Corporate Social Responsibility. No Strategic Benefit for Companies?

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, University of South Wales, language: English, abstract: Every organisation usually has its own individual strategy in order to achieve its main objectives. Nevertheless, every organisation is also influenced by environmental issues which have an impact on its performance, financial development, growth or in particular its reputation. With regard to the last key word, there is strong debate whether it is a beneficial measure for an organisation to include Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to gain strategic and competitive advantages (Ceglinski and Wisniewska, 2016, p. 11) on a long-term basis or whether CSR is just its reaction to environmental issues but without any strategic benefit. Firstly, this essay will clarify the historical development of CSR, its importance for current organisations in general and which environmental issues give them a reason to include CSR in their daily business under consideration of the increasing public demand for an organisations ethical awareness with regard to its activities. Secondly, it will afterwards critically compare the theories of Milton Friedman and Edward Freeman with regard to CSR in order to analyse whether an organisation can even have social responsibilities considering the fact that companies have different strategic orientations in the business area they are operating in. Thirdly, it will critically evaluate the direct strategic benefits of CSR and also the risks and disadvantages for an organisation that might occur of its implementation. Finally, the conclusion will clarify whether there is a clear strategic benefit in CSR for an organisation or whether the main focus of CSR are the environmental influences.