International Business CSR: BMW's Ethical and Social Responsibilities

This report examines the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), a leading multinational automobile company. The paper explores BMW's commitment to sustainable development, stakeholder engagement, and addressing social issues in various countries, including China, South Africa, and India. It highlights specific CSR initiatives such as road safety programs, skill development projects, and providing access to safe drinking water. The report discusses BMW's ethical approach, its alignment with stakeholder theory, and its contribution to a positive brand reputation. It also touches upon the importance of CSR in the age of globalization and the changing relationship between business and society. The paper concludes by emphasizing the benefits of CSR in gaining a competitive advantage and offers recommendations for enhancing BMW's CSR efforts. The report is based on the assignment brief for the Managing International Business Responsibly (BUSM4687) course at RMIT University.

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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a business model that is self regulating which
helps a business to be accountable socially to the public, stakeholders of their business and
most importantly for themselves. The practice of corporate social responsibility helps a
company understand the kind and type of impact they are having on the society which
includes social, environmental and economic. Companies or organizations engaging in CSR
means the company or the organization is conducting operations in a way that enhances the
environment and the society rather than negatively contributing to them (Martínez & del
Bosque, 2013). Practicing CSR has many advantages that benefit the company like improving
the public image about the company, attracts investors and customers and many more. This
paper is going to shed light on the corporate social responsibilities of the multinational
automobile company Bayerische Motoren Werke AG that has helped the company garner
appreciation and has acquired a positive reputation in the market and the benefits of corporate
social responsibility on a business that helps in gaining a competitive advantage in the
market. This paper will provide probable recommendations that will help the company to
enhance their corporate social responsibilities efforts.
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) is a German multinational company that
manufactures and produces motorcycles and automobiles. The company is one of the leading
luxury motorcycle and automobile brands in the world. The founders of the company are
Camillo Castiglioni, Karl Rapp and Franz Josef Popp 1916 and founded the company in
1916, March, 7. The headquarters of the company is situated in Munich, Germany. The
company manufactures motor vehicles and automobiles in Germany, China, Brazil, United
Kingdom, South Africa, United States and India. The shareholders for the longest time are
the Quandt family and the public float owns the rest of the remaining shares. In 2018, BMW
was listed at number twenty as one of the world’s most valuable brands with a brand value of
$31.4 billion dollars and brand revenue of $86.8 billion dollars.

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BMW is one of the leading automobile companies in the world. BMW is one of the
most ethical companies that do not only think about the profits and benefits of the company
but also takes measures to ensure the well-being of the society and the environment. The
company aims on sustainable development for the environment, society and the corporate.
The company is a multinational company and practices corporate social responsibility all
over the world. The company promotes the active and long term participation of various
stakeholders to address the social issues and help in creating shared value. The company is
guided by strong and strategic CSR and remains true to the three principles that the company
follows stakeholder engagement, addressing social issues and long term commitment.
The company has addressed many social issues of different countries where the
company operates. The company has tried introducing and coming up with initiatives that has
helped spread awareness and solve the issues in different regions for helping the development
of the environment and the society. BMW believes and promotes road safety and has come
with Children’s Traffic Safety Education (CTSE), a CSR program to make adults and
children aware of the rules of the road safety in China. The program introduces ideas to
enhance the road safety education for children. This initiative creates a shared value and
impacts families and children across China positively (Bmw-brilliance.cn., 2019).
In China, BMW contributes to the sustainable development by actively performing
the commitment of localization strategy. The company runs BMW Sustainability & CSR
Forum that provides a platform for the key stakeholders to share exchange and demonstrate
the experiences in sustainability while the company involves in extensive forces to encourage
and provide practices and creative ideas on CSR.
In South Africa, BMW supports about 100 corporate social investment projects. The
projects the company mainly focuses on are AIDS and HIV development of the local

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community and education like environment, social and technology and mathematics. BMW
invests about millions to empower groups who are in need through partnership and upliftment
programs to provide opportunities to all and help in promoting equality in the company.
BMW does not do any charity buy they put emphasis on social investments. The company
aims on contributing to the sustainable development. The company also aims on working
with the employees of the company, their families and with the local community and the
society in order to improve the quality of life in South Africa. The company dedicates its
significant resources and time to contribute to the higher and brighter future of South Africa.
In India, BMW has focused on the relevant social issues and tried to solve the
problems and positively impact the society. India is a developing country and there is lack of
job opportunities that have been highly affecting the people there. BMW partnered with
Magic Bus, to develop and focus on a skill development program that will help in providing
opportunities to the youth of the country to earn for their livelihood (Bmw.in, 2019). This
project provides job or employment based training to the disadvantaged youths and support
these youths to conquer and achieve their professional and personal goals successfully.
BMW believes that focusing only on the active and passive safety measures in the
vehicle is not enough and people should be aware and learn about road safety especially
children. The company had come up with a “Be Safe, Be Smart” initiative and a program that
reached out to schools to spread awareness about the measures taken for road safety and
general road safety instructions in an engaging way that made the students more engaged in
the lesson and the program and later also assessed how much the students learnt and
understood the program (Bmw.in, 2019).
One of the biggest social issues of India is the lack of safe drinking water. BMW has
always been focusing on the key social issues of countries and has tried to positively impact

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the country by addressing the issues and come up with changes and initiatives to tackle those
issues. In India, due to the lack of safe drinking water BMW partnered with the
“CARE4WATER” program or initiative that provided many households in the country with
filters that were easy to use in order to endure safe drinking water to endure the good health
of the citizens (Bmw.in, 2019).
There are many other programs initiated and introduced by the company in the
countries where the company operates. The programs introduced contribute to the social
mobility and inclusion, road safety, culture; inspire the engineers of the next generation and
the well-being of the environment and the society (Bmwgroup.com, 2019).
BMW has been focusing on the social issues that has been residing in a country and
making different approach to solve and spread awareness bout the issues. BMW has been
looking to the needs and taking care of the society through several initiatives and programs in
the countries were the company operates for the sustainable development of the society of
each country and to promote the values and morals the company stands for.
BMW has garnered a lot of appreciation from people especially because of the CSR
activities the company performs, promotes and stands for. The approach that BMW has taken
has helped the societies and has helped many countries where the company operates. The
automobile company has not just focused on environmental issues but has made an attempt to
focus on all the issues that are important and relevant in the society. This approach has helped
people but has also paved way for the positive and good reputation of the company.
BMW performs CSR activities that help the society to deal with the aggravating
social issues for the betterment of the society. However a company and an organization
perform CSR activities not only for the betterment of the society and environment but also
for the reputation of the company and to show the core morals and values that the company

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stands for and believes in. BMW has introduced several programs and initiatives in many
different countries that have helped in dealing with the social problems that are relevant and
important. The activities discussed here are mainly social issues of a country and how BMW
has helped in impacting the countries positively with the introduction of programs and
initiatives that help the society. These positive activities have made BMW to be one of the
most ethical countries in the world.
BMW from time immemorial has been an ethical company who have always thought
of promoting their values through different programs and philanthropic work that has helped
many people in the society. In the age of Globalization, BMW has come up with enhanced
programs and initiatives that will help the society and in the sustainable development of the
society. Globalization has paved way for the expansion of business in foreign countries for
generating more profits and for making a mark in the global market (Berger‐Walliser &
Scott, 2018). It is important for a business to act locally when expanded in a foreign country
to make the company relate to the companies. CSR activities are an alternative or a different
way that helps to regulate companies and business in the global economy. Responsible
business is important in today’s age as the relationship between the private power, authority
and the public have changed. Companies and private powers own more resources when
compared to that of the government. CSR activities are basically self-regulatory. In this case
BMW has come up with several issues that are residing in the local market and has been
catering to those people in their own way that will best suit the needs of the people. The
initiatives and programs introduced in China are different from the ones the company has
introduced in South Africa and India and vice versa as the issues of each country are different
and BMW makes sure that the issues are dealt correctly for the positive impact on the society
as well as on the company.

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According to the stakeholder theory, the stakeholders of the company if not equally
but do get affected but the functioning of the companies (Harrison, Freeman & Abreu, 2015).
The stakeholder theory is one of the most relevant and important CSR theory. According
another scholar it is important for a company to generate revenues and make profits for the
satisfaction of the shareholders that will pave way for the continuous positive growths of the
company (Tantalo & Priem, 2016). There are two types of stakeholders of a company that are
the primary ones that consist of the customers or consumers, suppliers, investors and many
more and the secondary ones consisting of the government, the media, competitors, consumer
advocate groups and many more. It is important for the companies to satisfy and cater to the
needs of these stakeholders that will ensure the growth of the company. BMW with CSR
activities satisfy the needs and cater to every stakeholder necessary that has helped the
company to become one of the most ethical and successful companies. Stakeholder theory
provides a normative perspective as to what are the things a company needs to do to portray
the value and morals they believe in and stand for. The stakeholder theory is one of the most
fundamental and a moral theory that clearly states the obligations an organization or
companies have to the stakeholders of their company. Moral obligations are there for the
interests of the stakeholder. It is thus important for the companies to make sure the interests
of the stakeholders are met who directly have an impact on the business of the company or
who indirectly have an impact on the company. BMW has come up with many CSR
programs and initiatives and have partnered with government initiatives and programs and
has supported to them to satisfy the needs and interests of the secondary stakeholders as well
with the primary ones. By supporting the initiatives by the government BMW has gained a
support from the consumers as well as the government that fall under the political factors of a
country or a place. This helps the company maintain a balance and helps the companies have
a smooth operation in a foreign land with immense supported provided by the government.

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People these days want to associate with brands that have a good reputation in the market and
have garnered a lot of appreciation for the operations of the company. This has helped BMW
garner a positive reputation in the market and has also helped for the success in the market.
There are several CSR initiatives that align with the CSR initiatives and programs that
has been introduced and implemented by the company BMW. According to the Crate et al,
the first and foremost core characteristic is voluntary. It states that all the initiatives and
activities that do not fall in the legislative framework can be stated as the CSR activities.
BMW makes all the CSR initiatives voluntarily and is not forced by any external factors to
perform such activities for the betterment of the society and the environment. The second
characteristic is looking after externalities which mean the side effects or the impact of a
business behavior on the society. The third characteristics are multiple or several stakeholder
orientation that reflects of the interests of different stakeholders that include the shareholders.
BMW considers and values the interest of the stakeholders by catering to their needs and
trying to make profits that positively impact the stakeholders. The different CSR activities
have catered to both the primary and the secondary stakeholders of the company. The fourth
characteristic states that the business should follow the ethics and do well in the market by
doing good and not by any unethical means that negatively impact the environment and the
society. It clearly indicates that engaging in good social practices may enhance the
performance of the company at the same time. BMW follows this and operates by doing good
to both the environment and the society. This has helped the company in enhancing their
performance and put efforts to sustain in the market. The fifth character is mainly related to
the values and the practices. The company should practice and focus on the impacts of the
business and the strategies of the business that respond to the environmental and social
issues. It states that the underlying philosophy of CSR means the ethics, moral principles and
values that shape the thinking of the people and these paves way for the practices that are

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performed by an organization. He believes that the main aspect of CSR thinking is mainly
based on the consequences that are related on the grounds of ethics of the behavior of one to
others. This clearly states that BMW as a company follows the ethics and moral values and
they think in that way that has resulted in the CSR practices, programs and initiatives that
have been introduced by BMW for the overall development of the society and the
environment. The sixth and the last characteristic is mostly beyond philanthropy. CSR issues
needs to be integrated in the primary and the main functions of the company or the business
rather than extra bolted on (Hamidu, Haron & Amran, 2015). It is important for the
management to find genuine environmental and social causes that will contribute to the
society within where the companies will operate. BMW has catered to the issues that were
relevant and was become a big issue in the society of the countries and has contributed to
positively impact the society as well as the environment with their CSR activities.
BMW has been a highly ethical company that has positively impacted the
environment and the society with the CSR activities they have performed. The company does
not do any charity but provides people with equipment that helps the people. However, the
company generates good revenue in the market and makes profit. Creating a charitable trust
or donating money for charity will help the company improve the CSR activities as NGO’s
need a support and lending support will help the society for the overall development.
CSR has become an important aspect and a part of the functioning of a business. It
helps in portraying the social values, norms and the ethics that the company follows by
engaging in CSR activities that helps in solving issues or help in the development of the
environment or the society. BMW is one of the most ethical companies due to the CSR
initiatives and programs that the company has introduced to positively impact and help the
society. This has helped the company garner appreciation and has helped the company sustain
the positive position in the market.

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Reference
Berger‐Walliser, G., & Scott, I. (2018). Redefining corporate social responsibility in an era of
globalization and regulatory hardening. American Business Law Journal, 55(1), 167-
218.
Bmw.in. (2019). BMW India-CSR. Retrieved from https://www.bmw.in/en/topics/csr.html
Bmw-brilliance.cn. (2019). BMW Brilliance ： Corporate Social Responsibility. Retrieved
from http://www.bmw-brilliance.cn/cn/en/csr/index.html
Bmwgroup.com. (2019). Social Commitment. Retrieved from
https://www.bmwgroup.com/socialcommitment
Hamidu, A., Haron, M., & Amran, A. (2015). Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review on
definitions, core characteristics and theoretical perspectives. Mediterranean Journal
of Social Sciences, 6(4), 83-95.
Harrison, J. S., Freeman, R. E., & Abreu, M. C. S. D. (2015). Stakeholder theory as an ethical
approach to effective management: Applying the theory to multiple contexts. Revista
brasileira de gestão de negócios, 17(55), 858-869.
Martínez, P., & del Bosque, I. R. (2013). CSR and customer loyalty: The roles of trust,
customer identification with the company and satisfaction. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 35, 89-99.
Tantalo, C., & Priem, R. L. (2016). Value creation through stakeholder synergy. Strategic
Management Journal, 37(2), 314-329.

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