Corporate social responsibility explained

The initiative taken by an organization in handling responsibility for their social, economic and environmental impacts is known as, Corporate social Responsibility (CSR). Most enterprises are struggling in this modern fast-changing global market with the idea of establishing a performing, adequate and sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) framework. Ninety percent of 760 CEOs who participated in the latest UN Global Compact attested that CRS sustainability and effectiveness is critical for the future success of their corporations. Also, more than 80% of these CEOs has made a claimed to integrating CSR into their overall business strategy. The way people link the relationship between firms and their institutional environment has shifted due to the regards given by firms to CRS. Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives are viewed as drivers to company’s success rate by increasing brand identity and sales revenue. For instance, Starbucks is popular for the ‘shared planet’ phrase that it incorporates in its CSR strategy which emphasizes on ethical operations, global community involvement, and environmental leadership. Additionally, the firm believes in supporting comfortable working environment and practices for its workers and management with the result being motivation to institute ethical practices in all their activities, legal compliance, and adherent to relevant public policies. As a result, the firm has been given high ranks and rate by independent agencies such as Reputation Institute with regards to performance in corporate social responsibility. Using Starbucks and other corporations as examples, this essay will examine how corporate social responsibility performance can be improved by integrating it into the performance management systems for all employees, teams, business units. In relation, this essay will show that empowering and rewarding managers and production workers can improve social, environmental, and economic planning and compliance activities.

Overview of corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility looks into the manner through which firms account for their financial, environmental, and social activities and decisions. The concept has become of importance to the business communities as customers, management, employees, shareholders, and the society in general continue to understand how economic development is related to social and environmental welfare. For any firm that seeks market leadership and sustainability, CSR is a critical factor. Nonetheless, participating in CSR strategy is a voluntary engagement though recent events have seen the government and other industry stakeholders put pressure of firms to participate in community activities or reduce firm’s negative effects on the public domain. Globally, firms showcase their stewardship by engaging in socially responsible activities such as environmental conservation.
Majority of enterprises seek to understand the impact of their CSR strategies on the firm’s performance with little reference to how the performance can be increased by integrating it in other business strategies including employee evaluation systems and leadership management. Sustainability of an enterprise highly depends on a firm’s capability in evaluating the social, environmental, and economic results of their CSR decisions. Instead of focusing on wealth and profit maximization, modern firms should concentrate on improving the CSR initiative since research shows that the most successful firms, including Unilever, General Electric, Starbucks, and Xerox have a high reputation for participating in CSR initiatives.
Socially responsible firms understand the importance of meeting the various needs of their stakeholders by implementing decisions and strategies that are not only motivating, but those that actualize on innovations. By considering the needs of stakeholders, such as employees and managers, firms end up being socially responsible since these individuals are affected by the external environment of the firm and if it’s positively reflected in their strategies, CSR performs exceptionally . A well-articulated CSR strategy leads substantial results which eventually lead to competitive advantage over market’s competitors.

The popular drivers of corporate social responsibility

It’s important to understand the reasons for initiating CSR in firms. Most authors claim that CSR is started in enterprises as a critical part of the business strategy and for organization’s identity, while some state that it’s initiated as a defensive mechanism especially in companies that are at the limelight of activists’. Corporate social responsibility rationale can be defined from an economic perspective, moral judgment, or rational argument. Nonetheless, most firms are driven by financial situation and strength, economic state of the nation, and law enforcements on designing and implementing CSR. Moreover, the discussion as to why corporations start CSR strategy touches on the initiatives they use in which the process is undertaken. The rationale of these initiatives is diverse ranging from market-driven prospects to legitimate reasons for social responsibility.
In describing the process of CSR, some authors apply the developmental model which stipulates the changes that take place in relation to awareness, strategies, actions, and posits of CSR from the basic to transformation of the entity and stakeholders identity and mindsets. Other authors use the how-to-methodology which is highly principled when mastering the rules of the CSR initiative. The approach promotes the application of innovation for public good, placing the stakeholders such as employees and management at the center, and distributing economic opportunities to the society.
Commitment to CSR mostly stems from economic self-interest or ethical grounds; however, most of the times the two drives are applied in conjunction. In cases where value addition is substantial and positive, economic interest applies. This shows that most of the firms that participate in CSR are driven by the need for better financial performance. Firms are recognizing the need to take care of the society and the environment if at all they are to attain sustainable market survival. For example, when the poor are served, a business acquires new sources of revenue, cost reduction, and greater efficiency which also lead to increase in purchasing power from the local market and, access to innovation for the multinationals.

Firm Identity and Ethics

The ethical code and values of an organization reflect its identity or personality. The identity of an enterprise represents what it actually is and not what it advocates or stands for. Most firms have established a corporate identity by using their brands and that has served as a competitive advantage. For example, Anita Roddick initiated a number of social issues and fair trades for Body Shop which ultimately assisted in projecting the firm as socially responsible in consumer’s minds. Effective adaptation of CSR starts by becoming economically responsible which then rolls over to legal and ethical responsibilities. Nonetheless, ethical drivers are increasingly being utilized in the modern market due to evolutionary nature of the businesses and due to the fact that ethical principles work in conjunction with legal and economic responsibilities for the success of a business. As such, CSR is used to match the values of the society with the operations of a business in a time when business conditions are rapidly changing. It therefore means that ethical values are paramount in establishing effective CSR. The ethical values projected by a firm through its code of conduct mirrors its culture, values, and principles that are inherent in its internal environment but demonstrated externally through CSR. Therefore, corporate culture and values represent a firm’s corporate identity which in most cases, when implemented properly leads to successful CSR initiatives.

Accountability

A firm applies the concept of accountability to ensure it confirms to integrity expectations. Globally, most firms are facing the challenge of accountability. Firms that are socially responsible endeavor to align and reconcile the needs of employees, management, consumers, government, activists, shareholders, suppliers, and the society at large. Implementing substantive measures in an enterprises internal structure as well as the supply chain leads to accountability which in essence promotes the CSR agenda. Literature advocates for firms, particularly the NGOs to be accountable by ensuring they are transparent and ethical just as how they seek to influence other stakeholders.
It should however be noted that accountability largely depends on current combination of government, corporate, and societal factors. It’s in this respect that many authors assert that accountability should be more than making unattainable promises. For example, in 2001, the oil and gas industry made promises of carrying out diverse community development programs that were to take up more than $500 million. However, up to date, the effectiveness of these promises is yet to be recognized. A gap exists in the promises made by corporate leaders and the actual initiatives they undertake in establishing CSR largely due to disparities in financial funding.
Although CSR effectiveness depends on accountability by leaders, customers, the government, shareholders, and the community at large, accountability is somewhat complicated. This is because the factors that lead to corporate accountability are multiple but highly interrelated. The connectivity of the factors and their relationship to accountability are documented by Nolan who represented his company as a web of relationships such that the effect of any business actions directly affected the external environment and the long-run sustainability of the firm.

Affiliations with the Stakeholders

For CSR to be successful, it has to be embedded with a multiple of actors. The global demand for sustainability, the changing role of businesses, increased expectations on the businesses by the society, and changes in technology create a scenario where leaders are likely to be in constant contact and conflict with stakeholders in the area of local and global CSR. As such, the modern market requires firms to engage and communicate with key stakeholders in deliberating how to initiate and improve CSR. However, even though the firms may try to keep in contact with stakeholder, they still struggle to understand the true picture behind this relationship, and most importantly, who the prominent stakeholders are. In both the academic and business world, shareholders are perceived to be key stakeholders and are often seen to influence their relationships with employees, customers, competitors, the domestic environment and the community.
Two elementary relationship models can be utilized in understanding how CSR effectiveness can be enhanced through interacting with stakeholders. Inside-up framework states that firms can attain reputable CSR results by initiating approaches across boundaries such that decision-making is internal and stakeholders are only involved to pass information that has already been developed. An example of this approach is the CSR reporting that usually takes place at the end of a company’s financial year. However, the approach is likely to backfire when it faces criticism from social advocates and trade unions. The second approach is such that stakeholders are involved from the inception of CSR strategies to the implementation process. In this approach, stakeholders act as actors in conjunction with the firm in a deliberate effort to attain sustainability.
Whichever the approach taken by the firm, even well-intentioned ideas may lead to disappointing results or conflicts between shareholders demands. However, the leadership efforts positioned in rationally dealing with stakeholders lead to corporate sustainability in terms of structure, culture, and production. This implies that CSR initiatives can be improved if firms directly engage with stakeholders in the design and execution of corporate strategies.

Improving CSR by integrating it into the performance management systems

Stakeholder involvement in devising and implementing CSR strategies, ethics and corporate identity, and accountability are not in themselves adequate to improve the performance of CSR in the modern technological and volatile global market. The success of an organization depends its employees output in the various strategies. A less-motivated and insecure workforce is less likely to project the expected market revenues. Just like other strategies, including financial strategies, operational, and capital strategies, CSR is a strategy that determines the success rate of a firm in the industry. It’s therefore important to consider how employees, teams and departmental performance evaluation systems are integrated into the CSR strategy if success is to be actualized.
In the global perspective, human resource leaders have positioned their strategies by developing and implementing appraisal and performance management systems that reflect corporate social responsibility, as well as recruiting a workforce that embodies social values. For instance, a research conducted by The Conference Board revealed that more than 50% of corporate leaders reported that they plan, or incorporate citizenship or CSR as a performance evaluation area. Moreover, most of the respondents claimed that there existed a strong relationship between corporate citizenship and performance evaluation. Though there is an increase in the number of firms incorporating CSR into the human resource strategy, and in specific performance evaluation systems, CSR leadership is still scarce. A report published by SHRM stated that though most of the interviewed HR professionals claimed to be directly involved in CSR strategies, most of them did not directly participate in the strategy design and execution of the strategies. It therefore means that integrating of CSR into performance evaluation programs need to involve the human resource professionals from the planning, design, and finally, the implementation of the strategy. This is because human resource managers are directly involved in designing and implementing performance management systems and they are the ones who have first-hand information regarding their employees in the various teams and departments, and thus have the right combination of skills and knowledge needed in improving a firm’s CSR approaches.

Human resource management and CSR

Human resource managers can play a critical role in assisting an enterprise attain its objective of becoming a socially, economically, and environmentally responsible firm – an organization that struggles to reduce its negative impacts but increase its positive influence on the society at large. Moreover, human resource managers that work in firms that realize being corporate socially responsible can drive performance are in a strategic position of establishing that objective. Though there exists valuable on the best organizations to work for and how to establish a culturally ethical organization, there is scarcity of information for HR managers who desire to integrate CSR into the firm’s overall structure.
Just like some of the prominent corporations including Enron indicate through their CSR failures, enterprises that only focus on the public relations aspect of the CSR without integrating it into their culture are at a high risk of damaging their brand and reputation. The objective of the HR professionals in communicating and executing ideas, policies, and cultural changes in their organizations is central in attaining the objective of integrating CSR in all the operations. It should however be noted that employee’s engagement in CSR is not solely the mandate of human resource managers. Citizenship as it pertains to CSR should be promulgated by all departmental leaders. The human resources managers are however responsible for development of systems that stimulate CSR but the engagement in these strategies is shared by all stakeholders. If the managers have a clear understanding of the leverage with respect to CSR, the more their capacity to pass the ideas to other business partners towards the attainment of organization’s objectives and in embedding CSR in all business models and strategies.
Human resources act as a great influencer towards effective delivery in a firm’s processes and systems, and as such, it is strategically positioned to develop a CSR culture and attain great performance. These managers are in a position of playing a significant role such that CSR becomes a day to day organizational routine. Human resource managers are primary in ensuring that how the firm projects its image in the outside world is in alignment with how people are treated internally. Human resource management is a position that provides the needed tools and frameworks for the senior leadership and CEO to integrate CSR ethic and culture into strategies and brand identity of an organization. HRM is the only department that is capable of influencing across the entire organization.
For instance, after the launch of the Values in Action program by Novo Nordisk, a medical firm in Denmark, the program which aligns the business strategies with sustainable development experienced a 5% drop in employee turnover rate while Sears reported a 20% decrease in turnover. Research also shows that CSR activities raise employee morale, recruitment rate, loyalty, and productivity.
In any scenario however, it is paramount for firms to ensure that the needs of all their employees are met before they are asked to assist the organization in projecting and improving its CSR goals. In establishing a high performance team, employees and teams should receive adequate compensation and recognition that can only be attained by applying the performance evaluation programs. Today’s employees have the desire to attain a greater purpose and fulfillment for their work. This leads to job satisfaction with the result being creativity and innovation that yields better and performing CSR practices.
A performance evaluation system is strategically designed and implemented to assess how an employee, department, or a team is performing in a given task(s). The program is systematic such that is allows feedback to be given in a formal manner. One of the main drivers to performance evaluation systems in organization is the need to encourage positive performance. Moreover, the system fulfills employee’s curiosity as to how they are performing in their jobs. Performance management systems are also used to develop and train employees, as well as a basis for recognition, promotion, and carrying out legal disciplinary acts.
Through the performance evaluation systems, a firm is able to communicate expectations from the employees and departmental units. Often times, behavior stipulate whether performance is acceptable and the expected performance is viewed as a gradual process of establishing a shared organizational understanding of on what is supposed to be attained at an individual, departmental, and organizational level. Successful implementation of the systems is possible when employees are engaged in the design of the standards such that the performance standards form a basis for evaluating employees, teams and departments depending on whether the targets have been met, halfway met, or exceeded.
One characteristic of performance evaluations systems is their ability to be position oriented yet establish individual or departmental goals in the same period. The performance systems are supposed to be inherently visible, and contain indicators of success whether in terms of quality, quantity, or period. Though performance evaluation systems vary across nations and organizations, they all seek to achieve the best performance practices. Performance appraisal for instance, aims at evaluating employees or department’s output against preset standard and its usually documented and feedback given to the concerned parties for improvement purposes.
The performance evaluation system also serves as a disciplinary mechanism for the non-performing workforce or teams. It establishes who requires training and what type of training, the time frame for the training and how it’s to be conducted, and most importantly, what’s to be achieved from the training.

Performance evaluation systems and how they lead to corporate social responsibility improvement

Employees

Performance systems are supposed to stimulate employees to work harder and increase output failure to which disciplinary actions may be executed. When adequately implemented, the systems improve the interaction between the firm’s leadership with the personnel thus stimulating creativity and innovation. Creative employees generate ideas that can be applied in improving the CSR approaches of an organization. For example, through creativity as an outcome of performance management systems, Toyota was able to initiate the development of fossil free fuels that serve to protect the environment from climate change. The company encouraged the employees by setting standards which would be rewarded in different manners such as promotions and salary increment. Failure to incorporate such a system would have led to employee’s relaxant and the result of producing fossil free fuels would not have been realized. In addition to becoming environmentally responsible, the firm ended up attaining a competitive advantage which in essence led to higher returns. High returns means that the firm is in a position to device and implement new CSR strategies without much pressure and thus its goal of becoming socially responsible is enhanced.
Motivated employees always perform their jobs better particularly when they know the firm and customers share in the passion for social and environmental development. Through the systems, the firma and the employees work hand in hand with the result being creation of a long-lasting bond. Moreover, when the employees believe that the need for corporate social responsibility stems from each managerial level, they are motivated since it shows the firm is caring and unselfish. As such, the employees will put the best at their jobs with the desire to outperform the set standards leading to greater organizational performance. The tension to perform better and get promoted, recognized or a high salary package leverages the need for CSR by enabling the employees to highlight their common interests with the customers and the organization.
Moreover, attainment of expected performance goals require employees to be effective in all facets of their tasks and this drives their need to interact with different stakeholders, including customers and the firm in implementing the corporate social responsibility agendas.
For managers to design performance evaluation systems and act on them, they must have utilized the concepts and ensured that they are practical. It’s not possible for management to set goals that they are not sure of being attained. This means that the managers lead by example, and as such, they also participate in different strategies of the organization including CSR which leads to overall improvement.
One aspect of performance evaluation systems is their dependent on organizational cultural and ethical principles which are in essence promoted in the outside world by participating in charitable activities, environmental initiatives. Thus, in the perspective of an individual employee, performance evaluations systems stimulate their willingness to perform and for firms that embed citizenship within the system.

Departments and Teams

When sustainability strategy is integrated into all the departments of an organization, it facilitates the attainment of environmental, social, and economic goals in the overall efforts of the firm. Performance evaluation systems project the expectations of the organization from each of the departments through the vision and mission statement. As such, departments within an organization are supposed to meet certain standards in a given time frame. For example, the finance department is supposed to provide accurate and flowing financial reports at the end of the calendar year. The procurement department is supposed to source and distribute raw materials that promote the production agenda of the organization, while the sales and marketing team should provide credible information that ensures the finished product are satisfactory to the end consumer. Proper functioning in each of the department is possible if measures are put in place to ensure that each of the team member understand his individual roles and is also able to work together with the other members for effective attainment of set goals.

How teams work together to improve sustainability through the performance evaluation systems

i. The procurement and purchasing departments acquires supplies from sustainable sources that have low environmental effects, seek for ways of reducing packaging and focus on recycling, and finally, seek sourcing activities from both the local and socially responsible firms. These efforts are made possible when the performance evaluation systems clarify the need for being socially responsible and more so, when the organization has embedded the CSR strategy in all its business strategies.
ii. The research and development team focuses on finding ways that reduce wastage by utilizing the available resources more efficiently. This department is stimulated by the need to become creative and innovative in order to enable the firm utilize processes that are cost efficient for better profits. Through the performance evaluation programs, the managers are able to identify the specific needs of the department and training and development activities are offered to induce more knowledge. This knowledge is used for creativity purposes which is an essential element in the R&D department.
iii. The marketing department seeks for the growing consumer products and services that encourage sustainability. Moreover, the team works together to establish selling, distribution, and marketing approaches that can lead to the reduction of adverse social, economic, and environmental effects. As mentioned, the department is able to focus on such an initiative when the senior leadership promotes sustainability and the performance evaluation systems consider CSR goal as an exceptional achievement.
iv. Through the performance systems, the production department is encouraged to promote health and safety and utilize processes that are cost effective resource and energy wise. It’s not possible for such a department to meet the expected standards if it does not utilize cost effective and efficient production processes. In the process, the business unit improves corporate social responsibility initiative by seeking processes and methods that are friendly to the employees and the external environment, particularly for the waste disposal practices.
v. The legal department is motivated to seek policies and regulations that assist the firm in promoting its agenda, plus it ensures that the right legal information is disseminated to the right parties.
vi. The management accounting department liaises with other departments in obtaining information that enables management to make adequate decisions in terms of the right projects to implement, how to price products, and product designs for safe and sustainable business processes.
vii. The auditing department on the other hand provides external stakeholders with relevant information concerning contingent liabilities and for evaluation of the company’s future CSR prospects.
The employees and departments have goals needing to be attained failure to which they are below the expectation of the performance evaluation systems. These systems should favor utilization of sustainable initiatives in order to promote CSR. As such, it’s essential for the management to be aware of the requirements of each employee, department, and the organization at large in order to set standards that are challenging but attainable. Human resource managers should have an inherent desire for CSR initiatives so that the appraisal systems take into consideration the CSR goals attained by the employees or departments.

Empowering and rewarding managers and production workers can improve social, environmental, and compliance activities

The level of authority provided to the managers is critical in establishing sustainability. The lower level managers should be empowered through participation and recognition to participate in sustainability activities. Moreover, the senior manager should be included in board meetings and have direct access to the CEO so that they can discuss issues dealing with CSR adequately.
Research confirms that empowered leaders are better positioned in designing and implementing CSR initiatives within enterprises. In business, leaders are the first representatives of an organization’s identity though their global capabilities and responsibilities, and their decisions naturally affect their firms and the society at large. Since the function of the leader in guiding an organization towards sustainable corporate responsibility is complex and broad, it requires specific skills and competencies. Management should change their thinking from process towards people oriented strategies.
It’s however difficult to foster skills advancement and competencies if the leaders are not empowered. Through the performance evaluation systems, firms should set attainable goals for the leaders through which they become recognized and appraised when they meet the set standards. Moreover, these systems the leaders are evaluated depending on their personalities, knowledge, skill and experience and the necessary tools are provided to improve these aspects for better performance.
The CEO and top leaders can empower the departmental managers and workers by including them in the planning and execution of firm’s critical decisions. When managers get involved, they fe el appreciated which leads to job morale and creativity that triggers innovation. Moreover, the managers are also in a position to lead by example in their specific departments and this leads to a charged organization. As such, it’s critical for the top leadership to encourage line managers by rewarding them after exceptional performance or after initiating workable strategies, so that they are empowered to encourage participation from other workers with the result being increase in production capacity. When production capacity increases, a firm generates high profits which can be apportioned for CSR initiatives. Research shows that the most socially responsible organizations are market leaders.
Managers and production employees can be empowered through delegation of duties. Duties should be delegated to team members depending on their skills and experience though the use of an open door policy. This means that the employees are given the responsibility to handle task which gives them feel honored since it shows the senior leadership management appreciates their contribution. However, the delegation should be open such that it allows communication to and from for effectiveness. When employees work on tasks they are confident in with the support of top leadership, they tend to be creative plus they are fast in accomplishing the given tasks. As such, a firm that recognizes CSR in its business model can delegate CSR task to the departmental managers. The managers are allowed to design and possibly execute strategies that they feel promote the CSR agenda through their departments. Motivation can then be triggered by setting standards for each manager through the performance evaluation systems. This creates positive competition among the managers with the result being improvement in an organization’s CSR strategies.
Empowered leaders are charismatic and they usually communicate the organizations’ vision and encourage others to become innovative in developing and implementing CSR initiatives. Moreover, when a leader is empowered, he is in a position to empower the junior managers and employees leading to an empowered workforce that is charged to improve the firm’s corporate strategies.
An empowered manager and workers exercises integrity and is therefore keen to align activities with the stipulated policies, ethics, and regulations. These employees have the desire to efficiently and effectively accomplish their given tasks by conforming to all the internal and external policies. As such, compliance is enhanced leading to few cases of disciplinary actions or legal suits which foster a positive image for the organization. An organization that is respected and has loyal stakeholders seeks to maintain the positive image by carrying out more successful CSR initiatives. Thus, empowerment is an elementary driver to attainment of effective CSR strategies in the long run.

Empowerment and Environmental CSR

All people use the environment in form of the natural resources. However, the environment is constantly being destroyed by the corporations that focus on profitability and wealth maximization at the expense of the natural resources leading to climate change. Firms that participate in CSR can act by reforming the environment or replacing natural resources. This leads to renovation of the ecosystem and reduction in unhealthy fuels. An empowered leader and employee realize the need to protect the environment by devising strategies that minimize adverse effects on the environment. For instance, production managers initiate recycling as a strategy to minimize waste materials that lead to pollution. In case firms do not provide proper incentives and systems to empower the management and employees, the motivation level declines which leads to lack of creativity and the end result is activities that lead to climate change.

Empowerment and Social Sustainability

When management is empowered, it encourages participation from various stakeholders which leads to development of a diverse and healthy cultural environment that fosters creativity. Empowerment in this sense understands the needs of employees and the society at large and the managers are thus keen to formulate strategies that add value to the members of the society. For instance, the firm engages in training programs for the youths in the community, education sponsorships, health and safety initiatives, and donations. These activities are only realized by manager and employees that are empowered by the top leadership.

Case studies

Starbucks

Founded in 1971 by Mody Dick, Starbucks Coffee Company is one of the major corporations that have effectively implemented CSR strategies through the application of performance evaluation systems and empowering the personnel.
The firm pays its employees depending on their performance and aligning it to the stipulated hours laws and regulations. As a result, the firm manages to provide fair benefit packages which motivate employees to be productive particularly in the areas of corporate social responsibility. By paying employees depending on their output, the firm is able to drive creativity and participation since it means only the performing employees are able to access sustainable benefits. The higher the production, the greater the income and consecutive earnings needed to facilitate participation in CSR initiatives.
Starbuck’s working environment facilitates engagement between the top leadership, middle management and other employees. This leads to empowerment that encourages creativity and productivity. Since the firm embeds CSR in its business model, all the employees are empowered to interact with the internal and external environment in a socially and economically responsible manner. The CEO treats the line managers with respect and esteem and they are constantly given incentives to appraise their morale.
The firm offers training workshops and seminars to ensure that all members understand compliance concerns with respect to health and safety and legal regulations. By complying with the industrial and market policies, the employees advance the firms’ CSR initiative since it makes them to be socially responsible.

Unilever

Through its code of conduct, the firm empowers its manager and employees by encouraging open and diverse participation without any form of discrimination. All employees are given equal employment and growth opportunities. As such, employees are employed based on their qualifications and skills needed for performing a given task. With this information, employees and managers feel appreciated and they are able to participate in projecting the firm’s CSR initiatives wholeheartedly leading to improvement in the strategies.
Moreover, geographical and departmental managers are delegated the task of overseeing their immediate functions and ensuring that their employees adhere to the requirements of the company towards the execution of CSR strategy through the code of business conduct. The senior leadership is usually supported by Local Code Committees which in essence acts as empowerment tool. When managers and employees are involved by the senior leadership in designing and implementing CSR initiatives, they tend to be more productive and effective.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it has been established that corporate social responsibility is an integral part of successful firms. A firm that recognizes the need to participate in economic, environmental, and social development of the global society ends up establishing a positive corporate identity that is suitable for sustainability in the modern volatile market. However, most firms use public relations to project CSR initiatives and few have practically implemented long-lasting initiatives. It is therefore advisable for firms to embed CSR into their performance evaluation systems. Performance management systems empower managers and employees to participate in the design and execution of a firm’s strategies, including the CSR strategy leading to better performance. Through the systems, employees and business units are supposed to attain certain goals and standards failure to which disciplinary actions are taken or they lose their positions. Moreover, the programs assist in improving the knowledge and skills of the employees when they perform below expectations. Having an evaluation system in place is key in attainment of a firm’s vision and mission statements since creativity and innovation are encouraged, and when CSR is part of the firm’s vision, then strategy improves beyond expectations.

Bibliography

D’Amato, A, Sybil H, and Sue, F. Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Business: Center for Creative Leadership (2009), 1-91
D’Amato, A, Sybil, H, and Sue F. "Corporate social responsibility and sustainable business." A Guide to Leadership tasks and functions 102 (2009).
Strandberg, Coro. "The role of human resource management in corporate social responsibility issue brief and roadmap." Report for Industry Canada. Burnaby, BC: Strandberg Consulting (2009).
Ferrell, J.F. Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. 8th Edn., USA: Cengage Learning. (2009)
Gruman, Jamie A., and Alan M. Saks. "Performance management and employee engagement." Human Resource Management Review 21, no. 2 (2011): 123-136.
Huppenbauer, M, and Carmen, T. "Ethical Leadership–How to Integrate Empirical and Ethical Aspects for Promoting Moral Decision Making in Business Practice." In Empirically Informed Ethics: Morality between Facts and Norms, pp. 239-254. Springer International Publishing, 2014.
Jerome, N., I.M. Jagaba and Z. Mohammed. An examination of business ethics and corporate social responsibility: A case study of Zenith bank PLC Jalingo. International Journal of Management Sciences, 3(8: 2014)): 593-600.
Jerome, N. and U. Mahmood, H. Examination of flood disaster and government attitudes Taraba State experience. Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities, 1(1: 2014): 56-59.
Nyameh, J, Joseph Albasu, and Mahmood, H. "Employees Job Performance and Pursuit of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Banking Industry a Case Study of Zenith Bank Plc & First Bank Plc Jalingo." Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Management Studies 3, no. 1 (2016): 1-6.
Unilever. The Code of Business Principles. Unilever (2016): 1 – 43, https://www.unilever.co.uk/Images/4394-cobp-code-policies-booklet-external.v12_tcm1252-409220_en.pdf.