In today’s business environment, a firm’s survival is dependent on how it responds to its stakeholders; CSR is a way that response is communicated. This paper explores whether CSR is necessary for the survival of Banyan Tree in today’s environment. We will evaluate the possible ways that CSR benefits the company and show that CSR is not necessary for Banyan Tree’s survival but it does play a strategic role in building brand equity along with a sustainable business.

Introduction

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

There are multiple interpretations of what CSR means, and while there is no set principle, we have defined CSR as the duty of a corporation to create wealth in ways that avoid harm to, protect, or enhance societal assets for the purposes of discussion.

Prevailing approaches to CSR were disconnected from strategy such that it obscured many opportunities for companies to benefit society . The outlook of CSR has changed since and modern business organizations have started to incorporate CSR, both internally and externally into their operations, aiming to achieve sustainable business development. This evolution arose due to increasing governmental regulations and societal expectations regarding the operation of companies, thus creating a divergence in business performance and expectations. CSR facilitates businesses in narrowing their performance-expectation gap .

In the modern business environment, companies do not only compete on price and quality of service, they need to be aware that stakeholders are increasingly discerning of how a firm handles environmental and social issues . Taking into consideration the performance-expectation gap, firms aim to formulate their CSR initiatives to meet stakeholders’ expectations. Typically, CSR is viewed as a cost to the company, but it can also be a source of opportunity and competitive advantage