Corporate social responsibility involves using the resources of an organization

Corporate social responsibility means using the power of an agency or business to help solve different social issues and to accomplish social objectives. A business that supports social success, on the other hand, includes the determination by owners of corporate social responsibility in relation to the competition.
Overview of the Company
Samsung Electronics Co., LTD is a Korea-based international electronics corporation headquartered in Suwon, South Korea. The corporation is the second biggest information technology in the world with second sales from Apple. Additionally, the company has established plants and sales networks in over 80 countries and has around 370,000 employees. Kwon Oh-Hyun has been the company’s CEO since 2012. It is the role of every organization to help in addressing some of the most challenging problems within the society such as those related to the environment as well as the economic development of the entire country. This paper aims at reviewing the social performance of Samsung Electronics as well as explaining how the company relates to its position when it comes to its social standpoint on economic problems.
Corporate Social Responsibility of Samsung Electronics
Since its establishment in 1969, Samsung Electronics has always met its corporate social responsibility in different ways. To start with, the company always strives to manufacture superior products and services following a unique business philosophy that focuses on technology & resources as well as a contribution to humanity. This means that the company has been fulfilling its social responsibility as a worldwide corporate citizen while effectively carrying out its business activities to expand its economic value. Research has indicated that the company has been encouraging self-reliance as well as independence among the young adults through different initiatives like systematic vocational education for the young generation. By 2014, the program had 15,779 beneficiaries.
Additionally, the company has been participating in various global sustainability initiatives through joint efforts with different stakeholders. For instance, the company is currently involved in many activities through working groups such as the Gesi Human Right Working Group. The major aim of these activities is to improve the communities within which the company operates.
Samsung Electronics Company has also implemented programs that help in reducing the environmental impacts of its products which are mainly determined during the development phase. This involves incorporating different environmental factors during the manufacturing process. For example, the company makes use of various environmental management programs with aims of reducing the emission of environmental pollutants during the process. Moreover, recent studies have indicated that the company is expanding in-house treatments as well as recycling facilities following the idea that the party generating they should only handle waste materials. The company also strives to minimize the discharge of substances that lead to global warming including CO2 emission and is also among the top leaders in energy conservation through its different energy saving initiatives. All these measures are in line with the company’s corporate social responsibility of conserving nature.
Company’s social performance
When it comes to issues related to social performance, the company has maintained high levels of performance as compared to other companies within the same industry. For instance, it is the role of every employee to abide by the set codes of conduct which are summarized into five major points- social contribution, business ethics, stakeholder emphasis, environment and safety management as well as transparency. Samsung Electronics also has improved performance based incentives as well as welfare programs aimed at motivating the employees and community members to perform to their level best and to conserve the environment. There are numerous programs such as “for the betterment of all” which brings together employees and community members to volunteer in different social activities and services. Through its commitment to the community as well as the ethical mindset, the company contributes to the well being of communities by helping to enhance the quality of life through different programs such as health and safety initiatives. For instance, it has been offering computer services to the blind as well as providing scholarships for children from the disabled households.
The company maintains a balanced consideration when it comes to environmental soundness, economic transparency, and responsibility to the society. Additionally, the company believes that health, environment, as well as safety, are essential components of corporate management. For example, its commitments to improve the quality of life and to conserve the environment can be reflected in its Green Management Initiative. Apart from manufacturing eco-friendly products, the company engages in different activities aimed at preserving the environment.
Just like a responsible corporate citizen, the company has implemented policies of giving back to various communities around the planet. Through the guidance social contribution secretariats, its eight volunteer centres have been offering different services to communities, mainly in areas concerning social welfare, art, culture as well as academics. This has improved the lives of numerous people around the world. Moreover, Samsung Electronics carries out numerous environmental activities extending to different work sites inside and outside Korea. The activities are based on the company’s respect for nature, community members as well as the legal requirement to improve the quality of life through environmental preservation. This means that the company understands that co-prosperity with the surrounding communities is important for corporate survival.
The Green Management Initiative also demonstrates the company’s high levels of social performance. Through the initiative, the company has been able to open different projects around the world such as environmental education courses and events as well as motivating the employees and the community members to participate in such events. Together with different stakeholders and organizations, the company operates green workplaces through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, usage water and encouraging waste recycling within its offices. Creating green technology as well as products is taken to be the main principle of reducing its environmental impact. Following this initiative, the company received recognition and certifications from its 3,027 product models in 2014, from eleven countries including China, Korea, America and European Countries.
Social Stand and Ways of Solving Economical Problems
When it comes to solving the economic problems, the company assumes a unique social stand which involves building success on helping and dreaming together. For instance, in 2010, the company introduced the seven Shared Growth Implementation Plan which aims at ensuring a win-win partnership with suppliers and community members. This helps suppliers and other community members who find it hard to secure funding to improve their businesses through the Shared Growth Fund of KTW I trillion.
Critics of the company’s CSR Programs and social performance
Despite implementing the above corporate social responsibility programs, different scholars have argued that Samsung Electronics Company is yet to address its social responsibilities fully and that it is deviating from its major objectives. For instance, there have been claims that the company is shifting from its major objective of making profits as well as its obligations towards the stakeholders. The company is said to have used huge amounts of money to deal with community welfare programs instead of focusing on profit making. This means that instead of income, the company is engaging in cash outflows on community programs that end up failing. Additionally, the company’s reputation is taking a hit as it has to disclose shortcomings when found violating some of the CSR programs.
Secondly, the company is losing customer conviction. Despite the fact that customers like to associate with companies engaging in social welfare programs, they normally grow wary of them when there are no instant results from the programs as they think that they are nothing but PR stunts. The company is, therefore, finding it hard to convince the customers that results might take some time and that they should continue trusting the company’s good intentions.
Additionally, the opponents argue that the company’s social performance activities have no measure of the extent to which it should be engaged in the programs as well as the number of resources to be committed to the social values. It is also argued that the company is deviating from its responsibility of looking into the economic viability of its operations and has started engaging in activities that should be handled by the government. Moreover, the managers are said to lack the required skills and competence to deal with the social problems and are using huge amounts of money which are later recovered through an increase in prices as well as low wages for employees.
However, the advantages of Samsung Electronics Company engaging in corporate social responsibilities outweigh the principles held by the opponents. To start with, CSR provides the company with important opportunities as well as a competitive advantage. The company is among the top ranked corporations which have effectively implemented CSR activities. The company has joined hands with various organizations to improve the welfare of the local communities. Additionally, it has improved the well-being of its employees through improving their living conditions. The company has also increased its goodwill value which means that people are willing to purchase its products following its good and clean image. Different enterprises are also willing to do business with the company which has increased its corporation prestige to high levels so much so that the name of the company is becoming synonymous with goodness as well as reliability.
In conclusion, it is clear from the above discussion that Samsung Electronics meets the corporate social responsibilities. This is so because the company has been dealing with the ethical, moral as well as philanthropic responsibilities on top of its responsibilities to comply with the law and to earn returns for investors. Despite the numerous critics the company has been able to give back to the society and has enjoyed huge reserves of financial and human capital following the CSR programs.

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