Chapter 4: Corporate Social Responsibility
Description
The focus of this unit on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) explores the role of CSR in businesses and the interconnection between leadership in governance as a means of supporting CSR. Broadly, CSR is the way that an organization takes responsibility for its social and environmental impact on the world, beyond just focusing on making a profit.
Learning Goals
By the end of the readings for this module, you should be able to:
- Define CSR and its benefits for organizations and society
- Identify and evaluate examples of CSR
- Compare the concepts of leadership and governance and their impact on running an organization
CSR
Watch
Start by watching the video about CSR below. The timeline below will give you a brief introduction to CSR’s evolution
Knowledge Check
Read
Now that you’ve learned about CSR, read this article that expands on leadership and governance to explore further.
Reflect: Leadership vs Governance
Now come up with your own definition of leadership vs. governance and compare them to the definitions below. You can use the below interactive to think through this question and record your thoughts.
Note: If you want to keep your responses, please be sure to export them when you are finished. If you navigate away from this page, your responses will not be saved.
Food for thought
How does leadership and governance connect with CSR? How might they need to be combined in an organization for impactful CSR initiatives?
Key Terms
- NGOs: Non-profit groups independent from government that work to solve social, environmental, or humanitarian issues.
- Carbon Footprint: The total amount of greenhouse gases a person, product, or activity emits, measured in CO₂ (The Nature Conservancy, n.d.).
- Philanthropy: Giving time, money, or resources to help others and support a good cause (Oxford University Press, n.d.).
