Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Performance

Abstract

This paper examined the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Organizational Performance. It utilized a theoretical approach to discuss the relationship existing between the study variables. The paper notes that corporate social responsibility has emerged today as a top strategy of choice utilized by businesses to gain competitive advantage over their rivals in our highly competitive business arena. The paper also notes that corporate social responsibility enhances and promotes firm reputation, acceptance, and goodwill, while its neglect can threaten business survival in the long-run. The paper concluded that involvement in corporate social responsibility activities is essential to improve company’s reputation, acceptance, public goodwill, and stakeholders’ satisfaction; which promote business profitability, and other financial and non-financial business performance measures. It is recommended that organizations should integrate corporate social responsibility programs into their strategic plans so as to get top management to commit necessary support towards its implementations. In addition, management should ensure that it identifies stakeholders’ core needs before embarking on any corporate social responsibility activity, as any program that does not address pressing needs of the specific stakeholders whom the program was designed for may not be appreciated and valued. Organizations should also put in place adequate CSR disclosure mechanism that makes it easy for their stakeholders to notice their philanthropic and other societal benefiting activities, in order to create a favourable reputation and generate public goodwill.