by Kate McKee

Created on: November 13, 2009   Last Updated: April 06, 2010

Social responsibility, in the corporate world, involves doing business in a way that takes into account the impact of a your actions on the environment and on the global community. Social responsibility is voluntary, and ideally it is written into company policy. It is self- monitored and self- reported.

The benefits of corporate social responsibility are real: there are obvious benefits to the environment and to the community, and less tangible benefits to the company itself: a company that practices real social responsibility may ultimately benefit from lower operating costs, enhanced brand image, greater productivity, increased customer loyalty, better access to capital and ultimately to improved financial performance.

So, how can a company act socially responsible? Many companies use the motto ‘people, planet, profit’ when looking at how they can be socially responsible. This means companies who strive for social responsibility will take the first two factors (people and the planet) into account while aiming for the third factor, profit.

Business organizations, if they are to be truly socially responsible, should consider the impact of their trading on all their stakeholders: employees, customers, suppliers, investors, the local community in which they are based, and the global community. Let's have a look at how an organization can behave in a responsible way to each of these groups.

*Employees

Depending on the size of the organization and on its operations, socially responsible organizations can do a number of things to make their company a better place to work in. From the most obvious principle of paying a fair wage to every employee, irrespective of geographical location; to ensuring that employees have reasonable working hours, paid break times and adequate holidays, a socially responsible organization may then go further: possibly with a policy on diversity, provision of health benefits, flexible working arrangements, promotion from within policies, and supported study opportunities. It may even offer stock options to its employees.

*Suppliers

A socially responsible business should have a policy on how it sources and does business with its suppliers. It should pay a fair price to suppliers, irrespective of location or circumstance. Larger companies could support its suppliers in other ways, particularly if those suppliers are in developing countries.

*Local Community

A socially responsible organization should be aware of the community

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