Topic 20 Corporate Social Responsibility & Ethics

Topic 20 is a very dynamic and interesting topic so well done for wanting to do it.

CSR has a broad range of aspects e.g. relations with employees and working conditions, environment impacts, relationship with communities and / or suppliers. You need to read through business pages of news websites e.g. BBC News, the Independent and the Guardian [all of which provide free access – in the US there is Forbes, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal but they probably will demand a subscription] and find articles which are critical of companies. Bear in mind the mantra: People-Planet-Profit, and the concepts of ESG when selecting a company.

For example some of the coffee shop companies have been criticised for exploiting coffee farmers, producing cups that are hard to recycle, putting local coffee shops out of business and not contributing to the local economy. Some companies through aggressive pricing and supplier agreements have put a lot of smaller businesses out of business e.g. Amazon and Boohoo have been accused of causing the demise of many High Street retailers in the UK as well as exploiting workers.

Many of the Big Tech companies have been accused of flouting government and data protection laws and not paying their fair share of tax by using holding companies and transferring ‘sales’ to low tax jurisdictions. The way some organisations operate, they are not always answerable to governments [with armies of lawyers and accountants they learn how to exploit loopholes and lobby politicians etc.]. Also it is worth remembering that the net worth of some of these huge corporations exceeds the GDP of some developing nations and they can wield more power globally than elected governments. We have seen how Social Media companies can interfere with democracy and promote propaganda…..

This topic is therefore very thought provoking and offers great opportunities for critical thinking and a higher pass grade if addressed and evaluated appropriately.

I have made suggestions to help you choose a company but it is important to choose a company that interests you – as it says in the latest Information Pack: “The choice of topic is YOURS (not your mentor’s or your friends).”