Introduction We will look at the Enron Corporation and discuss its application of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or in actuality its irresponsible behavior as related to social responsibility. We will revisit what CSR is and discuss Enron’s philosophy regarding its use and function within the corporation. We will discuss the consequences of Enron’s irresponsible behavior and the far reaching effects it had on society. Corporate Social Responsibility are actions taken by a corporation that have positive and lasting impact for all stakeholders associated with the organization, seeking to strike a balance between profits and helping to establish lasting investment in the community (Carrol, 2015). In the 1980’s, then President Reagan challenged the business community to take on more responsibility to address social problems (Carrol, 2015). Socially responsible actions can benefit local communities as well as the greater societal good.
Oddly enough, Enron had a CSR strategy with a very good reputation for having a strong and well respected corporate responsibility known for generosity to the community and being environmentally responsible. (Sims & Brinkmann, 2003). In hindsight we see that they were playing CSR. Former CFO, Jeff Skilling once told a colleague, “Mike, we are a green energy company, but the green stands for money” (Bradley, 2008). The public should be very cautious when it comes to companies and their CSR efforts as unfortunately some are just
Firstly, I would like to explain what Corporate Social Responsibility is. “It is a company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and
Although not all companies are successful at truly embodying what it means to be green, even companies that have been synonymous for contributing pollutants and greenhouse gasses spend millions trying to convince stakeholders that they do. It’s often these last two dimensions of CSR—social and environmental, that either embroil a corporation in controversy or allow it to serve as an exemplar in good ethical business practices.
Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. (World Business Council for Development, 2016)
Corporate social responsibility is a term that conveys a corporation’s social responsibility to society. In the old days corporations felt that once they had gained support from the public they had a responsibility to give back to the community. This idea of giving back meant serving as volunteers and providing financial contributions in aim of correcting the problems of the community. Corporations have a wide range of opportunity and reach within most societies so it is important and can ultimately be a great aid for a corporation to help in correcting the problems of society by contributing and giving back along with other individuals. I also believe that corporate social responsibility means ensuring that there are not problems arising that make it hard for consumers to continue to support a corporation. The continuation of a corporation is dependent upon consumers and I believe it is the
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is something that affects all companies and should be an active factor in the company’s decision making. It is something all corporations need to care about. CSR is when business’ or corporations take part in an initiative or campaign for a cause that will benefit society and/or in some way make the world a better place (Taylor, 2015). Initially, Corporate Social Responsibility started to take shape around the 1950’s, but some say that it dates all the way back to the 1800s, the idea of CSR was seen (Carroll, 2007). One may think that because it is dated so long ago, it doesn’t have an important impact today nevertheless, it is proven that Corporate Social Responsibility is a pathway for entities to self benefit as they are in the process of benefitting society.
According to World Business Council for Sustainable Development, “Corporate social responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the community and society at large”. A social responsible company may be defined as a company which integrates and takes in active parts the social and environmental concerns of one’s community and society. Acting in a socially responsible manner is more then just an ethical duty for a company nowadays, it is something that essentially has long term interest in both the company and the community. The motive is to produce economic value for the company but as well for the society as
According to Wikipedia “Corporate social responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large.
The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility is a relatively new in the management field and there is no single definition of it since everyone’s interpretation of the term is different. “Corporate Social Responsibility means something, but not always the same thing to everybody.” (Votaw, 1972, p.25) and from my understanding of the concept, CSR to me is “The voluntary business activities within the boundary of law that contributes to the wider community for a more sustainable environment”. Since everyone has a unique interpretation of CSR, the range of relevant CSR practices across businesses has been quite diverse as there is no such thing as features of CSR (Marcel van Marrewijk, 2003). Rising environmental and social concerns in
Although Enron has their own code of ethics, which listed out their policies highly focusing on honesty, respectfulness, and generation of the benefit for stakeholders as a whole, Enron management actions were only complied with a certain level of ethics philosophy that led to poor approaches to handle behavioral and moral circumstances (Paine 1994; Petrick and Quinn 2000). According to utilitarian theories with solely concentrating on “social consequences” - generating the best outcomes for affected people as a whole, Enron’s executive actions were recognized as being unethical because they failed to yield the greatest benefit of all other stakeholders while playing the critical role of a linkage between employees, shareholders, suppliers and customers (Petrick and Scherer, 2003). Particularly, their top management focused on their own interests that derived from other’s expenses by feeding hunger with greediness, bribing government under political donation and making series of unethical actions that caused the uncured
Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) is often described as the measures taken by companies to manage environmental, social and economic impacts of their business activities. Since the globalisation of economic and labour markets, CSR has become an argumentative topic. For companies to be considered as good in terms of CSR, they are required to go above and beyond of their legal requirements and take into consideration what is in the best interests of its stakeholders.
Social Responsibility has multiple definitions as to what the concept is but, by its most basic definition, it is the practice of producing goods or services in a way that is not harmful to society or the environment by an entity. In other words, people are expected to compose choices that will have a positive impact on the society that they reside in. When it comes to Corporations and other organizations and businesses, there is another term that is used, which is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR implies that businesses must craft decisions that are positive to the society that they reside in. That includes social issues, environment issues, economic issues, or cultural issues.
First of all, what does Corporate Social Responsibility means? When we are talking about corporate responsibility, we talk about active and voluntary social, economic and environmental improvement contribution from companies, with the aim of improving their competitive position and their added value.
In this essay, I am going to prove that a business organization should be socially responsible in a successful or an effective manner which will eventually benefit the company’s owners or shareholders. I will do so through illustrating the different potential effects of a business organization engaging in Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”). The effects that will be shown in this essay would be an increase and decrease in the company’s expenses, sustaining and harming the environment, increase and decrease in sales and customers, improve the lives of people inside and outside the company, and the practice of social irresponsibility. I will also be providing actual companies engage in CSR, and its effects on each company. I
The extent to which a business should practice corporate social responsibility is a continuing debate in modern society. Only providing services or selling products no longer constitutes a successful company, as there are expectations for firms to behave in a manner that is consistent with public policy. This creates a philosophical dilemma for corporations who wish to maintain positive relations with society, but not impede on their internal operations. The question becomes if corporations today can engage in business strategies that are both ethical and profitable.
Stating, “Corporate social responsibility is the commitment of businesses to contribute to sustainable economic development by working with the employees, their families, the local community and society at large, to improve”.