Today, many enterprises, organizations, scientists, practitioners, and curious people are interested in corporate social responsibility issues. Social responsibility is a broad concept that covers such problems as ecology, social justice, and equality. Organizations are required to show responsibility in three areas: finance, the impact of their activities on society and the environment, and the impact on the environment. However, there is still the question of whether the company should try to solve the world’s problems while at the same time working to generate profits for shareholders.
In the article Corporate Social Responsibility, Freeman and Liedtka give reasons for companies not to follow the concept of CSR. Firstly, they say that the notion derives mainly from the economic sphere and does not involve history, religion, and culture. Moreover, CSR takes the predominant business rhetoric of “capitalism: love it or leave it” (Freeman & Liedtka, 1991). Corporate social responsibility is also considered conservative as it attempts to “fix” received wisdom’s unintentional consequences. Authors, therefore, highlight that “CSR promotes incompetence by leading managers to involve themselves in areas beyond their expertise, that is, repairing society’s ills” ( Freeman & Liedtka, 1991, p. 93). It also considers business and society as different aspects that cannot work together, with unequal ethics.
Undoubtedly, solving the world’s problems while at the same time working to make a profit for shareholders is not an easy task for organizations. However, one of the motivational aspects of the CSR is that companies take care of their image not only in terms of attracting customers but also for their shares to be in demand among small investors, which are ordinary people. It is also believed that CSR contradicts the basic principles of capitalism (Rabello et al., 2018). It is supported by the belief that the main thing that a company should do for society is pay taxes to the state all other functions not related to the main activity should be excluded.
If a company does not want or is unable to devote a large number of resources to fighting global problems, the most common forms of corporate social responsibility, in this case, are not related to the company’s main activity, maybe charity and patronage. Money going to charitable needs is not taxed. As for patronage, it often brings significant benefits in the form of a significant improvement in the company’s image in the eyes of customers and partners.
Reference
Freeman, R. E., & Liedtka, J. (1991). Corporate social responsibility: A critical approach. Business horizons, 34(4), 92-99.
Rabello, R. C. C., Nairn, K., & Anderson, V. (2018). Rethinking corporate social responsibility in capitalist neoliberal times. Redefining Corporate Social Responsibility, 13, 27-41.