Social responsibility is the duty of business to do no harm to society. In other words, in their daily operations, businesses should be concerned about the welfare of society and mindful of how its actions could affect society as a whole.
Ideally, companies should look at four main areas of social responsibility and act ethically in all of them:
- Economic aspects: Entreprises need to maintain strong economic interests. Being profitable and providing value to shareholders is part of an entreprise being socially responsible.
- Legal aspects: A business must follow the law and have a legal obligation to do so.
- Ethical aspects: Acting ethically means going above and beyond the legal requirements and meeting the expectations of society.
- Philanthropic aspects: This is the expectation that companies should give back to society in the form of charitable donations of time, money, and goods.
Creating shared value is the premise that companies and the community are tied closely together, and if one benefits, they both benefit. The idea that social responsibility is something that costs companies money is no longer in favor. In fact, behaving socially responsible can help a company save money. Small things, such as turning off computers at night, result in cost savings in electricity and are the right thing to do from a social responsibility perspective, too. Benefiting the community does not have to be at the cost of the company or of society; both can work in tandem.
This information was part of the SASSI LLC training materials. If you want to learn more, visit the Guide to becoming an Olderpreneur on the SASSI Hub.
