Corporate Social Responsibility - A Complex Concept

Innovative culture is a responsible culture - Mike A.

When “Big-Box” multi-national corporations open up branches in various communities, a wide host of positive and negative changes are ushered into the society.[1] On a positive side, a boost of new-product availability is presented to the shopper. Consumers are given a choice to select from a wider variety of good, at competitive and possibly lower prices.  

These firms operate at such low costs, that once they enter a community, existing small businesses seldom can compete with them, and are usually forced out of business. [2]  The city of Kaufman, Texas is one of the rare cities in US that opposed establishment of Wal-Mar, Lowes or Home Depot. According to them, they are “fortunate to still have a thriving downtown and small businesses and no Wal-Mart and Home Depot. [3]  Such issues create concerns about corporate social responsibility and consumer social responsibility.[4]  The chart below may help us better understand the pyramid of corporate social responsibility.

   

[1] Stacy Mitchell, Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses, Beacon Press, 2007

[2] Donald D. Taylor, Jeanne Smalling Archer, Up Against The Wal-Marts: How Your Business Can Prosper In The Shadow Of The Retail Giants, AMACOM Div mgmt. Assn, 2005

[3] Kaufman, Texas, www.growmap.com, found online at http://growmap.com/kaufman-texas/

[4] William M. Pride, O.C. Ferrell, Marketing: Concepts and Strategies, Cengage Learning, 2006