英语论文网

While some critics argue that social responsibility is 'a trend that will wax and wane according to various social and economic factors' (May et al., 2007, p. 119), others believe that the emergence of social responsibility as a major business factor in the past decade is in fact a permanent change. Crane et al. note that 'growing awareness of environmental issues has led many people to recognise the importance of social responsibility' (Crane et al., 2007, p. 10), and although the recent economic crisis may have led many to hold back on the spending that they would otherwise have directed towards socially responsible corporations, there still appears to be a broad consensus that social responsibility is one of the most important factors in modern business. Consequently, many companies have sought to strengthen their social policy credentials.

Environmental Policy

One of the key elements of social responsibility is the environment. For more than twenty years, there have been warnings about the effects of global warming. Many corporations choose to exhibit their social responsibility through one of a number of environmentally friendly policies:

Reducing the environmental cost of production & distribution.

Reducing the environmental cost of consumption.

Reducing the environmental cost of disposal.

Using more environmentally-friendly materials.

Reducing packaging and other superfluous elements of a product.

Instigating specific environmentally-friendly technological elements.

Funding research and education programs.

Carbon and pollution off-setting.

All of these options - and more - are regularly employed by companies that want to emphasise their environmental credentials. Large companies tend to focus on methods that require little more effort than throwing money at the problem, e.g. by funding research or off-setting their carbon emissions. However, some other companies are far more inventive, and genuinely try to reduce their environmental impact.

Social Responsibility

Aside from the environmental factors noted above, companies have found a number of ways of demonstrating their corporate social responsibility:

Funding education programs.

Providing services, e.g. transportation for school and disabled groups.

Promoting volunteerism among their own workers.

Donating money to charities.

Working to eliminate abuse in the chain of production.

The globalised corporate environment makes it more difficult than ever for companies to hide practices that might be unpopular in their domestic markets. For example, if a company seeks to use cheap labour in third world countries, it can make a short-term impact but will usually be exposed eventually. In other words, companies find it increasingly difficult to hide any non-socially responsible behaviour.

The Car Manufacturing Industry