Corporate social responsibility conversation questions

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an opportunity for corporations to benefit in multiple ways by operating with a perspective broader and longer than their own immediate, short-term profits.

Some critics argue that CSR distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses and others argue that it is nothing more than superficial window-dressing.


 * In what areas do you think companies can develop a CSR strategy?
 * Which of the following do you think are especially interesting for a company to highlight as part of its CSR:
 * Good working environment for employees
 * A good environmental policy
 * Policy of not using child labour, products tested on animals, etc.
 * Donating a percentage of profits to good causes
 * Employing people at risk of exclusion (for instance, people with disabilities, single mothers, unemployed people over the age of 45)
 * Do you know if any of the companies that you are a client of have a CSR policy?
 * Given a similar offer of services, would you choose a company that also had a good CSR track record? Why/why not?
 * By incorporating social, environmental and economic costs and benefits into decision making, Social Return on Investment (SROI) measures and accounts for a much broader concept of value. What pros and cons can you think of in applying this analytic tool to a company's decision-making process?