University CSR and Philanthropy: Balancing Economic, Legal, Ethical, and Social Responsibilities

The paragraph discusses the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its various aspects, such as economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities. It emphasizes the need for companies to address issues arising from socially responsible actions and highlights the significance of active participation from both the company and stakeholders for successful CSR efforts. The paragraph also includes a list of references related to CSR and philanthropy.

Running head: CSR PHILANTHROPY
CSR philanthropy
Nam of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

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Executive summary
The aim of the report is to analyze the issue of corporate social responsibility and the nuances
attached to it. The first part of the report highlights the concept CSR and their nuances. The
second part of the report has been developed to analyze the four types of corporate social
responsibilities with specific examples of companies. This has been analyzed to criticize the
issue faced by these corporate bodies while implementing the CSR policies. The last part of the
report summarizes the key issues of CSR to find out the reason behind the issues arising
irrespective of having a robust CSR policy at practice.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Ethical concerns of the company: Unilever & Volkswagen........................................................5
Legal issues of the company: Nokia............................................................................................7
Economic responsibility issue of companies: Goldman Sachs....................................................8
Philanthropic issues of companies: Microsoft...........................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Philanthropy, taken from the Greek word literally means the “love for mankind”. The
idea of Corporate Social Responsibility is the new buzzword of the 21st century (Amaeshi et al.
2016). This is one kind of charitable actions carried out by the companies as it is the duty of the
individual and corporate and non-corporate bodies to contribute towards society. It is the way of
taking up socially responsible action, and this is the way companies undertake self-regulation
approaches. The purpose of the report is to analyze the issue of CSR philanthropy through
various perspectives by citing multiple examples of these bodies.
Discussion
According to Carroll, corporate social responsibility is the social performance is the
process of inclusion on the global level and embracing the social responsibility and undertaking
activities that are socially beneficial to the people (Carroll 2016). According to Carroll and
Schwartz, corporate social responsibility is measured in terms of the performance of the business
entities (Carroll 2016).
The idea of corporate philanthropy is narrower than the concept of CSR, the idea of
corporate philanthropy is based in the belief that in order to take socially responsible actions, it is
important to make donations both to the individuals, NGO’s for the purpose of charity (De Jong
et al., 2017). However donations do not necessarily mean financial donations. This might also
include the company’s multiple efforts of fundraising, to campaign for the social causes or to the
camps like blood donations, sustained drives etc. The issues that are undertaken by the CSR
activities are multifaceted like environment, human rights issues, sustainability, and transparency

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for the greater good of the society (Hopkins 2017). Business entities undertake CSR within their
business model since it is crucial for them to maintain an impact beyond the business interest and
make the contribution to society. This is important to refer to the rise of the CSR philosophy and
the current CSR practices of national and international companies. According to Porter and
Kramer, the “context-focused approach”, CSR activities will include specific social and
economic goals (Da Silva et al. 2018)). This idea should be viewed in the light of two opposite
perspectives. According to the Charity principle, all the business entities should opt for voluntary
activities for the people with need and contribute to the more significant cause of the society.
While the stewardship principle mentions that business entities are actually public trustees and it
is the duty of them to undertake actions for the who are some way or the way affected by the
business decisions (Malik 2015). However, it is essential to consider that the interdependence of
businesses and society requires a proper balancing mechanism and it is essential to diversify the
company’s interest through their contribution to society. However, it is essential to understand
the nuances of the issue by referring to the companies who follow a particular CSR model for
their business endeavors.
There are multiple companies who have taken up CSR responsibility and have also made
substantial changes. The Ben and Jerry's is the first company whose CSR record goes back to the
1980s, this company has a gift of 50,000 shares, and over 7.5 % of the company’s total profit
goes to the cause of philanthropy (Horne 2018). It is estimated that the company has made over
$1.8 million donations per year to fund the educational and socially backward communities and
many other social causes like environmental sustainability (Da Silva et al. 2018). It is important
to note that CSR is more than just words; it is actually taking direct action for the cause of
society. The second most important global brands that have made a meaningful impact in the

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field of active CSR are the Starbucks (Lock 2017). This global coffee and beverages brand is
known to have an important contribution in uplifting the condition of the refugees. For example,
the company has provided over million coffee trees to the farmers of the refugee's community as
a source of employment and helped them to become self-dependent. It has also undertaken an
initiative of employing 10,000 refugees in their workshops across 75 countries (Horne 2018). It
is to be noted that CSR policies are all-inclusive and it is not restricted to the monetary
donations. There are multiple companies that have essential contribution is the field of
employment generation and upliftment of communities (Long et al. 2015). For example, the
global group BMW has made a significant contribution in developing the inter-cultural
understanding, education and sanitation benefits for the marginalized communities (Da Silva et
al. 2018). There are some companies which have also undertaken initiatives like re-skilling their
employees and enhancing their job satisfaction by ensuring their work-life balance. Over 80% of
their employees have shared positive feedback regarding their CSR policies (Horne 2018).
Hence, it could be argued that an active and robust CSR policy in practice is the key to success
for future companies. However, it is to note that irrespective of this CSR policy, companies
continue to face specific challenges in terms of economic, legal, technological and moral and
philanthropic. The later of the essay discusses the challenges faced by the companies (Long et al.
2015).
Since all the companies are faced with a multiplicity of responsibilities in both front, at
the internal level it is focused on making profit, at the external level, it is focused on making
socially responsible actions (Malik 2015). Among these responsibilities, companies take up four
types of actions, the economic responsibilities, the legal responsibilities, the ethical
responsibilities and philanthropic responsibilities.

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Ethical concerns of the company: Unilever & Volkswagen
The first issue faced by one of the prominent companies of the world is the Volkswagen.
On one hand, the company ensures the concept of sustainability of the environment, social and
governmental protection, on the other, it has failed to maintain basic ethical standards. Their
usages of the diesel engine have been questioned largely by the world community since it is one
of the highest emitters of toxic gases (Forbes.com, 2019). It is to be argued that under the veil of
sustainability, the company has failed to maintain an ethical standard. It is found that their
principles and practical implications are actually contradictory and it faces challenges of ethical
conduct (Forbes.com, 2019). All business entities should ensure a minimum level of moral
conduct while framing the CSR policies and measure time to time these parameters. However,
what is found in reality is something different than the desired outcome.
Even when companies have taken up responsibilities for Corporate and socially
responsible actions, it is imperative to note that companies are faced with multiple issues, one of
them being the ethical concerns (Moravcikova et al. 2015). One of the primary ethical dilemmas
that the companies are facing the emission of carbon dioxide and other forms of greenhouse
gases (Marques-Mendes et al. 2016). There are joint initiatives like the Drive sustainability
comprising of over 70 companies who have set up a raw materials observatory in order to
identify the environmental hazards arising out of toxic gas emissions (Marques-Mendes et al.
2016). This requires the explanation of the Unilever’s CSR policies and their ethical concerns
associated with it. The company undertakes the stakeholder’s approach where the motive of the
company is to reach to the interest of the stakeholders (Malik 2015). The company has taken up
measures towards the consumers’ health and well being with an enhanced interest in the energy
proficiency around the world and the most important step taken up by them is their reduced use

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of water to maintain the water conservation (Wieland 2017). However, it is not to forget that the
company still faces certain ethical issues in terms of their responsibilities like maintaining a
healthy work culture within their employees. Unilever has faced large scale criticism for the
failure to maintain the basic safety standard. The company has failed in protecting the employees
in the arts of Asia and India from the harmful exposure of mercury in one of their plants which
has even gone to the extent of a lawsuit (Sheehy 2015). The company has also been in the news
because of the violation of basic rights of the employees off the company from protecting them
from sexual harassment (Malik 2015). Moreover, the company has also been criticized for
having collusion with one of its competitors in the provinces of South Africa. It is to be noted
that the company's focus on the socially responsible actions has distracted him from taking
effective actions towards the ethical business issues of the company internally and externally.
Unfortunately the company irrespective of a robust system of CSR and their practical
implementation is suffering (Moravcikova et al. 2015). It is without any doubt that Unilever has
one of the most successful CSR policies of the world; however, there are these problems internal
to the company which the company do not want to acknowledge. It is also because of their own
interpretation of the term “sustainability” (Marques-Mendes et al. 2016). Many of their
sustainability goals have not been included within the mandatory rules which leave scope for
probable drawbacks of the system. Hence it is essential to acknowledge that irrespective of a
strong CSR policy at hand and their practical implementation; the company might face
challenges in future unless the issues with internal ethical issues are resolved. It is essential to
consider the issues of the company for their own employees before reaching out to the people
external to it.

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Legal issues of the company: Nokia
Nokia has taken a large number of sustainability measures in the last few years.
According to their report of 2009, Nokia has aimed to protect the environment, for example, the
company has taken up the measure to reduce the power consumption and help to conserve the
energy conservation (Nokia.com, 2019). However, it is not to forget that the company faces
severe challenges in the protection of the labour laws and this has been criticized as one of the
legal aspects that the company tends to ignore. The company runs a range of campaigns and
other programs to make people aware about the health and safety issues, and it is it is imperative
to note that the company also takes up steps to reduce any workplace discrimination and
violation. In terms of their CSR policy implementations, it includes issues like labour security,
human rights protection, and environmental protection and most importantly the community
development(Nokia.com, 2019). For example, the company has adopted collaboration with the
save the children campaign of India to contribute towards the development of the
underprivileged children of the country (Nokia.com, 2019). However, it does not rule out the
possibility of legal failure of the protection of their labour laws. According to the data, Nokia has
not followed the basic labour standard, and it has seen significant job cuts in recent years. In the
last few years, the company has transferred over a thousand employees due to the issues arising
out of the internal problem. However, it is significant to note that the interest of the employees
was impacted as it is in Nokia’s interest to cut cost and boost up their development. Such
incidents of legal violation of laws in China highlight the issue of broader economic issues. It is
to be argued that the company irrespective of having an effective and roust CSR policy in
different parts of the world, do face issues of legal and economic concern and it is required to
take socially responsible actions both at the internal and the external level (Thauer 2016). It is

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significant to note that companies face issues including the legal and economical while
implementing the CSR policies. However, there are chances for the company to reduce such
incidents which can help them to build a better CSR policy s and avoid responsibilities in future.
Economic issue of companies: Goldman Sachs
On the economic front, companies and business entities face a lot of challenges because
the role of the government is shrinking. Earlier the role of the government has been more
intruding where the required legislations were taken by the respective governments of the
country, and the objectives of the business entities were limited to financial donation. However,
the current challenge faced by companies is more complex and broader than before. There is an
example of Sears Holdings corporations which has adopted the environmental sustainability
measures to make itself a greener company have failed in the last few years to maintain their
CSR standard. This company has faced the issue of poor financial performance in the last years
which has profoundly impacted the CSR policies of the company. There are examples of
companies that have failed to maintain profit for their stakeholders. There are companies like
Goldman Sachs that since 2008 have to take up multi-layered approach towards corporate
engagement and socially responsible actions. It is significant to note that the company failed to
maintain its reputation in the market for failing to cater to the interest of their own stakeholders
and customers. The company has taken up philanthropic activities over $ 1.6 billion to help
engage in the societal issues however it failed to perform in an effective manner and suffered
tremendous loss in recent years (Goldman Sachs, 2019). The falling revenue of the company
remained below $34.5 billion in the previous years. This is an economic issue that impacted the
company’s robust CSR policies and restricted socially responsible actions (Goldman Sachs,
2019). There are concerns like lack of transparency of the governmental bodies which acts as a

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barrier to the effective implementation of the CSR policies of the respective companies. It has
been found that the money allocated to the respective field do not reach due to the lack of
transparency of the government apparatus from the local to the national level. These impacts in
the lack of trust building of the company and the multiple stakeholders for the implementation of
the CSR policies. The primary issues faced by Goldman Sachs in implementing its CSR policies
have faced the issue of lack of NGO’s through which it can implement their policies in the most
efficient way possible. Hence, non-availability of the non-governmental sector is a reason for the
ineffective implementation of the policies at the ground level. Another essential factor that arises
before the company while implementing the CSR contribution to specific issues and prioritizing
some issues over others. There is another issue of clear guideline available for the effective
implementation of the CSR policies.
Philanthropic issues of companies: Microsoft
In the recent years there is no dearth of companies who are contributing to the society to
a greater extent: however, there is criticism that these corporate houses are contributing for the
wrong persons and the wrong reasons (Wang et al. 2018). There are further criticisms on this
regard that it is not about the money; instead, it is the reach to the people that will make a
positive difference. Even after forming a strategic policy for the company to undertake the
socially responsible actions, it has been found that the corporation takes up social issues that are
less relevant and there may be the prevalence of other issues which requires immediate action.
This is harming the interest of the company in two ways, and their CSR is being implemented in
a positive manner; secondly, they face secondary issues and responsibilities that are more
important to undertake. For example, there are companies which make donations for the
development of the community; however, the money given for the cause does not get utilized in

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an effective manner. There is the example of Henry Repeating Arms which in its attempt to
genuinely help the local kid donated a lump sum amount of $40000, however, it is criticized that
this donation does not reach to the right hands. In the philanthropic initiatives, companies face
issues while making donations, or making a charitable contribution to the local, national and
international organizations. For example, there are companies like Microsoft who contributes
towards the education of underprivileged children, eradication of health-related issues like
malaria or development of agriculture (Microsoft, 2019). According to the estimation, Microsoft
was the most significant contributor of 2014 in terms of monetary donation and other initiatives;
however, it is wrong out the possibility of facing challenges and threats of fulfilling these
philanthropic responsibilities (Microsoft, 2019).
Moreover, small and medium enterprises can engage with these big companies in taking
up socially responsible actions (UnileverMalaysia. 2019). However, there are certain challenges
and issues faced by the companies in implementing the CSR policies like rile of the government
in the respective countries or lack of local capacities. Since the targeted population which is the
recipient of the CSR activities is diverse, it is sometimes a challenge for the companies to cater
to the interest of them in an effective manner. There is a need to build the local capacity for the
effective implementation of the policies. Microsoft, for example, faces issues like
underdeveloped infrastructure and lack of capacity while implementing those CSR actions in
areas of Asia (von Schnurbein et al. 2016).
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the following discussion that the issue of CSR is complex and it
includes the multiplicity of ideas. There are companies with a robust system of CSR framework

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and their implementation: however, there are also possibilities of facing issues and challenges
while implementing them. There are issues that companies face like narrow perspective towards
the CSR initiative and small overlook towards the issues. There is another issue of consensus of
implementing the CSR issues that corporate bodies have to cater to in order to have effective
management of their CSR framework. Hence, it has been rightly argued that the irrespective of
having active corporate social responsibilities philanthropy, companies face issues arising out of
the situations in relation to economic , legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities. It is
imperative to note that irrespective of corporate and government bodies engaging in socially
responsible actions, there are certain issues that arise out of every situation and it will impact the
future actions of the companies unless they are taken care of . There should be active
participation of the company and the stakeholders for making this effort successful.

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