Essay Writing

On
Corporate Social Responsibility

Submitted To-
Professor Md.Zakir Hossain (ZKH1)
Lecturer
Department of History and Philosophy
School of Humanities and Social Science
North South University

Submitted By-
Sabrina Tasnim Esha
ID-1721098630
Course- Business Ethics
Course Code- PHI 401
Section-03

Date of Submission: 02 May, 2021

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Acknowledgement
The opportunity I had of essay writing the report on the “Challenges of Corporate Social
Responsibility in Bangladesh” was a great chance of learning and understanding about how
corporations are facing the problems or issues on implementing the CSR policy. I am lucky
enough to become a part of this project.

This essay helped me to understand the duties of an organization for being a part of our society. I
learned that every action of business plays a key role on environment. Bad implementation of
CSR policy can affect negative reputation on a company. Any misconduct will hamper our
society as well as the people live in it. By writing this essay, Freidman theory helped me to
understand that for the business CSR policy is all about profit maximization and I became clear
that we as well as our government should step forward to protect our environment by performing
proper business activities.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgement .......................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Nature of the CSR ....................................................................................................................... 3
Discussion ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Challenges on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ............................................................... 4
The garments industry, Bank sectors, and SMEs are also facing challenges on CSR ................ 6
Opinions .......................................................................................................................................... 7
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 8
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................... 9
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Corporate Social Responsibilities

Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) is a new concept in Bangladesh that was first introduced by
the banking sector in 2008. At first, it only assists in various cultural events. Nevertheless, after
2008, CSR now holds a significant position in Bangladesh. CSRB is the organization that ensures
CSR practices in Bangladesh. Its main objective is to become the primary source of information
and resources in CSR in Bangladesh. Besides the argument in favor of CSR, there are so many
challenges to implement it properly. Hypothetically, the establishment of Corporate Social
Responsibility is just for getting the reputation or brand image of an organization. Moreover, these
days, companies have outstanding inspirations to contribute to a particular corporate social
responsibility (CSR) activity. Companies are engaged in an assortment of exercises like hiring a
new workforce, sponsorship, natural invitingness, or cause-related showcasing. Some businesses
have started to act in a more socially competent manner, mainly since their directors need to do
so, and somewhat since, of fear of earthy person and buyer weight bunches and the media, and
concern for their open picture.

Here, in this essay, I will discuss a challenge on Corporate Social Responsibilities that many
organizations or corporations face problems along with society. In the view of our development of
society, the public gets into more losses. While Corporate Social Responsibility is not obliged for
a company to develop a community, it is a profit maximization strategy. Because a corporation
mainly focuses on its organizational reputation, it is less demanding for an organization
to maintain a TAX regulation by appearing to be involved with social improvement. The
management is not adequately equipped and trained to handle social issues and activities.

Nature of the CSR

Before I start with the discussion on CSR challenges, I would like to discuss the nature of CSR so
that further discussion on the challenges can understand easily.

In a realistic society, what actually should be the nature of CSR? The corporation has
responsibilities for society or humanity, the environment, employees, and most people who are
their potential consumers. Making a positive commitment to society can be respected as long-term
speculation in a more secure, better-educated, and more evenhanded community, which hence
benefits the organization by making a moved forward and steady competitive setting in which to
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do business. Moreover, CSR includes economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic expectations.
They do this by their movement toward society by their commerce exercises by speculation in
society. CSR guarantees rules and direction that ought to be taken after by the organization that
the Government sets. All of this future comes within the brand image that assists the company to
pick up an amount of profit. However, the corporations fail to follow the actual meaning of
corporate social responsibility in our society and face more challenges to implementing it.

Discussion
A CSR methodology centered on maintaining a strategic distance from administrative risk and
maintaining a permit to function in the current trade will not one or the other lead to current
competitive advantage or a creative ability of future business models.

Milton Friedman argued passionately against investing shareholder's money in anything that does
not explicitly contribute to expanding shareholder riches. He took the Kantian view that executives
must see after the interface of shareholders, which look for wealth or profit maximization. As
socially responsible exercises, within the conclusion of Friedman, diminish profit, companies
ought to not engage in any charitable practices (Watson, 2009). Milton Friedman proposed a
guiding principle for business ethics in a New York Times article, provocatively titled: "The social
responsibility of business is to increase its profits."

"… there is one and only one social responsibility of business to use its resources and engage in
activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays in the rules of the game, which is to
say, engages in open and free competition, without deception or fraud."-This statement raises the
question of whether directors can act in any way to increase profits. Although Friedman is clear
that directors as agents of the business have to play within the game's rules (Milton Friedman on
Corporate Social Responsibility).

Challenges on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The planning and usage of Corporate Social Responsibility require long-term commitment and
vision from directors, posturing a significant challenge for organizations (Faulkner, 1995). The tall
rate of low-income gaining communities 26 over the world makes it troublesome for communities
to enough back companies that carry out CSR as they spend a more prominent parcel of their profit
on nourishment (Euromonitor, 2006; World Bank, 2007). The execution of CSR can be
exceptionally challenging due to the various needs of society (Baughn et al., 2007).
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There is a need for the intrigue of the local community in taking part and contributing to the CSR
activities of companies. The CSR practice can generally be attributable to the truth that there is no
knowledge about CSR inside the neighborhood communities. No serious efforts have been made
to spread awareness( Prasad, K.2015) around CSR and inject certainty within the neighborhood
communities about such activities. The circumstance is encouraged to exasperate by
communication between the company and the community at the grassroots.

Focuses on profit maximization: Many business organizations in Bangladesh follow CSR

activities to develop our society. But, in reality, it is sad to say that corporations go through CSR
activities to have a profit maximization in their organization, to have a public image. For example,
British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) is producing tobacco products/cigarettes, which
is detrimental to health. To get financial support from the Government and the public image, they
focus on CSR activities and earning a net income. A few years back, they have initiated the "Safe
Drinking Water" project in the rural areas (British American Tobacco, n.d.) and installed 53
filtration plants to make water free from arsenic and other harmful contents. Whereas, if BATB
could produce something against tobacco products, it might be a historical change to generate new
ideas to get a healthy planet.

The tendency of avoiding TAX regulations: Laws cannot be passed for all circumstances, and
thus businesses must expect responsibilities to preserve an efficient society. Waves of anti-trust
have proved the break-even with work opportunity, discuss and water contamination control
enactment, truth in publicizing, and other comparable legislation being upheld in Bangladesh. The
Government will drive the businesses to do for social advantage what it has failed to do
voluntarily—for example, there so many multinational corporations in Bangladesh. The problem
of tax avoidance by MNCs is a problem sans frontier. The MNCs exploit the loopholes of the
international tax rules and avoid the massive amount of tax revenue to the detriment of the capacity
of the states to provide for public goods (Ahmed). Although, by showing data of doing the socially
responsible tasks, they can benefit from the Government.

The management is not adequately equipped and trained to handle the social issues and
activities: It would be superior to take off social interface within the hands of individuals more
skilled in social programs such as instructors, social specialists, etc. Moreover, the administration
is so intensely included in hugely forcing assignments of managerial capacities not to be alluring
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to move an extra social responsibility task. Again, the example can be Multinational Corporations
in Bangladesh as they already hold enough economic power. Businesses like MNCs control the
economy of the nation. Giving them social control as well would be hostile to the standard and
ideal welfare of the society. Such social control might impact political outcomes, and
subsequently, administrative decisions would weaken the genuine principles of democracy. For
illustration, commitments to a favorite charity of a legislator seem to tip the enactment in support
of given commerce, which would counter democratic principles.

These are the overall challenges that our countries are facing in implementing corporate social
responsibility practices. In contrast, as can be related to the issues of the agricultural sector of
Bangladesh, CSR is utilized to clarify the requirements of the businesses to be socially dependable
and center on financial, social, legitimate, moral, and natural issues. The private sector's legitimate
and moral components are not complying with the laws and rules and not assembly their
commitments by the state and society. MNCs and garments industry, bank sectors, Small and
Medium Enterprises (SMEs) also face challenges on CSR implementation.

The garments industry, Bank sectors, and SMEs are also facing challenges on CSR
As a single country, the clothing market became the second-largest exporter of the Ready-Made
Garment (RMG) industry in Bangladesh. As I have already mentioned, an industry's social
responsibilities are giving equal opportunity or a non-discriminatory policy in employment,
creating growth opportunities through training, human rights movement, environment, health, and
safety policy. However, the RMG sector in Bangladesh is also left no behind in facing the issues
of CSR implementation.

Most Corporate Social Responsibility programs are not context-specific. For that matter, the need
for individual companies to invest in context-specific corporate social responsibility programs
(Bonituo, 2014) and failed to engage in the CSR program properly. After that, common challenges
for each compliance issues in the RMG sector in Bangladesh are; lack of management support,
weak government intervention, lack of workers awareness of their rights, financial incapability of
the organization on the implementation of social responsibility program ( Alam, M. N., Azim, M.
T., & Alias, R. B. (2017).

In the SMEs sector, to a large extent, they fail to engage critical stakeholders on the social issues;
they believe that the number of their purchases to an investment into the company's CSR program
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and for that matter, they feel to be contributing to a cause. Companies can advantage of their CSR
interventions if the inner and outside partners are adequately informed. Unfortunately,
stakeholders" mindfulness creation is deficient, making it incomprehensible for the practical usage
of most social intercessions.

Opinions
After discussing the challenges above, I agree that corporate social responsibility is not always
socially responsible. I also agree with the Freiudical theory against CSR. So far, by this discussion,
in arranging to crystal gaze for the long run of CSR in Bangladesh and take time-bound steps to
mainstream it effectively, the following opinion or recommendations can be listed for severe
conditions.

1. It is known that as it were medium such as SMEs and huge corporations like MNCs, Banks,
RMG industry is included in CSR exercises and selected geological zones. This issue builds a case
for more companies(2015) brought to be beneath the CSR domain. To address the issue of coming
out to more extensive topographical zones, the inclusion of little and medium undertakings (SMEs)
within the CSR space will be essential. It is prescribed that a campaign should be propelled to
spread awareness on CSR issues among the standard open and involve SMEs to take part more
effectively in CSR activities. This will offer assistance. CSR reaches out to other locations, covers
many communities, and provides services to companies to play a profitable part in addressing
different social and advancement issues. This approach will offer assistance to CSR get imbued
into the DNA of core business exercises of corporations.

2. We know that organizations or corporations between all stakeholders, counting the private
segment, workers, local communities, the Government, and society in common, are either not
compelling or not effectively operational at the grassroots level within the CSR domain. This
situation frequently creates boundaries in implementing CSR activities. It is suggested that
practical steps be embraced to address the issue of building viable bridges among all critical
stakeholders for the successful implementation of CSR activities. As a result, a long-term and
maintainable perspective on CSR activities ought to be built into the existing and future
methodologies of all stakeholders included in CSR initiatives.
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3. Partnership between government and other important interested groups need to be strong. So
that for the policy of implementing the CSR activities in the organizations, management executives
get enough training to handle the social issues.

4. Finally, the part and endeavors of the private sector in taking the development plan forward with
a center on education, health, environment, business, women empowerment, catastrophe
administration, to specify a few, have been evident and viable. A few imaginative models are
moreover accessible for private sector interventions in these regions. In arrange to thrust the
improvement plan in a mission mode, it recommends that reasonable and operational models of
engagement between all three essential stakeholders – the Government, the non-governmental
organizations, and the private division – are jointly explored and tended to.

Conclusion
There is evidence of changes to corporate social responsibility approaches. Usually, since firms
have figured out that it is fiscally judicious to utilize environmental assets shrewdly, the business
needs to be sustainable and contribute to sustainable and legitimate work measures. Be that as it
may, there is a concern that corporate social duty is constrained by what the customer is willing or
able to pay for(Lincoln Electric: Case Study. - PHDessay.com. https://phdessay.com/lincoln-
electric-case-study/) more ethical approaches. There are few cases of businesses that are willing
to receive socially dependable arrangements which influence their profitability. CSR lacks
application in developing social alter since organizations cannot work in any more extensive
advantage than the advantage of their shareholders to maximize benefit. So CSR does not play a
noteworthy part in making social change.

On the other hand, the societal development task is known as "Social work"; businesses or
corporations can not handle the social issues. Mainly they are involved with economic
responsibility. Accountability to oversee corporations' damaging influences must have a way
basically of corporate control at their heart. Some enterprises reinforce instead of confronting
control structures and, after that, challenge prevalent endeavors for autonomy of financial
opportunity, social correspondence, human rights, and natural maintainability. Corporations will
invest in those projects from where they will receive the goodwill of their company and financial
support. So yes, I believe corporations will focus on their responsibility rather the improvement of
the social challenges is the task of Government.
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Bibliography
Ahmed, S. U. (n.d.). Taxation in Bangladesh. Taxation Challenges for Bangladesh.

Bonituo, P. I. (2014). ASSESSING THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF CORPORATE

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE KUMASI METROPOLIS: A CASE OF THE
BEVERAGE INDUSTRY.

British American Tobacco. (n.d.). Retrieved from BAT Bangladesh:

http://www.batbangladesh.com/group/sites/BAT_9T5FQ2.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO9T5
K52

Peter Prevos, I. W. (2009, July 14). Milton Friedman on Corporate Social Responsibility.
Retrieved from Lucid Manager: https://lucidmanager.org/management/milton-friedman-
corporate-social-responsibility/

Tiberti, G. &. (2020, October 29). Research Guide. Retrieved from USC Libraries:
https://libguides.usc.edu/csr

Alam, M. N., Azim, M. T., & Alias, R. B. (2017). Social compliance in the ready-made garment
industry in Bangladesh: Challenges for HR personnel. Journal of Applied Environmental and
Biological Sciences, 7(10), 8-18

Sumedha Journal of Management, vol. 4, no. 3, CMR College of Engineering & Technology, July
2015, p. 137.

Milton Friedman on Corporate Social Responsibility.

https://lucidmanager.org/management/milton-friedman-corporate-social-responsibility/

Friedman, M. (1970): The social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits, The
New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1970. New York Times Company.

Lincoln Electric: Case Study. - PHDessay.com. https://phdessay.com/lincoln-electric-case-study/