According to Staheli (2018), Corporate social responsibility 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. It also benefits the company by promoting its brand and building a great deal of trust between it and the stakeholders inside and outside it.
General Business Ethics:
Codes of business ethics aim to set standards for correct conduct in business; there are seven principles of business ethics: (accountability, respect, honesty, healthy competition, loyalty, transparency, and respect for the rule of law), (Jones, Parker & Ten Bos, 2005).
CSR Competitive Advantage:
According to (Milenkovska, Petrovska & Stoilkovska, 2019), a company that implements ethical standards maintains healthier relationships among its members. As a result, this company's business succeeds and grows faster than others, as the work environment in these companies is better than others to enhance the skills of employees and leaders. Also, a company that invests more in its social responsibility towards society can achieve a competitive advantage over its competitors. It is impossible to achieve prosperity and growth for a company that does not respect its society, as corporate social responsibility has become one of the most important criteria for evaluating the work of organizations.
Conclusion
In a research paper issued by the Professional Project Management Institute (PMI), (Tharp & Chadhury, 2008), they argue that the impact of ignoring business ethics and corporate social responsibility may outweigh the effect of the risk of losing profits; the paper proves that many large companies derive most of their value from intangible assets such as brand equity and reputation if these companies violate their moral and social responsibilities, the losses will be much greater than the losses of the profits of their products and services.
References
Jones, C., Parker, M., & Ten Bos, R. (2005). For business ethics. Routledge.
https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/43474/1/175.pdf
Milenkovska, V., Petrovska, J., & Stoilkovska, A. (2019). Positive attitude towards business ethics and social responsibility for
Improving corporate image. UTMS Journal of Economics, 10(1), 97-107. Retrieved from ProQuest One Academic in the TUW Library.
Staheli, J. (2018). Corporate social responsibility: What's at stake for business leaders today. Secured Lender, 74(2), 30–33.
Retrieved from EBSCO multi-search at TUW library.
Tharp, J. & Chadhury, P. D. (2008). Corporate social responsibility: what it means for the project manager. Paper presented
At PMI® Global Congress 2008—North America, Denver, CO. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.