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Discussion on: How can companies be socially responsible marketers?

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ncitujjwal

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming an increasingly important activity for businesses nationally and internationally. As globalization accelerates and large corporations serve as global providers, these corporations have progressively recognized the benefits of providing CSR programs in their various locations. CSR activities are now being undertaken throughout the globe (McWilliams, 2015).

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) began in the 1920s; however, due to the Great Depression and World War II, it failed to become a serious topic amongst business leaders until the 1950s. CSR found itself in the spotlight in 1951 when Frank Abrams, chairman of the board for Standard Oil of New Jersey, published an article in Harvard Business Review where he stated that is was business’ obligation: to conduct the affairs of the enterprise to maintain an equitable and workable balance among the claims of the various directly interested groups, a harmonious balance among stockholders, employees, customers, and the public at large (Frederick, 2006). In 1953, Howard Bowen made the first significant scholarly contribution by publishing the book, The Social Responsibilities of the Businessman. Here he proposed the CSR definition as "the obligations of business to pursue those policies, to make those decisions or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society (Bowen, 1953).” Over the subsequent decades, CSR definitions, practices and adoption of CSR expanded immensely. Philosophies such as management as a trustee, Christian ethics and the balance of power between business and society were popularized (Frederick, 2006)

There are two companies that have been successfully including into CSR activities.

Social Awareness can look so good: Kenneth Cole

Since 1985, Kenneth Cole has been openly involved in publicly supporting AIDS awareness and research. He uses fashion to promote awareness of and help fight various social issues. After 25 years of addressing meaningful social issues, Kenneth Cole established the Awareness Fund, a not-for-profit initiative that uses partnerships, merchandise, events and its blog to celebrate, encourage and empower acts of service volunteerism and social change (Sen, 2002). A full 100% of net proceeds of the Awareness products go toward the fund. These efforts have helped fuel the success of the Kenneth Cole brand, a company with nearly $500 million in sales.

Similarly, Firms like WalMart are taking a more active, strategic role in corporate social responsibility. The company invests $500 million in sustainability projects and reduces waste by 25 percent Eliminates excess packaging and saves 3,800 trees and 1 million barrels of oil, along with an estimated $2.4 million a year in shipping costs Redirects 57 percent of the waste generated by stores to recycle centers instead of landfills It created approximately 63,000jobs around the world in 2008(Dukalin, 1998).

References

Bowen H.R. 1953. Social responsibilities of the businessman. Harper and Row: New York.

Dukalin, S. (1998). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia. The Journal of Marketing Science, 88-92.

Frederick, W. (2006). Corporation, be good! The story of corporate social responsibility. Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishing.

McWilliams, A. (2015). Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Corporate Business , 99-110.

Sen, S. D. (2002). Maximizing Business Returns to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): The case of Kenneth Cole. Journal of Marketing Research , 56-66.