Social Responsibility

“The social responsibility can be defined as the obligation of the organization to act in ways that serve both its own interests (making a profit) and the interests of its stakeholder.” (Sandy Millar, Christopher Theunissen, 2008, P69) Socially responsible organization takes action to ensure that their activities do not affect any of the stakeholders in a negative way. The McDonald’s is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving 52 million people in more than 100 countries each day. It is one of the world 's most well-known and valuable brands and holds a leading share in the globally branded quick service restaurant segment of the informal eating-out market in virtually. McDonald’s with a high level of social responsibility goes one step further, they take action to ensure that stakeholders benefit from their actions. They can use four different approaches, which include proactive approaches, defensive approaches, accommodative approach, and obstructive response to social responsibility. Moreover, the total corporate social responsibility can be subdivided into four criteria – economic, legal, ethical and discretionary responsibilities.
“A stakeholder is any group within or outside the organization that has a stake in the organization’s performances. Each stakeholder has a different criterion of responsiveness, because it has a different interest in the organization (King & Roberts, 1989; Donaldson & Preston, 1995).” (Danny Samson, Richard L. Daft, 2005, P165) The need for a business to be responsible for its actions is widely accepted. Businesses do not exist in isolation; they provide goods and services to people and make use of materials and labor supplied by people. Businesses have responsibilities to stakeholders to ensure their actions do not cause harm. The McDonald’s organization, for example, has a responsibility not only to its customers, but also to the employee, shareholders, suppliers, community and