5 reasons why CSR is fundamental to your business success!
- Sustainability Solutions
- CSR, CSR Strategy, Entrepreneurship
- 5 min reading time
Dea Marovic
The term sustainability is being used more and more frequently in today's politics, society and economy and stands for responsible, resource-conserving and future-oriented action by stakeholders. It deals with the three interdependent areas of economy, ecology and social affairs; these should therefore be considered together and on an equal footing. Corporate social responsibility ( CSR ) is becoming increasingly important when considering sustainability. This primarily involves the services voluntarily offered by companies for a moral basis for action.
For many entrepreneurs, responsibility for society has become a core part of their mission. In this globalised world, with many countries closely interconnected and a complex, sometimes non-transparent supply chain, companies have to face great competition around the globe.
Cheaper, faster, better - these are the buzzwords of today's economy. But at what price? Increasing competition harms above all the people who cannot protect themselves - from the exploitation of workers in low-wage countries who have to work under inhumane conditions to the irreversible destruction of the environment. Profit maximisation is usually at the centre of economic activity.
What are current CSR-related challenges for companies?
The challenge for companies now is to be able to withstand the increasing competition - or better, to stand out from the crowd. Here, the implementation of corporate social responsibility in the corporate structure can give companies a significant competitive advantage, which can lead to long-term success for all involved and is characterized by higher efficiency and productivity. CSR activities can thus be crucial to a company's success. The specific benefits of CSR for companies are analyzed in more detail below.
The 5 reasons for CSR in your company
The benefits analyzed above are only a small glimpse of the many benefits achievable through CSR activities. It can be said that CSR activities are crucial to the success of companies in today's globalized world in order to satisfy all the various stakeholders and generate long-term success for the organization.
How CSR can be integrated into a company
The challenge in CSR is to get a clear understanding of the term CSR. Thus, the first step of successful implementation is the interpretation of the term CSR (see chapter: What CSR exactly is) and the analysis of the ACTUAL state. In this step, a company deals with the question of what the company and its products currently stand for and, above all, what they should stand for in the future. Previous CSR activities, such as sponsoring or environmental protection measures, are analyzed and evaluated. With the help of surveys and evaluations, it is also possible to determine how CSR issues have been dealt with to date and, if necessary, to optimize them.
The next step is to formulate clear goals and intermediate targets. Here it is important that all CSR strategies should also fit in with the core business of the respective company. This is the only way to implement and enforce a CSR concept profitably in the long term. With the help of measurable interim targets, the progress of the overall strategy can be regularly reviewed.
This is followed by the establishment of the CSR strategy. Here, it is important to put the elaborated strategies into practice by defining binding responsibilities and distributing the work fairly. CSR measures should not be perceived as an additional workload, but should motivate employees and promote corporate cohesion.
The final step is the evaluation of the CSR measures. The implementation of CSR is constantly monitored and reviewed. Here, particular attention is paid to whether previous CSR results of the intermediate goals have been successfully achieved or could even be improved. If this is the case, goals can be adjusted and measures realigned in this step.
There is no single CSR implementation process that can be applied equally to all companies. However, the goal of every CSR-driven company is to achieve both social and corporate added value with the individual, specific solutions and strategies. In general, however, the 4 phases can be identified to some extent for all companies that have a corporate social responsibility concept, because a concept must be understood, implemented through appropriate processes and measures, and results must be achieved.
Would you like to delve deeper into this topic? Then we look forward to a personal exchange on the topic of corporate social responsibility. Simply get in touch with us!
More information on the topic of sustainability can also be found in other Wiki articles.
