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• What Is It?
  

What is CR?

Corporate Responsibility (CR) is about how companies manage their business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society (Baker, 2010).

The notion of responsible and sustainable business practice gets closest to our ideal definition of sound business management, operated under social, environmental and ethical considerations as well as driven by the bottom line. It is commonly said that corporate responsibility is not about how a company spends their money but most importantly about how they make their money. What defines corporate responsibility and what it stands for has changed over the years and will continue to evolve.

There will never be a “one size fits all” definition and approach and ultimately it needs to be aligned to an individual company’s business strategy. At Business in the Community Ireland, we use a framework of the Five Pillars of CR – Marketplace, Community, Environment and Workplace as well as corporate responsibility performance measurement, governance and communications across which to demonstrate best practice.

The following are examples of CR practices that companies can integrate into their day-to-day operations:

• Demonstrating clear leadership, governance and values and integrating responsible business practices across all business operations.
• Developing products and services with improved social and environmental impacts, and positively influencing customers’ behaviour.
• Developing employees and the future workforce to build successful working lives.
• Investing in the communities in which the business operates and those communities in greatest need.
• Manage social, environmental, and economic impacts in your supply chain.
• Managing resources sustainably, taking action to reduce climate change and prepare for a low carbon economy.
• Working with others in collaboration to create change that benefits both business and society.

Business in the Community Ireland and its member companies have a shared goal of increasing and improving Corporate Responsibility in Ireland.

Business in the Community Ireland stands for Responsible Business practice.