Maggie F. Keenan, Ed.D.

Corporate Social Responsibility

In the past few months, I have seen several websites and read several articles and blogs that are misusing the terms Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Citizenship. One person, who is not in the field of philanthropy, has even gone so far as to coin a new phrase for corporate philanthropy and it had the word enlightenment in it. Many folks are using these terms to imply corporate philanthropy. So, here is some helpful information to clarify what you may have been wondering.

Corporate Social Responsibility is a fairly new phrase just about 3-4 years old. According to BSR, it is the management of a company’s positive impact on society and the environment through its operations, products or services and through its interaction with key stakeholders such as employees, customers, investors and suppliers. CSR involves: legal compliance, employee relations, environmental performance, transparency, human rights, product responsibility, ethics, stakeholder communication, profitability, strategy integration, and philanthropy. See, it isn't just about giving. It encompasses all of these elements and there are standards for each as well. The term is better suited for large corporations

Corporate Citizenship is an alternative phrase to ‘corporate social responsibility’ that tries to convey that companies, like citizens, enjoy both rights and responsibilities.

You see, philanthropy is just one component of CSR and it is a smaller component of it.

I wouldn't even begin to tackle what the one person meant by using the term 'enlightenment' word. That I think is better suited for personal development.  

Copyright. 2007. Maggie F. Keenan, Ed.D.

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