Annotated Bibliography
Droppert, H. & Bennett, S. (2015). Corporate social responsibility in global health: An exploratory study of multinational pharmaceutical firms. Global Health, 11 (15), DOI: 10.1186/s12992-015-0100-5
This study presents CSR as an activity in which some firms integrate in their day to day endeavors while others affiliate themselves to independent entities that engage in philanthropic undertakings. A major insight from this study is that CSR may entail offering lower prices for similar goods offered in other firms in the same industry. This is exemplified by the presence of distinct pricing of a specific drug by various pharmaceuticals while there are pharmaceuticals which offer such drugs to patients without charging anything. The mobile health initiative is a CSR engagement by firms that offer drugs for free. However, such endeavors are not initiated by the firm in solitary but through the support of other firms and financial institutions. The implication is that it is quite hard for such firms to sustain themselves where the affiliates withdraw their support.
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This article informs my research by presenting the idea of lower prices as an option in CSR and also engaging with affiliate firms to ensure the sustainability of CSR programs. A commonality of this article with others reviewed herein is that CSR emerges as an important aspect of a firm’s well-being in the community.
Hailu, F. K. & Nigatu, T. F. (2015). Practices and challenges of corporate social responsibility in the hospitality industry: The case of first level hotels and lodges in Gondar City, Ethiopia. Tourism and Hospitality, 4 (5), 1-10.
Gender equality emerges as one of the most valued aspect of CSR in the tourism industry as per the findings of this study. This is highly valued, particularly among the employees for hotels and lodges. Sick and maternity leave are some of the elements of gender equality that any industry can never forgo.
This article aligns with the theme of the challenges of CSR globally as gender equality remains an issue of concern with women being relegated to lower positions in the work place while positions of high ranking remain a preserve for men in many global organizations, particularly those that are highly prominent.
The commonality of this article with others explored herein is that the social issue emerges as critical before indulgence in environmental and economic concerns. A point that requires clarification, however, is how a concern for the employees emerges as more of a concern than the community surrounding the firm. While employees are important as they deal with the internal issues of the firms, most studies emphasize the importance of the external stakeholders in the sustainability endeavors of a firm.
Ismail, M. (2009). Corporate social responsibility and its role in community development: An international perspective. The Journal of International Social Research, 2 (9), 1-11.
This article was chosen to link CSR with sociology. CSR does not only support business sustainability but also the well-being of the communities in which such businesses are located. The author of this article presents the view that CSR is a way through which communities can share the costs and negative impacts of industrialization. It is also the means through which to maintain close relations between the firm and the community members. CSR also aligns with corporate citizenship which depicts a concern for those members of society who are in need of assistance in their life-sustenance endeavors.
This article will be critical in my theme as it presents the importance of engaging in CSR despite the various global challenges that firms experience. A firm that depicts concern for the welfare of the society is bound to succeed in a turbulent business environment as such concerns strengthen the bon between the society’s members and the business. A point that needs clarification in this article is how businesses can work together with the communities to ensure environmental conservation and the wellbeing of everyone else in the society.
Jamali, D., Mezher, T. & Bitar, H. (2006). Corporate social responsibility and the challenge of triple bottom line integration: insights from the Lebanese context. International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 5 (4), 395-414.
This study ranked the medical field as the business that operates in the most economically sustainable way. This was attributed to mounting pressure to act in alignment with accreditation prerequisites. The building and food sectors depicted the highest responsibility in environmental concerns. The medical sector also performed slightly better than any other in the social dimension. The authors attribute this performance to the highly skilled employees and excellence in customer relations management. Integrating the triple bottom line approach to CSR in firms emerges as a challenging endeavor as no sector has fully managed to balance the three aspects: economic, environmental and social. While the financial institutions perform well in economic and social dimension, the environmental aspect is highly overlooked with only 1% of the surveyed firms depicting such commitments.
Most firms engage in CSR due to pressure from activist group and high demand for the disclosure of the firm’s commitment to social and environmental concern. While the economic aspect is an oblivious commitment of every firm, the social and environmental dimensions pose a challenge due to the uncertainty of the outcomes. The linkage and causal relations between the three aspects remain confusing for most firms thus making the implementation difficult.
The commonality of this article with others is that the economic, social and environmental concerns emerge as core elements of effective CSR. This article is, however, different in the way it combines the three aspects to what is referred to as the Triple Bottom Line phenomenon. A point that needs clarification, however, is how the three work together to ensure efficiency in a firm’s sustainability efforts.
Yuen, K. F. & Lim, J. M. (2016). Barriers to the implementation of strategic corporate social responsibility in shipping. The Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics, 32 (1), 49-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajsl.2016.03.006
As per the findings reported in this research article, the greatest barrier to the implementation of CSR is high regulation standards (HRS). The regulations put forth for companies to comply are quite high such that organizations strive to ensure total adherence rather than exceeding the expectations. Efforts to adhere to the international regulatory stipulations make it difficult for the shipping industry to implement CSR. Other barriers include unwillingness by firms to pay for the CSR’s costs, lack of measurement tools and a strategic vision, and inadequacy of resources.
There is a discrepancy in the implementation of CSR in various firms where larger firms tend to report higher commitment than smaller firms. Where public scrutiny comes into play, it also emerges that the firms’ commitment to CSR is high. One issue of concern with this research, however, the authors state that CSR makes sense at some times and not in other times. This is an issue that requires clarification as there is no further discussion about the same to enable one draw the line as to whether firms should or should not implement CSR programs.
In alignment with the challenges faced by firms in the implementation of CSR, this study is quite insightful and offers crucial points as to why firms may opt to engage in CSR despite several challenges, particularly relating to the inadequacy of resources.
