Research Proposal on "Business Corporate Social Responsibility"

Research Proposal 10 pages (3202 words) Sources: 6

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Business

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the way in which a business is accountable for the social and environmental force that is created by the business. CSR referrers to an obligation to developing policies that integrate responsible practices into daily business processes, and to reporting on growth made toward implementing these practices.

Common CSR policies include:

Adoption of internal controls reform in the wake of Enron and other accounting scandals;

Commitment to diversity in hiring employees and barring discrimination;

Management teams that view employees as assets rather than costs;

High performance workplaces that integrate the views of line employees into decision-making processes;

Adoption of operating policies that exceed compliance with social and environmental laws;

Advanced resource productivity, focused on the use of natural resources in a more productive, efficient and profitable fashion (such as recycled content and product recycling); and Taking responsibility for conditions under which goods are produced directly or by contract employees domestically or abroad.

Over the last five years great steps have been made toward integrate CSR into the core culture of many major companies (Corporate Social Responsibility, 2010).

The Procter & Gamble Company started as a small, family run soap and candle company in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1837. Presently P&G markets almost 300 products to more than five billion customers in nearly140 countries. Procter & Gamble's corporate tradition is rooted in the principles of personal integrity, respect for the individual and doing what's right for the long-term. More than 98,000 P&G employees work every day in order to provide products of advanced quality and value to the world's consumers. Improving the lives of consumers around the world is about more than just grand products. In Poland, P&G has partnered with the Polsat Foundation to provide important medical equipment for ill children. Money is raised through a P&G operation known as Give Children the Sun. Give Children the Sun has made over $4.5 million since 1999. These funds have fashioned the Polish family liver transplant program, funded Poland's first hospital for children with burns, and given state-of-the-art equipment for spinal surgery for children (P&G, n.d.).

Companies like P&G are a tremendous force around the world. Their market capitalization is bigger than the GDP of many countries, and they supply consumers in more than 180 countries. With this standing comes both responsibility and opportunity. Their responsibility is to be an ethical corporate citizen, but their opportunity is something far greater, and is embodied in their Purpose (The Purpose of Power, 2010).

P&G defines their commitment to sustainable development as making sure that a better quality of life exists for everyone, now and for generations to come. They have a long history of a sustainability leader and remain dedicated to improving consumers' lives through P&G brands and by contributing to the sustainability of the planet as well as many communities around the world (CSR Profile of Procter & Gamble, 2010). Their Purpose facilitates to unite them in a common cause and growth plan. It is commanding because it promotes a simple idea to improve the lives of the world's consumers every day. P&G grows by coming into contact with and improving more consumers' lives in more parts of the world. While this philosophy defines their commercial opportunity, their culture reflects the bigger opportunity of improving lives through and beyond their branded products and services (The Purpose of Power, 2010).

Literature Review

Every year, 128,000 people die from maternal and neonatal tetanus, which is a completely preventable disease. For the fourth year in a row, Pampers is teaming up with UNICEF in order to give vaccines to vulnerable women and their children in need. This effort gets their consumers involved. With the purchase of a pack of Pampers, one dose of the vaccine is given to those in need. This campaign has shaped the highest consciousness ever for maternal and neonatal tetanus, which has helped to put the disease back on the agenda of health authorities. Since the beginning of the campaign, a total of 45.5 million women and their babies have been sheltered against maternal and neonatal tetanus. Pampers has dedicated itself to providing the vaccine in order to protect an additional 33 million women and their babies in at least 32 countries around the world (Designed to Matter, 2009).

This year, they have added a new form of employee involvement. P&G and UNICEF have teamed up to offer P&G employees in Western Europe the opportunity to take a three-month paid sabbatical and work with UNICEF. The program is geared towards employees who have always wanted to take on humanitarian work but have not had the opportunity to do so before. UNICEF will profit from the diverse backgrounds of P&G employees as they relate such skills as communications, promotion, leadership training, and supply chain management. Even though resource necessities for UNICEF are ever-changing, three to four assignments are anticipated per year (Designed to Matter, 2009).

Every day there are nearly 4,000 children who die as a result of not having clean drinking water available. But a special assortment of P&G Beauty Care products, each with its own hydration benefit, is helping fight this problem. For each purchase within The Aqua Collection, safe drinking water is donated to children in developing countries through P&G's Children's Safe Drinking Water program. CSDW is a nonprofit program run by P&G which leverages P-R ™ water filtration technology to provide clean drinking water in the developing world. P&G will provide 4 billion liters of clean water between 2007 and 2012 through this program. So while consumers have benefitted from moisture where their hair and skin need it, 50 million liters of water have been donated to date through this partnership with the Beauty Care business. Again, the involvement of P&G employees has had a direct impact on the program (Designed to Matter, 2009).

India has the world's greatest amount of uneducated children. Nearly half of all children in India do not attend school. P&G's Shiksha program is dedicated to fighting this trend, by helping to create a more educated, progressive nation. This program funds hard work to address the fundamental causes of reduced access to education, such as poverty, health issues, and access to immunization. In the cases where schools just don't exist, the program helps to fund construction. Shiksha also gains benefits from the direct participation of P&G employees. Every year, employees participate in a Shiksha Walk-a-thon, joining their families and others in raising awareness for the cause (Designed to Matter, 2009).

Body

If people think that the men and women who are operating some of the world's most powerful corporations, are just sitting around talking dollars and cents all day, they are very wrong. There are many executives out there who recognize the requirement in addressing serious global issues while doing serious global business. One of the main points that experts often make is that the discussion surrounding corporate social responsibility has often had a negative view. From this viewpoint, corporations have been seen as primarily the problem. Corporate social responsibility schemes have looked at ways that corporations can work on being seen as less bad. This includes things like reducing the usage of natural resources and improving worker conditions. It has been thought though that when one focuses only on being less bad, by definition one can never be good. This approach neither sends a positive message, nor is it a sufficient foundation for a strong, sustainable business model (MacNealy, 2007).

From the perspective of responsibility and opportunity, Procter & Gamble has recognized many new ways in which to bring new products to new consumers. A few of the ways that P&G is doing this, include teaming up with UNICEF to introduce NutriStar, which is a powdered drinking product that addresses micronutrient malnutrition in some populations and by acquiring the PuR brand to bring low-cost water purification know-how to consumers in developing markets. The company also promotes better hygiene in at-risk communities, which has the benefit of forming new markets for P&G's soap and toothpaste products. From sustainable coffee to eco-efficiency Stepping away from the report, let's look at a couple of other ways P&G is looking to both make money and make a positive difference in the world (MacNealy, 2007).

Socially responsible coffee procurement is also an issue of major significance for P&G. Through its Millstone brand, P&G is partaking in certified green coffee programs that are enabling eligible farmers to become specialty coffee producers and receive a premium fee for their coffee. Another way that P&G is constantly striving to make a difference is by becoming eco-efficient. This is done by maximizing production while minimizing waste (MacNealy, 2007).

P&G improved the total product that it shipped from 18.5 million metric tons to 21.3 million, from 2004 to 2006. During this same time they reduced non-hazardous waste from 300 metric tons to 289, dangerous waste from 21 metric tons to 19, and greenhouse gas discharges from 2.937 million metric tons to 2.889 million. The company's water usage… READ MORE

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