Corporate Social Responsibility and Profit Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility and Profit - Essay Example This paper illustrates that followers of CSR on the other hand state that being socially responsible is more important because of the social contract, as well as the argument that CSR can actually increase profit. Others in favor of CSR say that it is already an obligation, and the issue is simply one of finding ways in which companies can act in ways that are socially responsible. Even companies who agree that CSR is important often have problems putting CSR principles into practice. The main critics of CSR claim that standards of living have greatly improved over the past 100 years and that this improvement is a result of â€Å"the success of free enterprise†. Critics of CSR attack those in favor of it by saying that profit is a needed and helpful advantage of business because it is this very profit which allows businesses to put funds into helping society. The reduction of profits gained by companies caused by CSR can actually have bad effects on society because lesser prof its mean less ability to help society. If companies spend more time paying for functions that make them socially responsible, they will not be able to focus on the profit which is important for shareholders. Without shareholders, the company does not exist, and so it cannot help society by giving it funds. Many people in favor of CSR say that many business ethics of big corporations are unethical, but critics reply by saying that it is unethical for managers to think of anything else than maximizing shareholder profits. Also, making companies responsible for many different aspects of society risks managers and directors being distracted. Critics also say that there is a big difference between taking account of society’s interests and being accountable for society’s interests; only the former element should be imposed on managers and businesses.