BUSINESS STUDIES GRADE 10 HEADING FOR SUCCESS BUSINESS STUDIES GRADE 10

TOPIC 2: Social Responsibility TERM 2 TOPIC 2: Social Responsibility

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY WHAT IS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY? ..\..\..\..\2015\Hoërskool Overkruin\Graad 12\Kwartaal 2\Onderwerp 1_Maatskaplike verantwoordelikheid en korporatiewe burgerskap Korporatiewe Maatskaplike verantwoordelikheid\What is corporate social responsibility .avi In a business context, the word social is used to refer to people and the society. “Responsibility” refers to an obligation or duty towards someone. Social responsibility is a business obligation to contribute towards the welfare of people. People include: employees, suppliers, consumers, shareholders, investors, regulators and communities. This group of people is known as stakeholders.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DEFINITIONS TO UNDERSTAND THIS CONCEPT: Maatskaplike Verantwoordelikheid Korporatiewe Maatskaplike Verantwoordelikheid (KMV) Korporatiewe Maatskaplike Investering (KMI) It is an ethical objective aimed that all individuals and organizations have a responsibility to benefit the community as a whole. It also includes the awareness of the consequences of actions for the community and environment. The way in which businesses manage their time to influence their stakeholders (individuals, organizations who somehow made a commitment to the business) in a positive way. To ensure the business’ own survival in the future the business should take care of the well-being of its stakeholders. CSI forms part of Corporate Social Responsibility. It refers to the time, money and other resources businesses spend on improving the standard of living of the community in which they operate. The main aim of CSI is not to increase a business’ profits, but to use a business’ resources to benefit a community.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DEFINITION OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: To conduct business operations in such a way that it contributes to the welfare of stakeholders and the environment. It is about businesses doing more than what is expected of them by regulators. Not only does a business’ involvement in corporate social responsibility benefit communities and the environment, it also benefits the business itself.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DEFINITION OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY : A business’ involvement in corporate social responsibility has the following advantages for the business itself: Being involved with corporate social responsibility helps to recruit the best candidates. Being involved with corporate social responsibility helps to improve a business’ image. Being involved with corporate social responsibility helps to build customer loyalty. Being involved with corporate social responsibility helps to attract investors who want to invest in a business that is socially responsible.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INITIATIVES TAKEN BY BUSINESSES: Each business has its own way of being socially responsible. Some businesses focus more on uplifting communities, while other businesses focus on the environment.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INISIATIEWE VAN ONDERNEMINGS: Corporate social responsibility initiatives taken by businesses include: Protecting the environment, e.g. by sponsoring nature conservation projects. Providing education and training for disadvantaged people, e.g. bursaries. Delivering services that government is slow to deliver, e.g. by donating money to buy equipment for hospitals Investing in the well-being of employees, their families and communities, e.g. by providing employees with housing subsidies.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY HOW DO BUSINESSES ADDRESS SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES?: No business can exist on its own (separated from people and other businesses). A business is by its very nature part of its community because the business’ clients live in the community, and some or all of its staff probably do too. This means that the community’s problems will to a greater or lesser extent affect any business located there. Outlined below are the man socio-economic issues that businesses have to deal with, as well as possible ways to address them.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY HOW DO BUSINESSES ADDRESS SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES?: Unemployment, inequality and poverty: Poor people are unable to buy many goods or services. It is therefore in the interest of business owners that their potential costumers should have as much disposable income as possible. The most important contribution that businesses can make towards the financial well-being of their community is by being an employer. If more people have decent jobs, more people can by goods and services. Businesses can also take in young people as volunteer workers – while the business benefits from having extra workers, the young people get work experience that may help them to find the right long-term jobs in the future.

MAATSKAPLIKE VERANTWOORDELIKHEID HOW DO BUSINESSES ADDRESS SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES?: An unproductive labour force: The most common reason that a labour force is unproductive is that the workers are poorly trained or not trained at all. Businesses can address this problem by: giving employees in-service training, especially in new technologies providing bursaries for employees to study further giving bursaries to prospective students.

MAATSKAPLIKE VERANTWOORDELIKHEID HOW DO BUSINESSES ADDRESS SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES?: HIV and Aids: Often HIV-positive employees are not able to perform their duties 100 percent, to the full extent. Businesses can address this problem in several ways, particularly by: having a clear HIV and Aids policy; all employees must understand it running an HIV and Aids awareness campaign distributing condoms to employees giving financial support to NGO’s that assist people living with HIV and Aids.