What Is Corporate Social Responsibility?

        What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

Eric Downey

PHL/320

MATTHEW GIDLEY

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society, the environment and its own prosperity. Expecting responsible, sustainable and transparent approaches to help build brands and reputations throughout the community should be how businesses operate daily. Having a solid business plan, embedded into the business culture, while also reflecting organizational values and objectives through strategic CSR application, will help to build a sustainable and profitable future for all. In my community a local energy company call DTE has realized the need for an alternative power source. With the cost of fossil fuels seemingly never going to stop rising the DTE company has started to put in solar power fields around the local community causing our energy bills to fall. Do they have a social responsibility to the local community? Are they acting ethically? The answer to both questions is yes, as we examine their workings deeper we will figure out why the answer is, and always should be yes.

When DTE made the decision to start using solar power they knew that their profits were going to start dropping because, how can you charge the same or more for something that is costing you less, you can’t if you are operating using good ethics. It seems to me, DTE made this decision because they understand the ethical implications behind such a powerful decision. If they were to not lower their prices and the public was to get word of the fact that they are spending less money to make more money they might have lost customers. Empowering their employee’s to be able to report anyone not following their rules has given DTE an advantage. From the DTE official website “Directors should support the Company's efforts to encourage employees to talk to their supervisors and appropriate personnel when in doubt about the best course of action for employees to pursue in a particular situation. Directors should also support the Company's efforts to encourage employees to report violations of laws, rules, regulations or the Company's codes of business conduct to appropriate personnel and support the Company's assurances that employees will not be retaliated against for reports made in good faith.” (DTE, 2017). Being able to work as a company that operates knowing they are doing the right thing has to be a great feeling.