According to Staheli (2018), Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be defined as the company's responsibility towards society and the surrounding environment while making a profit. This includes many types of charitable and volunteer work. CSR also benefits the company by promoting its brand and building trust between its stakeholders inside and outside.

CSR Hierarchy:

          According to (Carroll, 1991), CSR is based on four foundations from the bottom up: The first is Economic Responsibility, which is that companies work to achieve profit to ensure their continuity; the second is Legal Responsibility, which is that companies must abide by the laws and not violate them, the third is the Ethical responsibility, which is for companies to do what is beneficial and necessary for society and the environment and the last of them is the Philanthropic Responsibility, which is spending on charitable aspects and contributing to the development of society.

The Four Types of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):

          According to (Schooley, 2019), the CSR types are:

  • Environmental Efforts: This responsibility obligates companies to preserve the environment and its resources.
  • Philanthropy Work: This responsibility causes companies to spend a portion of their resources on nonprofits to benefit society.
  • Ethical Labor Practices: This is done by treating employees ethically and fairly inside and outside the country.
  • Volunteer Work: Some companies participate in community events and various issues positively.

The Importance of Building a Socially Responsible Business:

        According to (Carroll, 2016) the CSR can help in:

  1. Build a strong brand reputation: Companies that act for the common good are far better off than companies that seek only profit and help no one.
  2. More innovation in solutions: Companies that take this approach are more innovative than others, looking to conserve energy and resources and cut unnecessary spending.
  3. Reaching a more significant audience segment: Companies' activities in this way make them interact more with the public.
  4. Enhancing trust among employees: Social responsibility is one of the most critical factors in employees' confidence in the company because it works for the public good and its profitable work.

The Most Important Type:

         Environmental efforts are among the four most important types of corporate social responsibility, it aims to reduce any harmful effects on the environment such as waste management, recycling, emissions and rationalization of energy consumption, a company that fails to do so directly harms society (Du, Bhattacharya & Sen, 2010).

Conclusion

          Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is based on giving a product or service that works for the benefit of the company and the interest of society alike (Ferrell, Harrison, Ferrell & Hair, 2019), although the first and superficial look at the principles of corporate social responsibility, make it just spending money without making profits behind it. However, the companies that follow this approach are the companies that know the strength of these principles in achieving full sustainability; companies need to understand that this affects their internal growth (employee engagement, productivity, turnover), and it also affects their external growth (increased sales, customer loyalty, and brand awareness).

References

Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34(4), 39-48.

Carroll, A. B. (2016). Carroll's pyramCarroll's: taking another look. International journal of corporate social responsibility, 1(1), 1-8.

Du, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2010). Maximizing business returns to corporate social responsibility (CSR): The role of CSR communication. International journal of management reviews, 12(1), 8-19.

Ferrell, O. C., Harrison, D. E., Ferrell, L., & Hair, J. F. (2019). Business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and brand attitudes: An exploratory study. Journal of Business Research, 95, 491-501.

Schooley, S. (2019). What is corporate social responsibility? Business news daily. Retrieved from: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4679-corporate-social-responsibility.html

Staheli, J. (2018). Corporate social responsibility: What's at stake? What are the business leaders today? Secured Lender, 74(2), 30–33. Retrieved from EBSCO multi-search at TUW library.