In today’s increasingly interconnected global economy, businesses increasingly need to be aware of how they are perceived by various stakeholders. In their pursuit of financial success, many corporations have been accused of not taking social responsibility into account enough.
Corporate Social Responsibility is a sensitive issue in today’s business world. Of late, there has been an increased awareness about the need for good corporate citizenship among businesses that wish to thrive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. At the same time, criticism against these same companies has mounted with charges that their focus on profits alone has led them to ignore important externalities like sustainability and society at large.
The following are areas that businesses can take steps to improve their CSR
1) Fleet management
Businesses of all sizes can operate a fleet of vehicles. This can include not only cars but vans and trucks. The use of a fleet management system such as Geotab can allow a company to improve its efficiency by collecting real-time data from all vehicles in the company fleet.
This data can be used to:
- increase safety and productivity
- improve fuel efficiency
- schedule efficient vehicle maintenance
- reduce milage with efficient route planning
These improvements are key in driving any sustainability plans. For example, by being able to track the fuel efficiency of each vehicle, a business can see which vehicles are more efficient and schedule them for routes that will provide the most benefit.
2) Corporate culture
A company’s corporate culture is one of the most important aspects of its CSR efforts. At the same time, it is also one of the hardest things to measure accurately, along with other indicators like supply chain management, waste reduction, recycling initiatives, etc. A strong corporate culture is essential for prosperity and growth in today’s global economy. Therefore, companies should invest appropriately in groups that seek out opportunities to improve their corporate social responsibility initiatives.
3) Supply chain management
The supply chain encompasses the entire process of production and delivery of a company’s products or services. More businesses are now working with their suppliers to improve sustainability and ensure good working practices are adopted throughout the supply chain.
4) Implement an Environmental Management Systems
Many companies have performance targets that they must meet to meet some other corporate objective, such as increasing employee satisfaction or reducing costs to attain a financial goal. Environmental management systems are designed to help companies meet these targets while also meeting their sustainability goals.
5) Development and communication of company values
A company’s mission, vision, and goals are the foundation for its CSR efforts. A company’s values guide the actions taken as well as how they are communicated. Businesses can consider releasing a short video or article that provides further details about their business practices in exchange for critics to have an opportunity to provide feedback about how their values align with the policies of other corporate stakeholders such as consumers and investors.
Today it’s no longer acceptable to simply be profitable. Consumers are now demanding that corporations are also good neighbors.
