SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DEFINED

Notwithstanding the previous discussion, there is no doubt that public relations can and should play a significant role in the social responsibility programmes within the organizations for which they advocate. But the term is so overused these days that it might be useful to go back to the actual fundamentals of the phrase.

Social responsibility provides a kind of ethical framework for achieving organizational goals. Planning for public relations programming requires both an understanding and an appreciation of the concept.

The organization Business for Social Responsibility provides a particularly descriptive definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as follows : corporate social responsibility means ˜ensuring commercial success in ways that honor [sic] ethical values and respect people, communities and the environment. They further elucidate this definition by indicating that CSR ˜typically includes issues related to: business ethics, community investment, environment, governance, human rights, marketplace and workplace. ^{[ 2]}

Social responsibility, then, means operating a business that meets or exceeds both the legal and ethical expectations that society has of that kind of industry. Note that this is a relative concept. What is considered to be socially responsible in one culture may not fulfil the criteria within a different culture. This is typical of ethical standards.

While it is clear that social responsibility underlies the ethical conduct of any kind of business, there are also other benefits that have been reported . Some of these benefits include reduced operating costs, increased sales and consumer loyalty, increased productivity, and an enhanced image and reputation. It is this last one where public relations practitioners most frequently see their role. Adopting ethical business practices and making a profit are certainly not mutually exclusive.

If a good social responsibility programme can have benefits for image and reputation, then it stands to reason that enhancing the ethical conduct of the business ”and ensuring that the appropriate publics know about it ”is a sound PR strategy. This in itself, however, does not ensure ethical public relations practice, the substance of this entire book. How, then, can professional public relations contribute materially to the social responsibility efforts of business?

^{[ 2]} Business for Social Responsibility [accessed 30 October 2003] Overview of corporate social responsibility. http://www.bsr.org/BSRResources/IssueBriefDetail.cfm?DocumentID=48809