What is CSR?

Corporate Social Responsibility is the commitment of business to contribute to a sustainable development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life, in ways that are both good for business and good for [international] development.

Since those very first days of practising CSR, many different definitions of its from various points of view have been mentioned. Some of them can be recalled from the book Corporate Responsibility – a critical introduction (Blowfield and Murray, 2008:13), such as

A responsible company is the one that listens to stakeholders and responds with honesty to their concerns.

Starbucks, CRS Report, 2004

CSR commits us to operate in a socially responsible way everywhere we do business, fairly balancing the rising needs so such stakeholders – all those who impact, are impacted by, or have a legitimate interest in the Company’s actions and performance.

Chiquita, www.chiquita.com, accessed 24 March 2004

CSR [is] the proposition that companies are responsible not only for maximizing profits, but also for recognising the needs of such stakeholders as employees, customers, demographic groups and even the regions they serve.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, www.pwcglobal.com, accessed 24 March 2004

CSR is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.

Lord Holme, former executive director of Rior Tinto, and Philip Watts, former chair of Royal Dutch Shell

CSR requires companies to acknowledge that they should public accountable not only for their financial performance but also for their social and environment record… CSR encompasses the extent to which companies should promote human rights, democracy, community improvement and sustainable development objectives throughout the world.

Confederation of British Industry, 2001

[CSR is] a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interactions with stakeholders on a voluntary basis.

European Commission, Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs

CSR is the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life, in ways that are both good for business and good for [international] development.

World Bank, www.worldbank.org/privatesector, accessed 24 March 2004

However, the central idea is that a business has responsibility to contribute towards the society with a sustainable development in economy along with environment conservation and human resources promotion, as other two main resources of the society. This new perspective has installed a new ground for business performance.