What is a socially responsible company?Discover it here

 What is a socially responsible company? Discover it here

If you consider yourself a person committed to the society in which you live, if you are concerned about the well-being of others, if you spend your time doing things for others … or if you believe in the idea that it is possible to generate income with a profitable business already while doing good… you can’t stop reading this post. Here we talk about the concept of ” socially responsible company “: we explain what it consists of and we give you a wide variety of examples.

Don’t waste another minute of your time and stick with only those who know the most about the subject. We put at your disposal an analysis made by experts, with reliable sources of information and secure links; In this way, you will have the best overview of the matter, accurate and reliable, and in just minutes! We are the N ° 1 on the web when it comes to talking about business issues: read on and see for yourself.

We have conducted a large number of consultations with auditors, managers, CSR experts and other professionals to bring you first-hand data on socially responsible companies, belonging to different economic fields and spheres of action. We guarantee that this is the post you were waiting to have on your screen.

Contents

  • 1 Socially responsible company: what is it?
  • 2 Characteristics of a socially responsible company
  • 3 Examples of socially responsible companies

Socially responsible company: what is it?

With this concept we call a for-profit organization or entity that maintains an attitude of commitment to the environment in which it carries out its economic activities. It carries out the exercise of its business (commercial, industrial, etc.) with an ethical sense and sustainable-sustainable methods, which reduce the negative impact that the firm causes on the environment and in turn, increase the positive footprint.

This phenomenon occurs from multiple perspectives: environmental, economic, social, cultural. As you surely know, any company causes a huge impact on its environment from all these points of view. For example, an industrial plant generates polluting waste that goes to garbage dumps or landfills that affect the quality of life of those who live in the surroundings.

In turn, companies set consumer trends and thus influence the finances of the population, as well as their health. The fact that we eat some food products and not others depends on the advertising of a brand, the availability of certain foods in the retail outlets, etc. In the same way, organizations influence the culture of society by proposing changes in habits, ways of relating and thinking based on certain brands.

Buying products from a socially responsible company may be more important than it might seem at first glance. Perhaps you had never taken it into account, but your choices in the supermarket or in any commercial place can greatly improve the life of other societies, your own community and families that are close to you or not. It is not enough for you to check the price or the ingredients and materials of a certain item: you also have to know its origin and if it comes from an organization with ethical practices.

He thinks that many of the food that we consume every day, of the clothes that we wear on a daily basis, could come from the hands of a child who should be at school or playing, and not working; Or, its low price is due to the fact that workers are exploited for long hours with a minimum wage, which is not enough to cover their basic needs.

You see that the impact that companies cause in their environment can be negative or positive, according to the specific area to which they are dedicated, their particular policies, the legal framework that limits or allows their actions and other variables to consider. Beyond these, it is essential that the various jurisdictions be able to impose and encourage (through laws) compromised conduct by commercial or industrial entities.

Some ways to promote the creation and management of a socially responsible company are, for example, reducing taxes against good practices in the management of polluting chemicals, allowing better development conditions for organizations that donate food to public picnic areas, applying economic sanctions in cases of heavy pollution in industrial plants, or placing so-called “recycling rates” on the price of certain products.

It should be noted that CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is a global trend, due –in part- to the rise of social movements such as veganism, feminism, environmental defense; All these and many other manifestations promote the care of the environment, the preservation of nature and human health, a fair look at the condition of men and women, the protection of the integrity of childhood, etc.

In fact, many people today refrain from consuming products of certain brands because they know how they are made or what impact they have on society or the environment in which they are developed. This trend is called “responsible consumption” and marks a code of ethics that transcends the mere purchase of basic necessities. It is a behavior that defines the way of being of individuals based on basic aspects of their lifestyle.

This trend towards greater commitment by productive and commercial organizations was born a few decades ago, when the effects of industrialization on the environment, the growth of social inequality, the lack of access to services and articles of first necessity in a large part of the world’s populations, etc. Undoubtedly, this is a demand that arose as a result of greater education in many countries and due to the growing dissemination of information from the vertigo in telecommunications.

The boom experienced by industry and consumption from the ’50s-‘ 60s, had its peak in the ’90s and from then on, society began to become more aware of the consequences that this unbridled pace of consumerism could provoke in the middle at all levels. So, we can say that CSR began to take shape around the end of the last century and at the beginning of the present.

Well, in this section we have broadly defined what a socially responsible company is and what its fundamental implications are. Now we suggest you go to the next section to discover the essential characteristics of this type of organization.

Characteristics of a socially responsible company

Although we have just given a more or less limited definition of the term that concerns us, it seems important to go a little further and characterize point by point those companies that are really committed to their environment. Let’s see: what are the fundamental attributes of a socially responsible company ? You can check them below:

  • Maintains a respectful conduct at each point in the production chain. This implies, for example, paying the fair price for the inputs it buys (instead of paying the producers a pittance for their raw materials) and treating those who work for the firm with dignity.
  • It promotes the general welfare of society at all levels, regardless of whether you consume the firm’s products or not (although it is very likely that you do).
  • It strictly complies with current legislation on caring for the environment in the country where it is carrying out its economic activity. Thus, the organization designs internal policies to promote energy saving and reduce the amount of waste from its production.
  • It trains all members of the entity (and those who are directly or indirectly linked to it) in good practices related to CSR. This includes talking about the concept to both employees and partner firms, consumers and suppliers.
  • It carries out different campaigns in which it involves different actors in society, considering that their various roles are extremely valuable (for example, students or mothers).
  • It provides support to traditionally vulnerable groups within the population and, based on its own products or developments, gets people to get involved with the brand but in an active way, which allows them to take advantage of the real resource and grow.
  • It encourages any ethical action aimed at a greater generation of wealth and better opportunities among the people who make up the community where it operates. For example, it promotes the development of micro-enterprises, provides support to students to continue their training, or establishes proposals for the protection of vulnerable groups, such as women and children.
  • It constantly disseminates information about its work, its financial balances, its objectives and goals, etc., in order to be transparent and honest with its environment.
  • He is committed to the main social movements and trends (not political) in his country, provided that he considers the claims to be fair and that they are based on common sense. An example may be equal rights between men and women.
  • It offers good social and health coverage to its workers; they usually enjoy blank salaries and all the benefits dictated by law.
  • It seeks the well-being of the members of the company and promotes its growth through training, promotions, etc., considering that human resources are the most important capital that it has as an organization.
  • It submits all its processes, procedures, tasks and actions to constant review, to ensure that they are not causing unwanted impacts on the environment or the workers themselves.
  • It is flexible and is willing to establish agreements with the government of the day to avoid unnecessary disputes, as well as discover together the best way to operate in terms of productivity and profits (both for the company and for the society where it is located).
  • It represents an ally in the process of generating sustainable wealth and sustainable policies for government managers and public bodies.

The list that we have just given you can be very useful as a guide, to detect if a company really acts ethically with its environment or if it does the opposite. Of course, many brands tend to hide information in this regard (they do not show what is not convenient for them to know) but taking these criteria into account can be a good first step.

You see that CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) can manifest itself in many different ways; In this sense, it seems important to us to clarify that not all entities exercise it in the same way. For example, some companies focus on productive developments for women (to ensure that the poorest female population becomes economically independent) while others establish policies related to caring for the environment (for example, making sustainable crops that avoid the use of agrochemicals).

It is not mandatory that all entities carry out socially responsible practices in the same area, because each one can choose a different modality according to their specific business, specific possibilities, size, geographical location, experience, resources and even interests (because, for example, CSR practices often lead the government to reduce taxes for some organizations). In short, the choice will depend on each entity in particular.

In this section you have just checked the main characteristics of a socially responsible company . Now, what specific cases of this type of organization do you know? Most likely you have some brands in mind, but without a doubt the list that we will give you in the next section will help you expand your panorama. We will review a wide series of examples of brands with great social responsibility today.

Examples of socially responsible companies

We know that mere theory is not enough when it comes to explaining certain concepts, especially those related to business, which come from an eminently practical and concrete world. Bearing this in mind, below we provide you with a complete list of examples of a socially responsible company for you to take into account. Surely you will perceive that some of these brands are well known to you and you probably have products from them in your home:

  • Arcor (dedicated to the production of sweets and food products)
  • Unilever (multinational that manufactures personal care, cleaning and food products, among other items)
  • Quilmes (brewery and malting in Argentina)
  • Avon (company present in many countries, with a reseller system, dedicated especially to beauty)
  • Sodimac (Chilean entity specialized in the field of articles for the home, decoration and construction)
  • Petrobras (multinational dedicated to the production and sale of hydrocarbon-based fuels)
  • Roemmers (famous laboratory that produces drugs on a large scale)
  • Grupo Telefónica (a large international telecommunications services company born in Spain)
  • P&G – Procter & Gamble (large company based on the manufacture of cleaning and personal care products)
  • Mondelez International (giant multinational specialist in the food sector)
  • Chanel (brand of designer clothing, perfumery and cosmetics born in France)
  • Editorial Sudamericana (publishes books in the main Spanish-speaking countries)
  • Grupo Telecom (entity providing telecommunications services in Argentina)

While we have tried to share an extensive list with you, you should keep in mind that these are not the only examples out there. We wanted to select some of the most representative today, those brands that you have surely consumed and that you usually see in the aisles of your favorite stores. However, we invite you to continue exploring the web independently to discover many other possibilities in this regard. For example, here you can link to a wide list of companies that habitually maintain CSR policies.

In summary, a socially responsible company is one that expresses interest in the impact – positive or negative – that it may cause, through its specific activities, on the environment in which it is located. It considers that, since it obtains its profits from the consumer market (society) and extracts resources from its environment (natural, human, technological, etc.), it has an ethical duty to return those profits in other ways. Ultimately, it is a “give and take” between companies and society. The goal is for everyone to benefit and the economy to grow in an even, sustainable and harmonious way.

Finally, we want to tell you something very important: we hope that this post has helped you increase your ethical awareness as a consumer and make, from now on, better choices when purchasing a product or service that you need. If we all take care of this aspect of our day-to-day lives, we will surely contribute to creating a better world and radically improving the community in which we live.

Now, the time has come to say goodbye until the next publication. Did you like the content of this article on the definition of a  socially responsible company ? If the answer is yes, don’t forget to share it on your favorite social networks or give it a positive rating. See you soon! Be sure to follow us through the rest of our articles, to learn more and more about the business world.

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