Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Practices

Abstract

There is no doubt that economic activities are fast depleting the global stock of natural resources while causing harm to the environment. In the mist of this melee, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) emerges as a panacea to holding businesses accountable for the impact of their activities on the environment and also requires that they share their profits with stakeholders. This paper adds to the call for global legislation on CSR to serve as a filter on the short to long-term impact of the activities of businesses on the environment. It is expected that this filter will invariably influence the strategies organizations use to achieve their objectives. The study applied the phenomenological descriptive and interpretive research strategy by reviewing books, journals and media publications on the negative impact of business activities on the environment and analyzing them qualitatively. The findings support an integrated global approach to CSR which requires global legislation and enforcement by a world body such as the United Nations. It is expected that this approach will protect countries with weak corporate governance whose public officials are not usually able to resist the enticements that multinational companies offer them in order to escape liability for infractions on regulations.