Corporate Social Responsibility - The Movement

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is also often referred to as business responsibility and an organisation's action on environmental, ethical, social and economic issues. The terms in the area can seem confusing if you don’t know the jargon, however, don’t be put off by this.

You need to think of CSR simply as ensuring that your business is aware of its impacts, is accountable for its actions, and that it undertakes these actions in a responsible manner. Furthermore, a well-run business is transparent in its decision-making and processes and this makes for good governance

CSR can be described as an approach by which a company does the following:

· Recognises that its activities have a wider impact on the society in which it operates, and that developments in society in turn impact on its ability to pursue its business sustainably.

· Actively manages the economic, social, environmental and human rights impact of its activities both locally and across the world, basing these on principles which reflect both international values and the organisations own values (ethics), reaping benefits for both its own operations and reputation as well as the communities in which it operates.

· Seeks to achieve these benefits by working closely with other groups and organisations – local communities, civil society groups, other businesses and home and host governments.