Students are to explore the relationship between corporations and community and establishment of a good corporate reputation in an in-depth way.
Corporations are not only responsible for developing products and making profits. The protection of the interest of the community is also one of their major duties. They have the power to make a larger impact which needs to be properly utilized. The firms need to be socially accountable not only for themselves, but also for the public and its stakeholders. It is important for them to be conscious about what kind of an impact they are making on society socially, economically, and also environmentally.
Taking a look at the definition of the corporate reputation; it is the total assessment of the corporation’s attractiveness to the groups of stakeholders who might be interested in its products as compared to the companies with which it is competing. Reputation is an intangible asset of a company that has to be properly managed. Certain dimensions combine and collectively make the reputation. It is essential to understand each of these dimensions and their roles so that a good reputation can be developed and maintained (DiComo, 2017).
Nowadays, Reputation has become essential for any business to survive in this world. It is important to gain the trust and the confidence of the stakeholders or the consumers that hold an interest in the resources of the cooperation. In this modern world, the words of the mouth do not hold any importance. It is the time of social networking, and with various methods being developed of instant communication, contracts and papers are signed to develop, build and maintain relationships with stakeholders. The companies should be aware of their reputations all the time and must remain conscious about any crisis that can have a negative impact on them.
An organization with a good reputation has certain benefits over its competitors. Consumers possess a preference for its products and services even though other organizations offer the same product for the same or even lower prices. They support the firm in a controversial situation or in its times of crisis.
Now moving towards a broader concept, which is the need for a firm to maintain a good reputation in society. Any firm operating in whatever country holds certain obligations to its society that must be fulfilled. It must be the first and foremost priority of the firm to keep the interests and the welfare of its society in mind. This interest directs towards the social responsibility of the firm. Performing this social responsibility honestly and properly does not only benefit society, but it develops the good reputation of the firm. That is why corporations these days use it as a management strategy along with performing their normal operations.
Corporate social responsibility is one way or a business model that helps a corporation to maintain a good reputation in the community. It was considered as a strategy for business self-regulation in the past. But as now various laws are being developed internationally, it has become bigger than an individual or even industry-wide thing. It has now become a mandatory policy or scheme for the corporations to follow at regional or national levels (Serafeim, 2014).
With the implementation of some models of corporate social responsibility, organizations are allowed to do some social goods and go beyond the interest of the firms. However, if they fail to do so or do not do it by choice, there are no punishments. Enterprises should prove to be responsible citizenships. They should embrace responsibility for their actions and try to create a positive impact on the environment, communities, consumers, stakeholders, and employees through its activities.
Corporate social responsibility is also known as corporate citizenship. By social responsibility, it means the obligations and duties to foster, increase, enhance and protect the benefit of the people and the stakeholders. It is a code of ethics. Transparency, responsibility, competitiveness, and accountability are the four major components that influenced the development of CSR. Other dimensions such as work environment and emotional appeal can also be compared with the CRS to obtain the maximum advantage (Smith, 2013).
Different countries look at CSR with different approaches. It is the development of high quality and safe products for Chinese consumers. CSR means the provision of secure employment for Germans. In South Africa, it means contributing to society by fulfilling the social needs of people such as education and health care. In Europe, companies make monetary donations and give aid to nonprofit communities and organizations in the name of cooperate social responsibility. Donations can be made in different areas such as housing, education, the arts, the environment, and social welfare.
As beneficial as CSR is for society, it is equally beneficial for the company itself. It helps establish a stronger bond with the stakeholders and the employees. The companies that implement this system have grown to the point where they have enough that can be given back to society as well. Also, the more successful, and larger the company gets, it becomes more of its responsibility to set ethical standards for its competitors and the industry.
In the end, it is concluded that Corporate Social responsibility helps the firms to sell their brand and increase their competitive advantage. Businesses should make the fulfillment of social and environmental goals their main purpose along with achieving their financial goals. The businesses that follow this agenda are called social enterprises. Companies should adopt schemes like corporate social responsibility to maintain a good reputation in society. Firms that can provide the community with benefits in the form of donations and charity to the poor, performing volunteer activities.
References
DiComo, P. (2017, April 14). How to Maintain Your Company’s Reputation. Retrieved from http://haileshaw.com/maintaining-companys-reputation/
Serafeim, G. (2014). The Role of the Corporation in Society: An Alternative View and Opportunities for Future Research. Retrieved from https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/14-110_e7a7f1b3-be0d-4992-93cc-7a4834daebf1.pdf
Smith, J. (2013, October 2). The Companies With the Best CSR Reputations. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/10/02/the-companies-with-the-best-csr-reputations-2/
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