Reference no: EM133077796

Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, or responsible business) is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model.

CSR policy functions as a self-regulatory mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and national or international norms. With some models, a firm's implementation of CSR goes beyond compliance and engages in "actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law." The aim is to increase long-term profits and shareholder trust through positive public relations and high ethical standards to reduce business and legal risk by taking responsibility for corporate actions. CSR strategies encourage the company to make a positive impact on the environment and stakeholders including consumers, employees, investors, communities, and others.

Every year, Reputation Institute, a private global consulting firm based in New York, invites about 47,000 consumers across fifteen markets to participate in a study that ranks the world's one hundred most reputable companies-all multinational businesses with a global presence. One of their recent studies found that 42 percent of how people feel about a company is based on their perceptions of the firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR).