Corporate
Social Responsibility
& the Law
Assessment 1: Individual Essay

Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined by Ferrell et al (2011) as “an organisation’s obligation to maximize its positive impact on stakeholders and minimize its negative impact”. CSR‌ can‌ therefore‌ be viewed as a corporation's agreement with the world. CSR is most commonly used alongside the “ethics” term but they actually differ as ethics are the guidelines to be used for business decision making. Ethics, according to Preston (1996), is concerned with what is right, fair, just or good, about what we ought to do, not just what can be done or what is most acceptable or expedient. Ethics allows for set standards and rules to be used to guide behaviours which form just one level of the considerations of CSR.
The International Labour Office (2006) identifies CSR as giving consideration to operational impacts on society and affirming values in their internal methods, processes and external interactions – CSR is voluntary, enterprise-driven and refers to activities considered to exceed legal compliance.
With the expectation that business will give as well as take from a society and environment in which it operates, the concept of social obligation proposes that a firm has obligations to area that spread beyond making profit. Additionally, the community expects socially and environmentally responsible behaviour practices; the so-called triple bottom line approach. This anticipation or obligation sees organisations voluntarily seizing more steps to enhance the quality of existence for employees and their families as well as for the local community and the society at large. It enables all such activities fluctuating from bestowing safe services and products to give a serving of company’s profit to welfare organisations. The social responsible attitude has come to