Source: Katarina Krempova¸ PKF Malta¸ 26 January 2012

In recent years¸ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasingly becoming a crucial part of a company’s business activities¸ policies and processes. This is the way¸ how the companies can show their growing imperative to address social issues¸ ethics and human rights as well as their contribution to a cleaner environment and corporate governance. However¸ it is up to companies to decide whether to meet these challenges or not. There is no punishment or reward.

The recent economic turmoil should make the socially responsible business even more important than before. The companies around the globe should be willing to contribute more in tackling various socio-economic problems and to take responsibility for their actions in order to improve community well-being through discretionary business practices. Therefore¸ CSR should produce a positive impact for both society and the organisation.

In general¸ it has been agreed that CSR has been a source of intangible competitive advantage in the long-term period. Corporations which decide to use CSR tactics can benefit from an improvement of their public image and reputation as well as from an increase in worldwide consumer awareness. But everything has two sides. These issues can be very costly and entail additional workload.

Despite extra costs and additional workload¸ there are a lot of well-known companies around the globe which decided to incorporate social responsibility and well-being of community in its business model. But how can companies operate in innovative and socially responsible ways and do things better than their rivals?

Here are four ways how to undertake social responsibility throughout the globe:

1.       Set out clear mission and specify your objectives

“Microsoft’s Citizenship mission is to globally serve the needs of communities and fulfil our responsibilities to the public. Through our partnerships¸ our technology innovations¸ our people and our resources we are proud to help solve societal challenges and create economic opportunities on both a global and a local scale¸” reported by Microsoft in its annual report associated with its global non-financial performance.

In order to support local communities¸ such as customers¸ shareholders¸ employees¸ communities¸ suppliers and partners¸ Microsoft is aware of how important it is to determinate clear goals and break them into more specific objectives. The company is targeting areas for improvement such as Education¸ Jobs and growth¸ Humanitarian response and Nonprofits. Each of these includes two or more specific objectives. Their specific objectives are the “stepping stones” that help their business to achieve its aims.

 

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