The Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility for Companies

Introduction 

For my study, I sought find information on the participation of a company in Corporate Social Responsibility. I specifically picked IBM because it is one of the most active companies in CSR in the United States. I selected on the company’s General Manager to seek information on the Company’s CSR projects and any relevant information on how participating in those projects have impacted on the company. The General Manager is the focal point of all decisions in the company and therefore would be the most accurate source of information on this subject. From him, I would get to know some of the reasons that the management use to decide on CSR activities. Similarly, the General manager would be in a better position to give me an overview of the company’s performance and how they perform during their CSR engagements. All decisions in the company are made by the top level management, other decisions made at department level are made with consent of the General Manager, therefore, he stands as the most informed person in the matters relating to the company’s CSR projects and their respective effects on the company. Similarly, the general manager would be better placed to give an overview of the company’s performance over a given period. 

Procedure 

My study is a case study that focuses on IBM. The first step in my data collection process was identifying the company’s General Manager as my target interviewee for the study. This followed by booking appointment to meet with the subject. I set a first meeting with my subject which was generally meant for familiarization and approval of his time and verification of his willingness to offer the desired information. The meeting also helped scheduled an interview date which was to come one week later. I then designed the questions that would guide me on the interview. The following are the questions I designed for the interview. 

Which Social areas do you concentrate your Social Responsibility projects as a company? 

What are some of the common goals you set before engaging in any CSR project at any given point in time? 

How do people and institutions especially Americans, the government, your customers and employees perceive your participation in Social Responsibilities? 

Does CSR participation pose any direct effects to your company’s marketing? 

The last procedure is meeting the interviewee and posing the interview questions to him. 

Results 

The interview was very much helpful with great information drawn from the general manager. The interviewee offered absolute acceptance to me and answered the questions unconditionally. The General manager answered to the affirmative on the question on whether the company conducts CSR with more information on specific areas of CSR which included climate change, education and technology among others. The interviewee offered various results on their own studies on various perceptions of people with regards to their involvement in CSR, most people encourage their activities while a few others also disagree with them. The manager also profiled the various impacts that CSR has posed on their marketing as a company some of which are related to the positive perception with which people take their projects. 

Conclusion 

Information gathered from this interview would be very helpful in my study of the impacts of CSR in the success of companies. IBM is one of my target companies. From this interview, I get to know the company’s CSR strategies and goals which drive them to CSR participation. Additionally, I get to learn on the various CSR projects that these companies involve in with specifications on the amount of investments they inject. This interview also offered information on the direct impacts that CSR pose to marketing and stakeholders’’ perception.