STING Consultants Views & Interviews 10 November 2009 579 views No Comment  Print This Post  Email This Post

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a hotly discussed issue
in corporate circles these days, not least in Sri Lanka.

The rise in importance of CSR is reflected in the number of
internet hits a Google search results in: On 30 May 2005, a
Google search for Corporate Social Responsibility resulted in
1.6 million hits. In 2009, 4 years later, the same search results
in 56 million hits or an increase of 35 times. Unfortunately the
number of definitions for the term CSR has probably risen with
a similar factor. This proliferation of meaning has become a
barrier to fruitful engagement with companies about their
responsibility. Let’s try to agree on a useful definition.

An historical analysis of the term CSR provides nice abstract
phrases but little concrete guidance because responsibility
changes with the changing nature of business itself. CSR is
certainly as old as trade itself because exchanging products
must be based on trust and a certain business ethic. The
modern concept of CSR has only come about when business
reached a scope that could influence society as a whole in
the beginning of the twentieth century. In the fifties, the idea
that a company has to align with the values and objectives
of society was launched by Bowen.

Society’s values change and while social issues used to be
the mainstay of CSR, environmental sustainability has gained
equal importance over the last two decades. The word
“Social” in CSR has become confusing. In French both corporate
social responsibility and corporate societal responsibility are
used. The latter going beyond pure social issues to cover all responsibilities of a corporation towards the society it affects.
To avoid all confusion the word “social” is often dropped and
the more comprehensive term “Corporate Responsibility” or
CR is used. CR means managing your business processes in a
way that minimizes all negative impacts on society and the
environment, while ensuring that business operations give
rise to significant long-term benefits for all stakeholders.
A range of terms are used with almost the same meaning:
corporate sustainability, corporate citizenship, corporate social investment, the triple bottom line, socially responsible investment, business sustainability, corporate responsiveness, the social
policy process, social management, corporate social performance,
etc.

STING Consultants has gone a step further and uses the
term Corporate Accountability (CA). CA goes beyond corporations
being responsible towards their stakeholders by also providing
the ability of those affected by a corporation to have some
control over that corporation’s operations.

The Corporate Accountability Index uses this definition
because the Sri Lankan and global society expects your company
to be accountable.

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