Corporate Social Responsibility in a Recession

10/12/2009 Student Name: | Niall Byrne |

| Corporate Social Responsibility In A Recession |

Table of contents Introduction 3

Brief overview of CSR......................................................................................................3
CSR is an unnecessary expense 3

Reasons for continuing CSR 5 What exactly does CSR improve about business Strategy 6
Is there a happy middle ground 8

Conclusion 9

Reference list:............................................................................................................... 10

Appendices 12
Appendix 1: different stances companies have on CSR and their relationship with stakeholders 12
Appendix 2: Nike Respect 12

Introduction
In times of economic down turn many businesses will want to cut unnecessary expenditure. This paper will look at two viewpoints related to CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility): 1. Is CSR a unnecessary expense for the modern day business 2. Is CSR a necessary expense for the modern day business
The paper will include real life examples and view points from many sources, and then come to a conclusion regarding the effect which the economic down turn has had on CSR.
Brief overview of CSR
According to (1)Johnson et al (2008) CSR is concerned with the ways in which an organisation exceeds its minimum obligations to the company stakeholders, normally each firm will have a different view point on its approach to CSR. Appendix 1 shows the different approaches business have and how they manage their stakeholder.

CSR is an unnecessary expense:
This point of view leads on from the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility, which states that CSR is concerned with the way in which the organisation exceeds its minimum obligations. The word exceed leads one to think that CSR is carried out as a process which is done as an extra on top of normal goals of the company/business.
An article (2) (Economist, Nov 19th 2008) wrote