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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by Anita Cava, JD Background This corporate social responsibility (CSR) module introduces students to a dimension of ethics in today's global business environment. The module begins by providing some background on business organization and the definitions of terms such as ‘‘stakeholder" and "shareholder." Students are asked to consider questions of business ethics: How much should a business pay its employees - the minimum wage or a living wage? How might a "living wage" be determined? Should wages be determined by the location of a business's workplaces? They are then asked to go global with this question and consider its implications in a foreign country where neither a minimum wage nor worker safety standards are in place. The module examines why CSR has emerged and why it is increasingly important in today's world. It presents a set of benefits or "drivers" that might propel businesses to embrace CSR strategies and it identifies some voluntary approaches or tools that characterize CSR efforts. Case studies offer students the opportunity to become familiar with most of the major strategies identified as ways businesses manage and show their social responsibility. These include: sustainability reporting or social and environmental reporting; codes of conduct; improvements in occupational health and safety; and environmental management systems. These case studies also identify some best practices in CSR. At the end of the module, students should be able to study a corporate website and identify whether it meets standards of transparency, accountability and sustainability. They should also be able to detect whether the CSR effort is more public relations than anything else, also known as "greenwashing." The module will enable students to understand the answers to the different questions posed above, and to debate ethical issues related to corporations such as: Do corporations exist only to make money or do they have broader responsibilities? Can business, particularly transnational corporations, get away with ignoring issues related to the community prosperity, employee welfare, and the environment? What is the future of CSR? Will all businesses have to adopt these practices to compete in the new global marketplace? Do you as a consumer care?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

by Anita Cava, JD

Background

This corporate social responsibility (CSR) module introduces students to a dimension of ethics in today's global business environment. The module begins by providing some background on business organization and the definitions of terms such as ‘‘stakeholder" and "shareholder." Students are asked to consider questions of business ethics: How much should a business pay its employees - the minimum wage or a living wage? How might a "living wage" be determined? Should wages be determined by the location of a business's workplaces? They are then asked to go global with this question and consider its implications in a foreign country where neither a minimum wage nor worker safety standards are in place.

The module examines why CSR has emerged and why it is increasingly important in today's world. It presents a set of benefits or "drivers" that might propel businesses to embrace CSR strategies and it identifies some voluntary approaches or tools that characterize CSR efforts.

Case studies offer students the opportunity to become familiar with most of the major strategies identified as ways businesses manage and show their social responsibility. These include: sustainability reporting or social and environmental reporting; codes of conduct; improvements in occupational health and safety; and environmental management systems.

These case studies also identify some best practices in CSR. At the end of the module, students should be able to study a corporate website and identify whether it meets standards of transparency, accountability and sustainability. They should also be able to detect whether the CSR effort is more public relations than anything else, also known as "greenwashing."

The module will enable students to understand the answers to the different questions posed above, and to debate ethical issues related to corporations such as:

Do corporations exist only to make money or do they have broader responsibilities?

Can business, particularly transnational corporations, get away with ignoring issues related to the community prosperity, employee welfare, and the environment?

What is the future of CSR? Will all businesses have to adopt these practices to compete in the new global marketplace? Do you as a consumer care?