Responsabilité sociale des entreprises (document en anglais)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Chapter 1 Introduction

Corporate Social Responsibility is a rapidly developing, key business issue. It is a concept that has attracted worldwide attention. Due to the demands for enhanced transparency and corporate citizenship, CSR started to embrace social, ethical as well as environmental challenges. Today, companies are aware of the social and environmental impacts of international production. It is accepted that Companies should not be only profitable, but also good corporate citizens.

Through globalization of the economy, multinational companies are increasingly involved with suppliers and customers worldwide, especially if they operate in developing countries. The CSR agenda has a close relationship with international development. CSR within multinational companies is seen as a vehicle through which larger, well known corporations can contribute to the well being of developing countries by operating responsibly in terms of social and environmental issues. However, the promoted "CSR" in the developing world by multinationals is "not real CSR", despite significant contribution to development in some cases. Very little is known about the companies' CSR policies and practices in an international context, developing countries in particular. As reality shows, most of the larger corporations abuse the CSR and behave unethically and irresponsibly towards both society and the environment. Issues such as unsafe working conditions, unfair payment, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, toxic emissions and the hazardous pollution of water and soil have all raised fair allegations by consumers, non-governmental organizations and the larger society. . Famous global brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, GAP and McDonalds are often under intense pressure from the public. Much of those pressures are due to their unethical behaviour in developing countries, where their main operations take place. Though companies operate in host countries, their reputation extends across numerous national boundaries. The actions of multinational companies in a host country can cause significant loss of reputation in the developed world, where the general public have become more sensitive to environmental issues and social impact. The public have the power to boycott the goods and products of multinational corporations in cases of unethical behaviour where organisations are thought not to fulfil their social and environmental obligations. However, international reputation side effects are not the only reason behind the potential increased level of social and environmental responsibilities faced by multinational companies; there are many drivers for the correct implementation of CSR by business entities. However, for many companies, corporate reputation and brand image are the fundamental components of business success.

Corporate Social Responsibility in developing countries represents the formal and informal ways in which multinational business enterprises contribute to improving the social, ethical and environmental conditions of the developing countries in which they operate. However, the rational approach to the CSR in the developing world is different from CSR in developed countries. For example, developing countries represent the ongoing growth of the economy; hence the most attractive growth markets for many foreign companies. They provide cheap labour, an absence of strong regulations and a rich availability of resources; all crucial concerns for multinational enterprises for conducting their businesses in developing world. It has been found that the public and the government are not as critical of unethical business practices within foreign companies. In addition, developing countries are where globalization, economic growth, investments and business activities are likely to have both positive and negative social and environmental impacts. Therefore, developing countries represent a different set of CSR agenda for multinational companies to those operating in the developed world.

In this research paper the CSR practices of multinational corporations will be examined. Their CSR commitment as well as irresponsible practices will be highlighted. In the first chapter, there will be overview on the previous works in this field. As CSR is a new concept, especially in developing countries, the short history of the development of CSR and main contributions will be presented. Literature review will give us the background knowledge about CSR. In chapter two, research methodology and relating this to the subject matter will be discussed. As research will be based on case study, there will be some examples of multinational corporations' experience in developing countries. The examples of their commitments towards environmental and social sustainability as well as negative impacts caused by their unethical operations will be provided. The opinions and critics of analysts and experts will provide a clear understanding of companies' CSR practices in the developing world. The well known multinational companies like Nestle, Nike, KFC, Apple iPod and many others will be examined for their irresponsible and unethical behaviour in developing countries such as China, Indonesia, India, Southeast Asia and Africa. For the main research point the Coca-Cola crisis in India has been chosen, as Coca-cola, despite its CSR commitment towards society and environment, has caused damages to both the community and environment where it operates. From the case study, we are able to make some conclusions regarding CSR practices and make suggestions and recommendations for future of Corporate Social Responsibility, as it will undoubtedly increasingly become a major issue and integral part of business practise.

Chapter 2 Literature review

The 21st Century has seen much advancement in the issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and there has been particular interest in the impact CSR could have globally. This literature review will begin by defining what is meant by corporate social responsibility. There are a lot of debates about the origins of CSR; however it is clear that CSR is a modern term, a consequence arising from the history of business responsibility. The modern term is considered to have western origin; however it has developed from different countries' ideas and theories. This has created a number of definitions of CSR. This can lead to confusion making CSR less effective. It is interesting to observe that none of the definitions actually defines the social responsibility of businesses, as so famously discussed by Milton Friedman (1970), but rather describe it as a phenomenon. The Government sees CSR as a business contribution to sustainable development. However, the modern concept of CSR has been

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