Corporate Social Responsibility takes center stage for businesses, employees and purchasers

What’s the responsibility of a business?

For many years, the primary answer was to provide value – primarily financial – to stakeholders. While that’s still one of the main responsibilities today, the answer to that question has become much more nuanced over the past couple decades. That’s because of the rise of corporate social responsibility, a term that refers to the concept that a business should not only provide value to stakeholders, but also to the larger community in which it exists.

CSR comes in many forms. It could be a decarbonization goal to benefit the environment or equity initiatives within the company or its community. It could even be something as simple as volunteering or providing grants in the community. CSR has become a major part of the business matrix. In 2019, 90% of businesses listed on the S&P 500 produced a CSR report, up from just 20% in 2011.

According to a Harvard Business Review article, about 70% of Americans believe it’s either “somewhat” or “very important” for companies to make the world a better place.