What is corporate social responsibility?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) covers many areas of how a business organisation is managed. According to the ISO26000 guidance on social responsibility they include: corporate governance and management practices, relationships with consumers, customers, counterparties and suppliers, human rights, environmental protection and social engagement of businesses.

¹ PN-ISO26000:2012 standard

Sustainable development is a wider concept but companies often use it interchangeably with CSR. Hence, the defontiions and terms are not as important as the idea behind them. To put it simply, of crucial importance is to ensure that companies, organisations and all market participants carry out fair and ethical operations, take into account their impact on the natural environment and the expectations of their stakeholders.

It is a global development agenda adopted by the countries of the world until 2030. Businesses, universities and non-governmental organisations are also involved in the implementation of the gaols. Your company can also help to achieve them. Indvidual actions of different entities can have an immense effect on a global scale.

Managing business operations in conformance with the social responsibility principles is voluntary, however, for a growing number of companies it is becoming a must due to the expectations of their employees and customers. Additionally, many CSR aspects are regulated by the legal regulations or industry standards in force.

The main principles of corporate social responsibility are set forth in the ISO26000 Guidance on social responsibility and include: accountability, transparency, ethical conduct, respecting stakeholder expectations, conformance with the law, respecting international standards and human rights.

Disclosure of non-financial data offers a possibility of getting to know a company better and understanding its decisions. Such information is often expected by the shareholders, future employees and customers.