Sustainability and Entrepreneurship Business & Marketing Essay
This assignment provides students with an opportunity to orient themselves with the concepts and theories of Social Entrepreneurship or Corporate Social Responsibility, and their application / adaptation to and practices. You are allowed to choose SE or CSR as the focus of the review, to begin with the list of works given in the course site. You are expected to include at least five sources of works that you found most useful for orientating yourself of the concepts and practices, and demonstrate in the paper a synthesis of the insights as informed by those works. The paper is expected to be of length 1,500-2,500 words, excluding tables, charts, photos, and etc. and the list of references, and submitted by January 4 2019 (Sun).
Table 19.2 The ages and stages oJ CSREconomic Age Stage of CSR Modus Operandi Key Enabler Stakeholder TargetGreed Defensive Ad hoc Investments Shareholders, interventions government & employeesPhilanthropy Charitable Charitable Projects Communities programs Marketing Promotional Public relations Media General publicManagement Strategic Management Codes Shareholders & systems NGOs/CSOsResponsibility Systemic or Business models Products Regulators & Transformative customers
Noie: CSO = civil socicty organization
Table 47.1: CSR models in South Korea
«=> Open table as spreadsheetNo. Model Key concepts Focus Leadership1 Individual philanthropy Hong-lk-ln-Gan Noblesse oblige and socioeconomic enterprise Founder, owner and/or CEO2 Corporate community involvement In and Gong-Dong-Che Corporate philanthropy, domestic and overseas corporate volunteerism Employee volunteer corps, often joint engagement with their families, business partners, customers and social service organisations3 Ethical management Self-purification as ethical self Anti-corruption, transparency, accountability, environment and quality management, etc. Internal departments such as business ethics, compliance, audit, general affairs and HR4 Cross-sector alliance Gong-Dong-Che Social enterprise focusing job creation for independence of the disadvantaged Government-led partnerships with corporations, social service organisations and academic institutions5 Sustainability management Zhong-Yong Environment, social and governance (ESG) Socially responsible investors and corporations, themselves with holistic organisational structures
Sustainability and Entrepreneurship
Name
Institution
Sustainability and Entrepreneurship
The contemporary business field has become more demanding because consumers and other stakeholders are more conscious regarding social and environmental issues. As such, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a major tool used by organizations in response to the pressures arising from societal consciousness. CSR basically refers to the obligation that firms have towards their stakeholders in ensuring that their needs are met (Iyigun, 2015; Ang, Idowu, & Low, 2014). This encompasses the overall creation of value regarding environmental protection, protection of human rights and improvement of standards of living. CSR has been used by companies to derive competitive advantage (Aspelund, Fjell, & Rodland, 2017) but more importantly, it has been a source of business sustainability, especially in the era of international entrepreneurship due to globalization. International entrepreneurship allows businesses and entrepreneurs to explore new markets and the environment, thus exposing them to different societies. These are some of the reasons why CSR has become an obligation rather than a choice for many businesses (Aspelund, Fjell, & Rodland, 2017). It is, therefore, imperative to explore the key concepts and theories of CSR to understand how CSR has helped firms remain sustainable and competitive, while at the same time addressing the environmental, social, and economic consequences of their activities in local and international markets.
Evolution of CSR
Like any other concept in the business field, CSR has evolved over different periods. The first period is referred to as the age of greed where CSR is used to protect the interest of shareholders, and as such, the stage of CSR is referred to as Defensive CSR (Ortenblad, 2016). The second period, referred to as philanthropy age, is characterized by the charitable stage of CSR which involves activities meant to improve the communities living standards through sponsorships and donations. The third age is the marketing age in which CSR is at the promotional stage (Ortenblad, 2016). At this stage, CSR is used to improve corporate brand and public relations. Management is the fourth age, and CSR is at the strategic stage. In this stage, CSR is matched with the firm’s core goals (Ortenblad, 2016). Thus CSR can be viewed as a strategy that helps streamline the company towards its main objective. Finally, responsibility as the last age is characterized by transformative CSR. This involves addressing sustainability and environmental issues by focusing on their root causes. This stage is effective in balancing and facilitating the relationship of the organization with the society. CSR has evolved, and companies are now using it as a proactive rather than a reactive response to issues.
Carroll’s Pyramid/Model of CSR
Carroll’s model is the most common model that is used to explore and understand CSR deeply. The model has four classifications of the responsibilities that a firm has towards the relevant stakeholders. At the bottom of the pyramid is the economic responsibility of the firm (Masoud, 2017; Stachowicz-Stanusch, 2017). This responsibility forms the core reason for the existence of the business, and without it, all other responsibilities would be impossible to meet. The firm has a responsibility to create value for shareholders in term of return on investment, and as such, the firm has to remain profitable. This responsibility is followed by legal responsibility. This implies that the firm has to observe the law because, without the law, the society cannot be able to differentiate between wrong and right (Stachowicz-Stanusch, 2017). Thus, this responsibility is similarly important because it allows the organization and the society to exist in an orderly manner. For instance, firms have to obey the labor laws that ensure that the society (employees) does not feel manipulated in the provision of labor. The third classification comprises of the ethical responsibilities. This classification posits that organizations are obliged to do what is right, according to what the community deems as right (Masoud, 2017). Organizations should not make assumptions about what is right because ethical behavior differs from one culture to another. The last classification, at the top of the pyramid, is the philanthropic responsibility. This implies that businesses and entrepreneurs have a responsibility to improve the quality of life of all stakeholders (Masoud, 2017). This is what the world desires and strives to achieve.
This model has been improved and used to inform other models about CSR. For instance, philanthropy has been adopted to inform the CSR models adopted in South Korea. The model posits that philanthropy is spearheaded by the founders or owners of the business. According to Ang, Idowu, and Low (2014), a majority of CEOs in South Korea have incorporated philanthropy into their strategies for business sustainability. This shows that more firms have realized the importance of CSR, especially in creating sustainable competitive advantage and are no longer treating CSR as an optional activity. Ethical management and sustainability are also some of the CSR models adopted in Korea. A high number of firms have departments that specifically deal with the management of sustainability and business ethics (Ang, Idowu, & Low, 2014). This is a clear indication that CSR is becoming a norm that is being taken seriously by firms, especially regarding environmental and sustainability issues.
Concepts of CSR
Over time, new concepts of CSR have been developed and explored by various scholars. These concepts relate to sustainability, especially from a social and economic perspective.
Corporate Citizenship
This concept was first penned by Carroll to explore further and understand the theory of corporate social responsibility (Masoud, 2017). This concept has since been used to define firms and businesses as citizens who have a responsibility to the community. Thus, corporate citizenship refers to a firm’s self-driven intention to go above what is required by the law in controlling and managing its activities within the society (Tsai, Joe, Lin, Chiu, &Shen, 2014). In Japan, the concept was adopted in the 1980s, as noted by Ang, Idowu, and Low (2014), when the importance of philanthropy was recognized by firms. Corporate citizenship has been effective in improving sustainability for companies. Currently, citizenship forms part of the components of the CSR model, especially in ensuring the continuity of businesses (Ang, Idowu, & Low, 2014). This can be attributed to the fact that consumers and the society at large can identify and associate with corporations that can drive social activities, not because of government regulation but because of their own will to take action. According to Tsai, Joe, Lin, Chiu, and Shen (2014), good corporate citizenship is effective in creating brand trust and driving the purchase intention of consumers. Thus, it is possible for a company to create a competitive advantage using this concept of CSR while at the same time ensuring business sustainability.
Based on Caroll’s Pyramid, corporate citizenship is at the top of the pyramid and encompasses the philanthropic responsibility of a firm towards the community. Thus, being a good corporate citizen is a responsibility that involves giving back to the community and improving the quality of life (Stachowicz-Stanusch, 2017). The philanthropic responsibility is a desire by both the society and the organizations s...