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What is CSR? Definition

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a management concept by which companies integrate social and environmental concerns into their business activities and their interactions with their stakeholders. CSR encourages companies to combine sustainable development with economic performance. The guidelines contained in the international ISO standards allow for the evaluation of the commitment of organizations and their overall performance.

CSR is an volunteer approach adopted by companies that wish to respond to current social and environmental concerns. Thus, a company is committed to a social and environmental responsibility approach. Engaging in a sustainable development approach means adapting its operations to its challenges in order to face them more effectively.

To meet the challenges of sustainable development and social demand, companies that integrate a CSR charter into their operations seek to reduce their environmental impact and also integrate a more ethical approach on the social level. CSR also means meeting the expectations of stakeholders: customers, employees and suppliers through the company’s societal and ecological actions.

CSR, environmental and social commitment

  • Corporate Social Responsibility and the environment

More and more large companies are becoming aware of the issues raised by sustainable development and are committing themselves to environmental protection.
For example, the company IKEA, a huge consumer of wood, has decided to buy from FSC nurseries. So, for one tree cut, one tree is planted and they no longer supply themselves with wood from tropical forests. This initiative limits the environmental impact of their production and encourages wood producers to comply with FSC standards.

  • CSR and social commitment

Corporate social responsibility is also taken into account in the CSR approach. A company that recruits people living close to the workplace, that promotes diversity within its teams or that adapts its management systems for better working conditions, is part of a CSR approach.

Why adopt CSR?

Today, the demand for ecological awareness is growing. Being part of this international momentum allows companies to meet the expectations of stakeholders. CSR will make it easier to identify and better control the new risks that your company may face.

We observe an increase in the expectations of the States (law pact 2019 for France) and of the European Union to make integrate the standards iso 26000, iso 14001 and others to the companies these last years.