The Potential Benefits of Csr Relative to the Costs for Business
The potential benefits of CSR relative to the costs for business & stakeholders.
CSR is the extent to which an organization accepts its obligations to society over and above legal requirements.
Firms can benefit from CSR. It will help them gain marketing advantage. This could be firms USP and they could add profit margins. Consumers may be prepared to premium price, if the CSR product suits them. For example, Costa coffee used Fairtrade and its premium customers were prepared to pay high price. This is backed up by £1b UK sales figure of Fairtrade products. This shows that more customers now look at firm’s ethical standards before spending.
CSR may also reduce business costs and at the same time be beneficial to the community. PepsiCo, for instance aims to reduce carbon footprint and reduce inefficiencies. They have a 5 year plan to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by helping farmers to identify carbon hotspots and suggesting ways to reduce them. One such inefficiency measure was switching to 100% British potatoes to reduce transport costs & pollution. The resultant saving was over £400,000 which was reinvested in the business.
Firms should also avoid bad PR, as it will be remembered by its customers & may cost business more money than they were trying to save. For example, Walmart was accused of gender discrimination. They may have to pay huge sums of compensatory damage, if proved in the wrong. Therefore, CSR is important for business reputation & could beneficial for firms.
There are costs of CSR. Shareholders decide where to spend the money. Company can’t invest on non-core activities like community projects, as they have a legal obligation to shareholders & maximize profits. Eg. Coca Cola outlined a charitable spending of £88b alone, which would have been shareholder’s decision. So shareholders of large firms may go for CSR but smaller businesses may not go for such an investment, as their costs are already high & revenue is not as much. Thus CSR
CSR is the extent to which an organization accepts its obligations to society over and above legal requirements.
Firms can benefit from CSR. It will help them gain marketing advantage. This could be firms USP and they could add profit margins. Consumers may be prepared to premium price, if the CSR product suits them. For example, Costa coffee used Fairtrade and its premium customers were prepared to pay high price. This is backed up by £1b UK sales figure of Fairtrade products. This shows that more customers now look at firm’s ethical standards before spending.
CSR may also reduce business costs and at the same time be beneficial to the community. PepsiCo, for instance aims to reduce carbon footprint and reduce inefficiencies. They have a 5 year plan to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by helping farmers to identify carbon hotspots and suggesting ways to reduce them. One such inefficiency measure was switching to 100% British potatoes to reduce transport costs & pollution. The resultant saving was over £400,000 which was reinvested in the business.
Firms should also avoid bad PR, as it will be remembered by its customers & may cost business more money than they were trying to save. For example, Walmart was accused of gender discrimination. They may have to pay huge sums of compensatory damage, if proved in the wrong. Therefore, CSR is important for business reputation & could beneficial for firms.
There are costs of CSR. Shareholders decide where to spend the money. Company can’t invest on non-core activities like community projects, as they have a legal obligation to shareholders & maximize profits. Eg. Coca Cola outlined a charitable spending of £88b alone, which would have been shareholder’s decision. So shareholders of large firms may go for CSR but smaller businesses may not go for such an investment, as their costs are already high & revenue is not as much. Thus CSR