PF 1: Business Ethics, CSR, Social Media and Global Development

This report, titled PF 1, delves into the multifaceted realm of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It begins with an introduction that establishes the significance of businesses contributing to society beyond profit maximization. The main body is divided into two parts. Part A examines the intersection of social media and CSR, highlighting how social media platforms can be leveraged for brand promotion and stakeholder engagement, especially for SMEs, while also acknowledging the risks of data breaches and negative publicity. The report then transitions to the concept of Global Sustainable Development (GSD) and its alignment with CSR, emphasizing the importance of addressing global issues like climate change and resource scarcity. Part B summarizes the key insights from the seminars, reinforcing the value of CSR and GSD in enhancing brand image and attracting stakeholders. The report concludes by reiterating the broad scope of CSR, its positive impacts, and the strategic role of social media and GSD in fostering ethical business practices and achieving sustainable development goals.

PF 1- Portfolio

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
PART A..................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Social responsibility of businesses signify the contribution that should be made by the
them towards the society in which they are operating. It should be in the interest of the society.
There are two main objectives of an organisation viz. Profit maximisation and value of
shareholders. In recent times, the importance of working for the benefits of the community has
increased. This is the reason for which a concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has
been developed. It is the ethical conduct of companies which is non financial in nature but
effective to increase the performance. In this report, a reflection about two different topics have
been provided which are related to social responsibility of business. Two topics from the
seminars have been chosen in this file for reflective portfolio.
MAIN BODY
PART A
Social Media and CSR
Social media is the platform for interacting with many individuals around the world with
the use of internet. It is has overpowered the value and usage of traditional approaches through
which news and other information are exchanged from one place to another ((Unit, Star, and
SmartWay, 2015)). I am interested in the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility which is the
ethical conduct of the business in the society. I have gone through the article of Lord Holme and
Richar Watts which states that businesses are worthy and there existence make sense only when
they behave in an ethical manner. It is also beneficial for the betterment of lifestyles and standard
of living of people who are associated with the company. Apart from this, I also read the journal
of Matthew Hudson which presents the definition of social media and summarised it as a
medium to transmit information in a real time. There are variety of other sources such as the
material taught in the lectures which has helped in obtaining the authentic information from
primary sources. In addition to this, I explored took the help of social media for connecting with
the authors who are available on several platforms such as Facebook , Twitter etc. This is the
way I got to know about a connection between using social media in engaging the general public
in CSR practices.
I have come across number of discussions on this topic and gathered that social media is
a cost effective tool for businesses belonging to SME category for making their brand famous
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among huge number of individuals. It is the way through which existing as well as new
customers and other people become aware about the company and the products/services sold by
them (Schrempf-Stirling, Palazzo, and Phillips, 2016). It shows the positive sides of the which
help an organisation to grow its name and identity. Whereas, a discussion about negative aspects
of social media has also provided which is states that use of social media for promoting the brand
name can bring bad publicity. It is responsible for tarnishing the image and make the
organisation suffer from loss. Also, there is high chances of data breaching which hampers
confidentiality of information stored in the database (Crane, Matten, and Spence, eds., 2019).
The benefits should using social media are to a great extent. The government of UK has
formulate number of laws and regulations to stop misuse of any data which belongs exclusively
to the company. There are various entities operating at large scale who have started to using
social media sites for obtaining outcomes which are favourable to the entities. Also, there is not
much expenditure or investment required for switching the traditional approaches to
digitalisation. However, some authors and users, who are active on social media sites and have
adequate knowledge of the SMEs using such platform, believe that it is not secure to show CSR
activities on such places.
According to my views, if social media is used in an appropriate way then it can create
huge benefits for the organisation which can multiple the profit and increase the sales. But, in the
era of advance technology there should be effective policies and controls for protecting the data
of the customers and other stakeholders. Furthermore, I have learnt that CSR is beyond the
activities of philanthropic nature ((McWilliams, 2015)). Charities are a part of this concept but if
social media can engage variety of its stakeholders such as employees, customers and
community to participate in the charitable activities of the company. In nutshell, social media can
prove to be a blessing for promoting CSR activities of the organisation in order to get connected
with larger public. Every organisation should think about the society which can be put on the
social media to let people know about the ethical conduct of the company.
CSR and Global Sustainable Development
Global sustainable development is the large picture of CSR which aims at making the
conditions of the whole world and not just restricted to a particular country. In other terms, it
includes fulfilment of needs and desires of different kinds of people belonging to various areas of
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of the globe. Some other concepts such as climate change, biodiversity loss, resource scarcity
etc. are also covered in this. The articles that have been studied reflect that requirements of
current generation is not compromised without limiting the needs of future generations. There
has been number of conventions and regulations formulated by United Nations. It has focused on
17 different goals which include no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being and so
many others. These information are available on the official site of UN which also include past
actions taken by it in order to maintain the sustainability of people living in different areas of
world. Apart from this, I have accessed some other materials and news articles to get deep
knowledge about the same.
CSR activities are for the benefit of the people living in a society by increasing their
standard of living and contributing to the lives of the individuals. There is common base between
the CSR and global sustainable development which aim at resolving the problems that exist in
different corners of the world. It is creates positive outlook towards the resources being utilised
in organisation. It has evolved with the time and scope has widen due to which some other
aspects have also been included. All the issues are common in numerous segment and areas of
market which should be emphasize on current and future needs. However, there is other set of
authors and people who believe that it is not worthy of making investment and increases the
expenditure of the company. There is limited chances that some companies can make a
difference in the scenario present of the business. Apart from this, there are number of challenges
which are face by SMEs as it is directly related to the growth of economic. It should be form
long term goals and interest by formulating the strategies regarding climate change, number of
bees etc. Some of the entities may not consider these as their own problems and may not even
show interest in such activities but important from the context of society.
In my views, I believe that GSD is significant in shaping a positive image of SMEs in the
eyes of people in different countries. Furthermore, I came to know that stakeholders should
participate in an enhanced manner in the social corporate activities. In addition to this, it is a
good decision for motivating and attracting the customers for the purchase of goods and services.
There may come some issues because it is a global concept which should be achieved by taking
into account numerous factors.
PART B
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Corporate social responsibility is the subject matter which is about making contribution
to the society. Businesses use resources that are available in the society for creating goods and
services to be sold to the customers. There are other stakeholders who are important for the
company who hold importance in the activities of the organisation which are directed towards
the CSR. Social media is the most use software for which different applications have been
developed in in order to get connected with the people throughout the world (Assembly, 2015). It
is a great source through which CSR activities can be promoted and people may become aware
about the contribution the company is making for the betterment of the people living in a country
(Sachs, and Schmidt-Traub, 2017). Furthermore, I think that CSR activities make an
organisation ethical which increase the brand value and make it acceptable by greater public.
There are different kinds of sites such as Facebook, YouTube etc. which are beneficial in
highlighting the issues that might be negative to SMEs. In addition to this, when I was attending
the seminar, I realised that social media is helpful in motivating millennials to get involved in
such activities as they are young and have enthusiasm for carrying work of such nature. Apart
from this, Global Sustainability Development is the extended concept of CSR which takes into
account a whole generation. It is not specific to one particular society or community and it takes
the whole world. Furthermore, if an organisation is conducting business at lower level can get
credibility with following this concept of GSD (Carley, and Spapens, 2017). When there is a
collaboration of CSR and GSD, it create an integrated effect on achieving the goals that focused
on fulfilling the needs and requirements of people. An entity which is adopting the activities for
returning the favour get support from different stakeholders such as community and government.
This make them more acceptable to the country and resolve their issues at higher level. In
nutshell, CSR is directly connected with social media and GSD which affect the brand image of
the company as well as increase the demands of its products or services in the market.
Furthermore, candidates prefer such companies as they are ethical which means, relevant laws
and regulations are followed by them. Hence, it is for the benefit of SMEs, if used in a positive
and rightful manner by abiding by all the statues and rules.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that CSR is a wide concept which should be
looked from different aspect. It may not create monetary value among the stakeholders and
society but absolutely beneficial for creating a strong position in the market. Furthermore, there
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are use of social media by which it can be promoted and GSD is another way through which
companies can become ethical.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals:
Unit, B., Star, E. and SmartWay, E.P.A., 2015. Corporate social responsibility.
Schrempf-Stirling, J., Palazzo, G. and Phillips, R.A., 2016. Historic corporate social
responsibility. Academy of Management Review, 41(4), pp.700-719.
Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L. eds., 2019. Corporate social responsibility: Readings and
cases in a global context. Routledge.
McWilliams, A., 2015. Corporate social responsibility. Wiley encyclopedia of management,
pp.1-4.
Carley, M. and Spapens, P., 2017. Sharing the world: sustainable living and global equity in the
21st century. Routledge.
Assembly, G., 2015. sustainable Development goals. SDGs), Transforming our world: the, 2030.
Hák, T., Janoušková, S. and Moldan, B., 2016. Sustainable Development Goals: A need for
relevant indicators. Ecological Indicators, 60, pp.565-573.
Sachs, J.D. and Schmidt-Traub, G., 2017. Global fund lessons for sustainable development
goals. Science, 356(6333), pp.32-33.
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