Citation
(2003), "At the heart of business", Work Study, Vol. 52 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.2003.07952caf.006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited
At the heart of business
CSR involves balancing the needs of various stakeholders, and pursuing the objective of sustainable development. This includes commitments to the workforce through, say, innovations aimed at better jobs, safer and employee-friendly workplaces, lifelong learning, or gender equality in pay and career prospects.
It also involves the firm's relationships with its customers, its local community and wider society, and right down the increasingly globalised supply chain. It should not be just a public relations exercise, but should lead companies to reassess and reorganise their core business activities, and ensure they manage risk and change in a socially responsible way.
It is one element of a new approach to corporate governance, and firms that adopt CSR should know that it is in their long term interests. This means building the case for CSR on sound economic arguments, not pushing enterprises to "do good works", but demonstrating that responsible businesses work best, both in attracting investment and in recruiting and retaining the skilled staff who are so vital in today's knowledge-based economy.
New technologies and economic growth are doing much to bolster the impact of CSR. Information about bad business behaviour is quickly picked up by the public and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which increasingly hold firms to account. Well-informed consumers with more purchasing power can make a significant impact by expressing their individual preferences. Growth in real income has led to a greater emphasis on a high standard of living, social cohesion and other aspects of good quality in society. Governments have failed to keep pace with some aspects of the liberalisation and globalisation of economic relations, while companies and civil society organisations have become considerably stronger. In this climate, CSR can make a fundamental contribution to keeping Europe more competitive and socially cohesive.