Essay on Corporate Social Responsibility

ESSAY
As per Horrigan (2010) corporate social responsibility cannot be defined properly because of the
controversies associated and linked with the topic. All the definitions of corporate social
responsibility suggest that it is the obligation to the businesses that they have to return some part
of their profit to the society in return of the resources they are using. It is the aspect of business
that includes the practices in order to fulfil the business responsibility towards the society. This
essay focuses on analysing the corporate social responsibility practices of the company and its
relevance for the business (Beske, Land & Seuring, 2014). It is important to understand the
concept of corporate social responsibility in businesses because it not only benefits the society
but also helps in making and enhancing the image of the firm in the market. This essay discusses
about the theories that link between corporate social responsibility and sustainability and its
implication on the company called Toyota. Some of the theories are stakeholder’s theory and
triple bottom line theory.
Corporate social responsibility has many names. Some of the names of corporate social
responsibility are corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, corporate accountability etc.
Corporate social responsibility is integrating in the business practices of most of the companies
these days and his is moving towards the aspect of responsible competitiveness or corporate
sustainability (Clapp & Rowlands, 2014). As far as the concept of sustainability is concerned, it
has been analysed that it is the conceit that is derived from the term sustainable development. It
is the development that is based on meeting the needs and requirements of the present generation
without making any compromise with the requirements of the future generations. Corporate
social responsibility is the concept that is very much linked with sustainability. Corporate social
responsibility helps the companies to achieve their sustainable targets in order to growth socially,
economically and environmentally (Garriga & Melé, 2004).

The above figure suggests that when sustainability integrates with the company it benefits the
society as well as the shareholders of the firm. Some of the sustainable practices that can be
practiced by the companies are innovation in products and processes, reduction in waste and
emissions, health and safety at the workplace etc. This results in employee satisfaction,
environmental protection and also includes stakeholder’s engagement (O’riordan & Fairbrass,
2008). Firms also get benefitted out of these practices such as enhancement in the image of the
company and improved utilisation of the resource. Some of the theories of corporate social
responsibility are utilitarian theory, managerial theory and relational theory etc. The theories that
include sustainability in them are triple bottom line and stakeholder’s approach. Triple bottom
line is the theory that assumes that organisation is moral community and thus it has some social
responsibilities. This theory also deals with sustainability and every organisation should weigh
their actions and activities on the basis of three types of sustainability such as economic, social
and environmental sustainability (Levy & Kaplan, 2008). As far as stakeholder’s approach is
considered, it has been analysed that it is theory that there are three elements of this approach
such as the stakeholders that includes employees, customers, shareholders etc., the second
element is interaction between the stakeholders and the company and the last element deals with
formation of strategies for managing the win-win situation between all the stakeholders and the
company.

Toyota is one of the car manufacturing companies that are well known for its corporate social
responsibility initiatives. It is the company whose initiatives of corporate social responsibility
can be studied in order to understand the implementation of corporate social responsibility
theories on the company’s strategies (We & Choi, 2008). This company has launched corporate
social responsibility initiatives and programs in the company in the year 2011. The global vision
of the company is like a tree in which the values of the company acts like a tree and the base of
the business activities of the firm is trunk of the tree. The positioning of the company that is
“always better cars” and “enriching lives of the communities” the other positioning statement are
like the fruits of the trees. Toyota deals with many stakeholders and fulfils their disparate
interests and demands. Following are some of the most important stakeholders of the company:
Employees: employees are one of the most important stakeholders for Toyota. The major aim of
this group is to have development in their career, job security and better workplace environment.
The company focuses on fulfilling their responsibility towards employees by implementing some
of the career development programs. The company has on the job development programs and
several other programs for the employees in order to enhance their career.
Customers: Toyota is the company that also succeed in serving the customers with their products
and services. This is because the company makes innovation in their products frequently.
Investors: investors and shareholders are the most important stakeholders of the company that
have their interest in earning profit (Epstein & Buhovac, 2014). Toyota addresses these
considerations and makes the strategies that are in benefits of the stakeholders.
Environment: it is the major concern of the organisation like Toyota to be sustainable in the
corporate social responsibility strategies. The company reports these interests through the Toyota
environmental activities grant program. This program results in donating automobiles and funds
for environmental conservation by the company. Toyota has supported many environmental
protection activities.
Communities: communities are also one of the major stakeholders of the company and their
interest’s lies in society’s development. Toyota is the company that has launched many programs