1.11 Social accounting

Question 1

What is social accounting (aka CSR)?

Answer 1

A commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while remaining sensitive to the needs of stakeholders.

Companies should make decisions based not only on financial factors, but also on the social and environmental consequences of their actions.

Question 2

What are the four responsibilities in Carroll’s CSR pyramid, from most to least important?

Answer 2

1 Economic - must make a profit
2 Legal - must comply with the law
3 Ethical - focus on doing what is right
4 Philanthropic - focus on what is desired.

Question 3

What are the CSR advantages?

Answer 3

1. Increase long-term profits through management control & accountability
2. The CSR report even though is not uniform, provides flexibility with a report that best applies to its circumstances.

Question 4

What are the arguments against CSR?

Answer 4

1. It distracts from a company’s main goal of profit.
2. The lack of uniformity in CSR can be exhausting.

Question 5

How is CSR benchmarking achieved?

Answer 5

By reviewing competitor initiatives and how others perceive CSR strategy.