling cars but as advocates of responsible driving too). The company funded the students’ implementation of a plan to redesign the traffic scheme in the school’s vicinity and was taught road safety skills.

Studies have shown that CSR proponents in companies, which have recently joined the bandwagon, are looking outward, rather than inward (how they do business), when they design their CSR agenda. The impulse is to look for target beneficiaries who have no direct impact on how their products are manufactured, sourced, or delivered, or who are investing and managing the company. CSR to them is still largely equated to community philanthropy.


Corporate Social Responsibility in ASEAN. Presented by Dr. Filemon A. Uriarte, Jr.