Week 15 - Corporate Social Responsibility

Week 15 – Corporate Social Responsibility 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a businesses impact on the wider world, and how you can help your business to make an impact in a positive way ‘’It means taking a responsible attitude, going beyond the minimum legal requirements and following straightforward principles that apply whatever the size of your business’’ Business link, [online].

CSR involves almost everything a business does and everyone that it deals with. All businesses would need to take into account the following factors –

• ·         Suppliers – Even if the business itself is environmentally friendly it doesn’t mean its suppliers are, businesses should be careful when deciding their suppliers. They shouldn’t trade with people who pollute the environment, as that’s basically polluting yourself. 
• ·         The business should think about how they affect the local community, if a business wants to open a big store in a heavily populated area they should take into consideration the pros and cons of the inhabitants of the areas.
• ·         A business should treat their employees with respect, and make sure that its employees are happy in the workplace.
• ·         Being environmentally friendly has one of the biggest impacts on a company’s CSR. They need to learn how to use resources more effectively and do anything they can to help the environment, even little things like fitting timers to light switches.

A common misperception is that having a good CSR policy can be costly, in some cases it can. However it can also boost a company’s profit, if big companies fit light switch timers to all of their lights in offices and stores worldwide it can make a huge impact by cutting down electricity bills. This benefits both the company and the environment. Customers also tend to want to deal with companies who have a solid, trustworthy CSR. 

The FTSE4GOOD index was launched in 2002 and only features socially responsible companies. 277 UK based companies are on the index, which can be very beneficial to businesses, it can attract investors and can be used as proof that the company is trustworthy. One of these companies is J Sainsbury. They demonstrate a sound CSR and everyone involved in the business has benefited from it. Some examples of Sainsbury’s CSR are –

• ·         Sainsbury’s employ 150,000 people to work in there stores, offices and depots. Sainsbury’s know that their employees are crucial and that they are the face of the business. So for Sainsbury’s creating an environment that’s a great place to work is of obvious importance. Sainsbury’s make sure they do this by hiring the best people and treating them in the right way. They make sure that they stay true to their principle of equality, diversity and fairness, communicating regularly and listening genuinely. They give everyone of their employees a chance to develop their own skills and job title. They also believe that recognition is key, and they are quick to reward employees who make any extra effort. Sainsbury’s know that if they treat the employees well they will give all they’ve got and enjoy working for Sainsbury’s. This will reduce staff turnover and in turn save Sainsbury’s money. They have even received a gold accreditation from ‘investors in people’ for their commitment to improve in business by investing in their colleagues.
• ·         ‘Sourcing with integrity’ – It is obviously in the businesses best interest to provide its customers with quality products at a competitive price. But its also just as important to provide the products in a fair way that’s better for animals, farmers, growers and workers involved. Sainsbury’s do this by forming partnerships with their suppliers in order to help them raise environmental and social standards, and move towards real sustainability. They are working closely with farmers and growers in order to work towards a better business ethic. Although sourcing their products in an ethical way is a difficult task, especially when Sainsbury’s stock over 30,000 different products, they do their best to make sure their suppliers aren’t harmful to the environment. They run a series of development group initiatives which were created to help farmers and produce more sustainably. They also employ specialists in agriculture, sustainability and health experts that set out to solve sourcing and sustainability issues. British farming is also heavily supported by Sainsbury’s; they aim to offer a range of British products when they are in season even if the profit margins aren’t as good as products shipped in from overseas. As well as all of these factors they are also the largest retailer of Fairtrade products, and by paying these Fairtrade premiums to farmers they can improve local schools, hospitals and general infrastructure. All of these factors have contributed towards the company’s reputation for helping the environment, which has attracted customers, which is obviously beneficial for the company.
• ·         Making a positive difference in the community – Retailing is about more than quality products and great service. Any reputable business who takes their CSR seriously needs to support and help the communities where it operates. Sainsbury’s say that they aim for their stores to be at the heart of the communities they serve. They do this through a range of different things, charitable aspects come into play with practical and economic considerations too. They provide jobs for local people and try to buy from local suppliers, which in turn supports local businesses and farms. They run ‘Local Charity of the Year’ and ‘Local Heroes’ schemes to help support good causes. They are the official supermarket partner of the London 2012 Paralympic games and they have a longstanding relationship with Comic Relief. From doing all of this it adds to Sainsbury’s reputation and gets local people involved with the various projects they run, as the local community gets more involved the likelihood of them changing their preferred supermarket to Sainsbury’s is more likely. This will help boost sales.