The Importance of Social Responsibility

Although the activity of social responsibility is benefit for both social and business organizational, the arguments for and against business social responsibility exist. There are several reasons of agreement of the activity. The importance of social responsibility is state below: -

1 Best Interest of Business to Promote and Improve the Communities

Organizations, as members of society, have a moral obligation to help society deal with its problems and to contribute to its welfare. It is the ethical thing to do by the business organizations. A measurement should be made of whether the organization is performing such activities as producing goods and services that people need, creating jobs for society, paying fair wages, and ensuring worker safety.

People and organizations need each other. Social responsibility to employees extend beyond terms and conditions of the formal contract of employment and give recognition to the workers as a human being. People today have wider expectations of the quality of working life, included justice is treatment, opportunities for consultation and participation, training in new skill and technologies, effective personal and industrial relations policies, and provision of social and leisure facilities. Organization should be, for example, give due consideration to the design of work organization and job satisfaction, make very reasonable effort to give security of employment, and provide employment opportunities for minority groups.

A number of leading companies have taken steps to develop more ethical cultures and system by involving individual employees in corporate affairs. To provide or support some benefits to the workers will lead to a good communities in the business organizations. Good communication in the internal business would be leads to avoid miss understanding of each other. The workers would then enjoy their work and work out more efficiency. The quality of goods and services of the organization therefore increase. This will lead to profitable to the organization's business. Therefore, the social responsibility is important in internal environment of the business too.

2 Improves Public Image of the Firm

To many people, responsibilities to consumers may be seen as no more than a natural outcome of good business. There are, however, broader social responsibilities including providing good value for money; the safety and durability of products or services; standard of after-sales service; prompt and courteous attention to queries and complaints; long-term satisfaction, for example serviceability, adequate supply of products or services, and spare and replacement parts; fair standards of advertising and trading; full and unambiguous information to potential customers. Increasing concern for social responsibilities to consumers can be seen by the activities of such bodies as the Consumers Association, and the number of television and radio programmed devoted to this subject.

As an example of degrading the quality of life, some people believe that cigarette companies, because they produce goods that can harm the health of society overall, are socially irresponsible. By doing that, the consumers would be loses of confidence on the organization's products, and not buying their products. Then consumers will buy the goods from other organizations that they are confidence to. Social initiatives taken by organizations tend to promote goodwill, public favor, and corporate trust, and these may contribute to the long-run success of the organizations and profit. Therefore, socially responsible would acts enhance an organization's image and business in general.

3 Improving Stock Price

To having the action of social responsibility of an organization would lead to their suppliers, and business associates more confidence to the organization. The examples of social responsibility might include: fair standards of trading, honoring terns and conditions of purchase or sale, and settlement dates, for example payment of accounts, assistance to smaller organization; engagement only in fair competition; respect for copyright and patents. By doing that, the other organizations would view the company as less risky. This is in the stockholdrs best interest. It will improve the price of stock in the long run because the stock market will views the company as less risky and open to public attack. So, it would reduce the cost of the production of the company. Therefore award it a high price-earnings ratio.

Some organizations extend the range of social responsibilities even future by, for example: giving recognition to the needs of developing countries; limiting the extent of political involvement or campaigning; donations to, or sponsorship of, the arts, educational or educational or research institutions, sporting organizations or charities.

4 Solving Social Problems

Organizations have a responsibility not to misuse the scarce factors of production upon which the wealth of the country depends. Organizations have a responsibility to society, to respect environmental considerations and take care of amenities. For example, the effects and potential dangers of pollution, noise, disposal of waste; the siting and appearance of new buildings; transportation policies, such as the routing of heavy vehicles through narrow village roads; and avoidance of excessive packaging and more use of biodegradable materials. All of that must be think off since the decision making of the organizations to have their process of production. For example, is the protest against aerosol sprays containing chlorofluorocarbons. These have been blamed for damaging the ozone layer, which protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays from sun. Organizations should, of course, respect and obey the law which is set up of government even where they regard it as not in their best interests. But what is debatable is the extent to which organizations should co-operate voluntarily with actions requested by the government. Some examples are: restraint from trading with certain overseas countries, and the acceptance of controls over imports or exports; actions designed to combat inflation.

By the side, some pollutions can not be avoid, and sometime, our government is too busy to solve the others problems, society should give business a chance to solve social problems, such as air pollution and water pollution, that government has failed to solve. To solving those social problems, the environment will be cleaner. This would lead to a good image of the companies to their consumers or other companies. The confidence of consumer's increases, and favor to buy the goods from the companies. The profit of the companies will increase eventually. Therefore, acts of social responsibility is very important by organizations help correct the social problems that the organizations create.

5 Resource given by the organizations to solve the social problem

The measurement of social investment deals with the degree to which the organization is investing both money and human resources to solve community social problems. Here, the organization could be involved in assisting community organizations dedicated to education, charities, and the arts.

For example, Ben and Jerry's have a great reputation for being a socially responsible company. Management seems to include social responsibility issues in everything that it does. As an example, when recently looking for a site to build its new factory, the company was torn between building a new factory in its native Vermont to support struggling farmers or closer to the West Coast to avoid the pollution caused and energy expended by transporting the ice cream a couple of thousand miles. The Vermont site was eventually chosen.

A lot of money would be used for solving the social problems. Most of the time, there is limited money for that. Technical also been used to solving problems. So, in order to avoid the limited of resources, most of the organizations will possess the resources (such as money and expertise) needed to tackle social problems. A good image of the companies develops. It will lead to even more consumers to have confidence on that companies and more consume on the goods of the companies. These companies would be profitable in the long run period. Therefore, being social responsibilities is very important to an organization in order to create a good image to the company.


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This educational social responsibility article is developed by ViNSiGN as part of it's contribution to the community. Feedback is welcomed, please email to editor @ vinsign.com (without space).

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