“Social responsibility for any company is to sponsor the price and competition for innovation and technology.
“It would be challenging to define CSR because there is no one universally applicable notion or description. Corporate social responsibility however has been defined by the lord Holme and Richard Watts in the article “Making good Business sense”.
Published by the world business council for sustainable development, It is the ongoing commitment by a business to act morally and promote economic growth while enhancing the standard of living for the workforce. Not only them, but also their families, the local community, and society at large.
According to a poll conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, published on January 17, 2008, 53.5 per cent of the responding enterprises believed that CSR is an essential expense of doing business and 53.3 per cent agreed that it offers us a competitive advantage. However, only 3.8 per cent of respondents said they thought CSR was a waste of time and money.
According to the economist, it is essentially unimaginable for a major multinational firm to operate without a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy today.
CSR refers to “the integrity with which a corporation governs itself, fulfils its mission, lives by its value, engages with its stakeholders, measures its impact, and reports on its activities,” according to the Department of Trade and Industry in the United Kingdom.
Today’s world has several factors that have contributed to organizational and corporate catastrophes. The war between Russia and Ukraine is one that is still recent. As a result, many areas have experienced more detrimental than beneficial changes.
For instance, wheat products have seen a significant increase in East Africa. The majority of business owners in the food industry now believe the opposite as a result of this.
As it filters down to the average consumer, the poverty level in the area continues to steadily take chance. For example, in Kenya, bread is presently offered for 60 Ksh. This is an increase from 50ksh, leaving a 10ksh gap.
If this could be considered, many people would be able to purchase the goods, enabling wheat production companies to generate an expanding amount. Consequently, manufacturing more will draw the newest innovations and technologies. If this occurs, it will raise the level of competition for manufacturing firms, particularly in Africa.
The law of demand, a cornerstone of microeconomics, asserts the inverse relationship between price and quantity desired. In other words, “subject to all other things being equal, the quantity demanded will drop as the price of a good increases (), and the quantity demanded will increase as the price of a good lowers ()”.
Remember Alfred Marshall? He stated it thus:
“When we say that a person’s demand for anything increases, we mean that he will buy more of it than he would before at the same price and that he will buy as much of it as before at a higher price”.The law of demand, however, only makes a qualitative statement in the sense that it describes the direction of change in the amount of quantity demanded but not the magnitude of change.
Applying it here, this has a significant impact on innovation and technology. In the sense that it discourages innovation if a company does not have people coming in to buy things.
When viewed from a futuristic angle, the only brands that succeed in the future will be those who view these difficulties as chances for innovation rather than threats to be minimized.
According to Jones’ daisy-wheel model of brand equity, a brand’s equity is correlated with the expectations of its stakeholders being met. Socially responsible behaviour is one of the key demands.
Companies have utilized CSR as a tactical weapon to satisfy the demands of different stakeholders, including NGOs, customers, and the media.
Therefore, a company’s CSR efforts and corporate reputation contribute to the development of equity by enhancing consumers’ perceptions of its higher brand.
If a company’s identity is consistent with its own beliefs, customers will appreciate it more.
In addition to their consumer experiences, people also tend to identify with a brand’s CSR actions toward the larger community. Furthermore, following CSR guidelines is essential for competing and maintaining a positive reputation, particularly in a world where people are constantly linked via the Internet.
CSR is now more crucial than ever to businesses and their shareholders since brand equity is no longer steady and may change quickly for the better or worse. Customers, employees, and other stakeholders now have the power to make or break a corporation.
Today, all businesses prioritize their consumers as one the key stakeholders. Customers strengthen a socially conscious company’s brand value by increasing its future profitability and goodwill. CSR initiatives are therefore ways for businesses to improve their reputation, which has an impact on brand equity as a result.
