Social responsibility

Student Social Responsibility

Student social responsibility or SSR is the responsibility of every student for his/her actions. It is morally binding on everyone to act in such a way that the people immediately around them are not adversely affected. It impractical, especially in the modern competitive world, where everyone works for self-interest, but it will succeed if we take decisions based on what will benefit a large number of people and respect everyone’s fundamental rights. As individuals we can make our small contributions to society by donating money to trustworthy NGO’s, saving our resources by reducing our consumption, E.g. by switching off lights or computers when not in use helps companies reduce their carbon footprints on the earth. In every religion be it Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism or Christianity great stress has been laid upon individual social responsibility. In the Bhagwat Gita , also known as the “management epic” Lord Krishna teaches Arjun what his responsibilities as a king are. The Karma Yoga tells us about the fruits of our labour and how they are directly related with our individual actions. According to Karma Yoga a company which does good work will reap their benefits and vice-versa.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR has been defined by Lord Holme and Richard Watts in The World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s publication ‘Making Good Business Sense’ as “…the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large". CSR is one of the newest management strategies where companies try to create a positive impact on society while doing business. There is no clear-cut definition of what CSR comprises. Every company has different CSR objectives though the main motive is the same. All companies have a two point agenda- to improve qualitatively (the management of people and processes) and quantitatively (the impact on society). The second is as important as the first and stake holders of every company are increasingly ]] particularly in relation to child and maternal welfare.(Faunce and Nasu 2009) The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is developing an international standard to provide guidelines for adopting and disseminating social responsibility: ISO 26000 - Social Responsibility. Due for publication in 2010, this standard will "encourage voluntary commitment to social responsibility and will and methods of evaluation." (ISO, 2009) The standard describes itself as a guide for dialogue and language, not a constraining or certifiable management standard.

See also

• Scuppie
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Social enterprise
• Social entrepreneurship
• Socially responsible investing
• Inclusive business
• SA8000
• Shareholder primacy
• Social Accountability International

References

• Haynes, T. (n.d.). Social Responsibility and Organizational Ethics. Retrieved May 8, 2010, from Answers.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/social-responsibility-and-organizational-ethics
• Kalinda, B. (Ed.). Social Responsibility and Organizational Ethics. (2001). Encyclopedia of Business and Finance (2nd ed., Vol. 1). New York: Macmillan Reference.
• Pride, William M., Hughes, Robert James, & Kickapoo, Jack R. (2008). Business (9th ed.) Boston, MA: Hough-ton McFarland Company. ISBN 0618770917

Further reading

• Crane, Andrew, Abagail McWilliams, Dirk Matten, Jeremy Moon, and Donald S. Siegel (Editors) (2008). The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility. Oxford, England; New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199211593. 

• Visser, Wayne, Dirk Matten, Manfred Pohl, and Nick Tolhurst (Editors) (2007). The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility. London, England; New York, NY: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-72395-1. 

• May, Steve, George Cheney, and Juliet Roper (2007). The Debate over Corporate Social Responsibility. Oxford, England; New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195178821. OCLC 70292018. 

• McBarnet, Doreen J., Aurora Voiculescu, and Tom Campbell (2007). The New Corporate Accountability: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521868181. 

• Rossi, Alice S. (2001). Caring and Doing for Others: Social Responsibility in the Domains of Family, Work, and Community. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226728722. OCLC 45064591. 

• Salles, Denis (2011) "Responsibility based environmental governance" S.A.P.I.EN.S 4 (1) http://sapiens.revues.org/1092. Retrieved 15 June 2011 

• Zerk, Jennifer A. (2006). Multinationals and Corporate Social Responsibility: Limitations and Opportunities in International Law. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521844991. OCLC 76849750.