The Philosophy of Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility means “operate for the good or ill of those who live within the business environment.” If you were a businessperson and you want to grow, which one would you choose? On my side, I would choose to operate for the ill of those who live within the environment of the business. before I choose to operate for the ill, I need to ask myself, “how long will I operate for the ill of the people?” and the answer is: I will be demolished even before I begin. Business corporations should know that the eye of the public is keener than theirs.

There are two philosophies I have come to identify underlying Corporate Social Responsibility: do me as you want me to do you, and you cannot teach a hungry dog new tricks. In fact, a hungry dog ate its owner at around 1:30 pm.

Businesses need customers for their goods and services so that they can get money from them, and customers need the products of businesses to meet their needs. Both must be socially responsible to one another for mutual survival. In this transaction, the customer is the king and must be treated like a king. In the olden days, no villager was allowed to consult the king in West Africa without a plate of food and crawling on his/her stomach to the King’s table. I cannot explain how it was, but that is what history has for us. The belief was “thou shall not speak to a hungry king.”

The competitive nature of the modern business arena requires businesses to do extensive advertising. This must involve directly talking to the community of interest. You cannot advertise your products to a hungry community; you must feed it first. Feeding includes giving goodies to the poor, supporting community projects, funding educational institutions, supporting the old and cleaning the environment to create a friendly relationship between the customer and the business. This is the philosophy of Corporate Social Responsibility.