Corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for

the company's effects on the environment and impact

on social welfare. The term generally applies to
company efforts that go beyond what may be required
by regulators or environmental protection groups.
Corporate social responsibility may also be referred to
as "corporate citizenship" and can involve incurring
short-term costs that do not provide an immediate
financial benefit to the company, but instead promote
positive social and environmental change.

INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS 'CORPORATE

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY'
Companies have a lot of power in the community and in
the national economy. They control a lot of assets, and
may have billions in cash at their disposal for socially
conscious investments and programs. Some companies
may engage in "greenwashing", or feigning interest in
corporate responsibility, but many large corporations
are devoting real time and money to environmental
sustainability programs, alternative energy/cleantech,
and various social welfare initiatives to benefit
employees, customers, and the community at large.

Corporate Social Responsibility refers to a code of

conduct and action beyond what is required by laws,
regulations and trade rules.
Corporate social responsibility can be anything from a

corporation taking steps to operate in a clean,

ecologically friendly way, to social and ethical
educational programs for its employees, to various
charitable endeavors and community involvement.
Besides creating goodwill, does social responsibility
help the corporations bottom line? Perhaps. Creating a
positive attitude toward the company might lead to
increased sales, loyal customers and external interest in
the company's stock.

However, some say it has a negative effect. They

argue that the only responsibility a corporation should
have is to obey all laws and operate to maximize profits
for shareholders. Doing anything to the contrary is a
distraction from the lawful maximization of profits.
Still, most corporations have some form of corporate
social responsibility as part of their operations, and
many would agree that society tends to benefit from a
kinder, gentler approach to social impact by major
corporations.
GoodCoffee Corp is a coffee house based in a country
with no restrictions on imports. GoodCoffee chooses
between importing from two countries, evil-land and
fair-land. While evil-land offers its coffee at a cheaper
price, they are known for mistreating and exploiting
their coffee farmers. Fair-land on the other hand, is
known for having a fair and well established coffee
farming industry, and for giving high quality benefits to
its coffee farmers. Because GoodCoffee Corp practices
corporate responsibility regarding countries not treating
their farmers fairly, they choose to only import the more
expensive but responsibly sourced coffee from fairland.

Are you familiar with the term 'corporate social responsibility'? This
concept relates to how growth can be achieved in a responsible way by
people, businesses and governments. Corporate social responsibility
(CSR) takes into account increased populations and scarce resources to
ensure that global development is sustainable. Three central pillars of
economic progress, social justice and environmental protection now form
the basis of how businesses interact and support communities