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Reading/Speaking Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Aims
To develop skills of reading an authentic business
text and working out the meaning of difficult vocabulary from context To develop spoken fluency and writing skills

Tasks
Read and analyse an authentic text on CSR Role-play a business meeting Write a business report, email or press release

Lead-in
Discuss these questions with a partner. 1. What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)? What does it include? 2. What are the advantages for companies? For employees? For other people?

Reading
Read the article quickly. What advantages of CSR are mentioned?

Employees still value CSR, despite recession

Downturn or no, workers still work harder for firms which do the right thing, says survey. Even in a chilly economic climate, people prefer to work for companies that do right by the environment and their fellow human beings, it seems. At any rate, thats the conclusion of a survey of 1,000 employees by the Kenexa Research Institute, a division of US-based HR and recruitment specialist Kenexa. It found that workers who rated their firms environmental and corporate responsibility activities positively were more likely to be proud of the organisation, demonstrated a higher level of job satisfaction, were more likely to say they wanted to stay, and were also more likely to recommend it as a place of work to their friends. Plenty of qualitative upside, then, if not much in the way of quantitative justification. Perhaps they think that too many numbers would make our heads hurt. The survey even claims that the benefits go all the way to the bottom line, where responsible firms outperform their less-sustainable rivals on important financial metrics such as diluted earnings per share. An impressive claim once again, and one wed have been happier to take at face value with a few hard numbers to back it up. All the same, the findings do seem to indicate that those sceptics who thought that CSR was a luxury that people would ditch as soon as some economic heavy weather came along may have been judging the business community a little harshly. Nevertheless, the survey also goes on to claim that many firms are missing a trick. Because despite all the good things that apparently accrue to socially-responsible firms, only 40% of those surveyed said their firm was responsible. This leaves nearly 60% languishing in blissful ignorance of how much better things might be, if only they boosted their green credentials and started to behave a bit more sustainably. Furthermore, even in a recovery as slow and gradual as the UKs emergence from recession promises to be, there will still be increasing competition amongst employers for the best talent. And if the sharpest tools on the jobs market are all looking for firms whose social conscience matches their commercial performance, it behoves every employer to make sure their credentials are up to the mark. It might help you get the most out of your existing staff, too.

Comprehension
Read the article again and answer these questions. 1. What does the writer mean by qualitative upside? What four examples are given? 2. What point is the writer making by referring to quantitative justification? 3. Why did some people think that firms would ditch their CSR? 4. How are 60% of companies languishing in blissful ignorance? 5. Who are the sharpest tools on the jobs market? What two things are they looking for?
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Reading/Speaking
Discussion
Discuss these questions with a partner. 1. Do you think the surveys findings can be taken at face value, or do they need hard numbers to back them up? 2. Do you agree that 60% of companies are missing a trick? 3. Does CSR really make a difference for employees and potential employees?

Vocabulary A
Match the beginnings with the endings to make phrases connected with CSR. With a partner, discuss what the statements mean in practical terms and whether you agree with them. 1. Companies should do the a. responsible. 2. They should do b. sustainably. 3. Managers should consider our fellow c. right by the environment. 4. We should be more socially- d. credentials. 5. Companies need to boost their green e. conscience. 6. They should behave more f. right thing. 7. Companies need a social g. human beings.

Vocabulary B
Match these words and phrases with the explanations. 1. A downturn is a. you do it with little sympathy. b. a very conservative way of measuring a companys 2. The bottom line is financial health. 3. If you outperform sb, c. it is right/appropriate for you to do it. 4. Financial metrics are d. you do better than them. 5. Diluted earnings per share (diluted EPS) is e. you use it fully, with no waste. 6. If you do sth harshly f. a worsening of business activity. 7. If sth accrues g. tools for measuring and analysing financial data. 8. If it behoves you to do sth h. it grows by addition. 9. If you are up to the mark i. a companys overall profit or loss. 10. If you get the most out of sth j. you are good enough.

Role-play
Discussing a new CSR policy You are the directors of a medium-sized manufacturing company with around 100 employees, around half in production and half in administration and management. Your factory makes electrical equipment for industry. Your company is no worse than most in terms of its negative environmental and social impact. However, you have never seen it as a priority to try to make a positive impact. You are currently struggling to recruit talented engineers and management trainees. Hold a meeting to discuss these questions. 1. Do we need to implement a CSR policy? 2. What should such a policy involve? 3. How much would it cost to implement? 4. What would be the benefits (tangible and intangible)? 5. What can we do to make sure people are aware of our CSR policy?

Writing
Write one of the following based on your meeting. Use at least 10 words and phrases in italics from this lesson in your writing. A report of the meeting, summarising the issues discussed and conclusions reached; An email to all staff, setting out the new CSR policy and what it means for them; or A press release outlining your new CSR policy, with a view to improving your companys image.
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Reading/Speaking Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Aims
To develop skills of reading an authentic business
text and working out the meaning of difficult vocabulary from context To develop spoken fluency and writing skills Level Stronger classes (B2-C2). Timing 60 minutes This lesson can be used to supplement Unit 24 of English for Business Studies or as a standalone lesson with any business English class. It is based on a text from Management Today. http://www. managementtoday.co.uk/channel/GovernanceCSR/ news/998993/employees-value-csr-despite-recession/.

Tasks
Read and analyse an authentic text on CSR Role-play a business meeting Write a business report, email or press release
the survey should have been supported by numbers to prove the benefits, rather than based solely on opinions. 3 Because it could be seen as a luxury to enjoy when there is spare money, but something to ditch (= abandon) when money is tight. 4 They are not aware of the advantages of CSR. 5 The best new graduates and potential employees. They are looking for firms with both a strong social conscience and strong commercial performance.

Discussion (5-10 minutes)

Students discuss the questions in pairs and then feed back to the class. Make sure students understand the phrases in italics.

Lead-in (5 minutes)
Students discuss in pairs and then feed back to the class. Answers: CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making (see http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility). It includes businesses taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and members of the public. For advantages, see article.

Vocabulary A (10 minutes)

Students work alone to complete the exercise and then discuss the statements in pairs. Open up the discussion to include the whole group and check students have understood the meanings of the phrases in italics. Answers: 1f 2c 3g 4a 5d 6b 7e

Vocabulary B (5-10 minutes)

Students work alone to complete the exercise and then check in pairs. Check students have understood the meanings of the phrases in italics. Answers: 1f 2i 3d 4g 5b 6a 7h 8c 9j 10e

Reading (5-10 minutes)

Students read to find at least three advantages. They then discuss their answers in pairs and feed back to the class. Avoid explaining too many words at this stage. Answers: The text mentions: people prefer to work for them; they are more profitable (the benefits go all the way to the bottom line); they are better able to compete with other employers for the best talent.

Background note
Earnings per share (EPS) = A companys profits divided by the number of shares outstanding. Diluted EPS takes account of warrants, stock options, convertible preferred shares, etc. Diluted EPS is usually much lower than EPS. Source: http://www. investopedia.com/terms/d/dilutedeps.asp.

Comprehension (510 minutes)

Students read the text again to find the answers and then discuss the answers in pairs. Check that students have understood the meaning of the phrases in italics. Answers: 1 Opinion-based advantages. The four examples are: more likely to be proud of the organisation; a higher level of job satisfaction; more likely to say they wanted to stay; more likely to recommend it as a place of work. 2 The writer thinks the findings of

Role-play (15-20 minutes) Students work in groups of up to six to role-play the scenario. Set a time limit and choose a chairperson for each group before they start. Writing
Students choose one of the tasks to write as homework.
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