Social ResponsibilitySocial ResponsibilitySocial responsibility is the principle that companies should contribute to the welfare of society and not be solely devoted to maximizing profits (Social Responsibility | Define Social Responsibility at Dictionary.com). According to Dictionary.com, socially responsible companies can act in a number of ways to benefit society. For example, companies can give money to the arts, fund academic scholarships, support community-building initiatives, and other community involvements (Social Responsibility | Define Social Responsibility at Dictionary.com). They can also commit to not pollute or to reduce the pollution they put out, to not build weapons, and so forth (Social Responsibility | Define Social Responsibility at Dictionary.com). To work responsibly and ethically should be the values of a business because social responsibility can be directly associated with a good profitable business.
In conclusion, the definition of “social responsibility” in Dictionary.com is based off of statements by Dictionary.com employees, who have described a number of ways they think they will share the responsibility for reducing the use of human beings and the environment (Social Responsibility | Define Social Responsibility at Dictionary.com). The definitions and terms used by the definitions in this article are meant to provide basic information for businesses interested in helping individuals and the environment to share and benefit from their work. However, each of those definitions is meant to provide an understanding of how the concepts described here may vary, especially in regard to individuals and the environment.
This definition uses the word “social responsibility.” We’ll use the word because it does not imply that companies are the only ones to contribute to human society (i.e., the government, academia, society as a whole, or, at the very least, the individual corporation or individual citizenry)
We’ll use the term social responsibility because it doesn’t mean that corporations also, or their individual directors or individuals, own, or are currently owned or controlled by these organizations (which is to say that they are merely corporations that take the law-enforcement role a certain way, but are also independent contractors and public policy officials; they operate independently and have nothing to do with the activities of each organization; their activities are not government business and they aren’t a public agency).
In addition, social responsibility may be used of groups to promote charitable cause, such as children’s or other child protection programs, for which corporations share some responsibility; in the case of such a corporate, the corporations have some responsibility for the good of society; and in certain cases, corporations take some responsibility for the rights of social people in exchange for these social benefits (i.e., for their contributions to those rights, or for their ability to help improve such rights). In some cases, the corporations may even be paid just for their work, and thus may not be considered “social enterprise” by Dictionary.com, which would mean businesses or individuals who are otherwise considered “social entrepreneurs” would be eligible for that designation on several counts. However, for those who are not defined as “social enterprise” by Dictionary.com, in cases where some of these categories of corporations are called “social enterprises,” the concept of social responsibility may appear to be appropriate.
In order not to violate Dictionary.com’s terms, companies may “communicate in a way that encourages social responsibility” (Boyd 2005: 547). If two or more of these corporations agree to “take some responsibility for the social good of society” for certain social purposes, companies may be entitled to receive certain benefits for those activities. Companies may also be entitled to certain legal privileges, such as the right to sue and to make judgments (see the Dictionary.com Terms and Conditions for more information on the specific privileges and rights and requirements of corporations).
It has been noted several times that if a corporation is required to give up some or all of its social responsibility, then then there are several situations in which a corporation may choose to reduce its social responsibility. The question then arises, how far corporations may “communicate in a way that encourages social responsibility” for the following (as defined further in this paragraph):
One of the following circumstances may be described as allowing for social responsibility, viz., if a corporation uses social responsibility broadly, and has some or all of the following rights or privileges:
It is not a legal or equitable right to a citizen of the United States to provide for his or her own personal life or to take his or her own physical safety. It is not a legal or equitable right to be able to marry legally because such a marriage has the same legal status as one obtained pursuant to a union. It would be consistent with the other
The United States company that I chose to use as my main example and that is international is Wal-Mart. In 1991, Wal-Mart became an international company when they opened a Sams Club near Mexico City (Walmartstores.com: International). Just two years later, Wal-Mart International was created (Walmartstores.com: International). Although Wal-Mart may not be the first firm that comes to mind when investors think of “socially responsible” firms, I think the company has been trying to do the right thing for some time now, and it deserves some credit. After all, “socially responsible” is a process, not a destination.
One way that Wal-Mart is socially responsible is the company measures “community involvement” by how much it gives in local cash or in kind donations. For one of my high school classes, we had to go around and receive donations for a childrens Christmas party we were having. I went to Wal-Mart and they gave me almost two garbage bags full of toys and they even gave me two bicycles. Every time I have gone to Wal-Mart to ask for a donation, I have always gotten something, rather it is just a small amount on a gift card or those toys. The only circumstance that is usually required is that you have to have a written letter stating what the donation is for and make sure its reasonable. Wal-Mart also adopted a scorecard program to review the way each product is made, its merchandising, and its recycling availability. The only thing that Wal-Mart is lacking as far as being socially responsible is its construction sites continue to produce toxic run-off that pollutes groundwater and streams, and the retailer continues to pay fines for such environmentally unfriendly practices.
Going green is another example of Wal-Mart being a socially responsible company. According to Wal-Mart they would create what is called a sustainability index that would be implemented over a series of three phases (Walmart Going Green?). This would include analyzing over 100,000 of its suppliers and understanding how they operate, where a product is made, and its environmental policies (such as greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and solid waste disposal)(Walmart Going Green?). Promoting and selling products that are less dependent on the use of fossil fuels would be another good thing for Wal-Mart to do to improve their social responsibility.
I wouldnt say that Wal-Marts actions has either improved or harmed its public image because Wal-Mart is such a huge company and everyone still goes there. Wal-Mart continues to make best ranked lists of all sorts of things. For example, it ranked 9 out of 50 for Worlds Most Admired Companies in Fortune 500 in 2010 (Worlds Most Admired Companies 2010: Wal-Mart Stores Snapshot – FORTUNE on CNNMoney.com). It has also ranked number one in general merchandisers in the past two years in Fortune 500 (Worlds Most Admired Companies 2010: Wal-Mart Stores Snapshot – FORTUNE on CNNMoney.com).
Being socially responsible in a global market you must be more responsible when it comes to ethics,