At first, identifying the thin line between CSV and CSR
could be tricky, not to mention with their purpose is almost equivalent to each
other (the two works in a concern to satisfy the society). Although I am
familiar with both terms, I still wouldn’t be too confident to jump into the
act of explaining my own description of the dissimilarity between Corporate
Social Responsibility and Creating Shared Value. The way I see it those two
operations may go hand-in-hand because of their similarity by revolving it
around the community—or simply just ‘to do good’.
But as I took a little closer of their definitions, their
benefits, even the examples of both actions, now I can officially say that
those two are, in fact, very much different. Though both may correspond with
each other, and they basically ‘look’ identical at first glance, but it is safe
to say that each of them serve an entirely different purpose. But, still, very
important for every company to conduct if they want their business to survive.
Now, before we can do a differentiation between Creating
Shared Value and Social Corporate Responsibility is only logical if we know
what both terms actually are. Creating shared value could be identified as a
strategy to develop—or, even reinforce—the
company’s future market with also, at the same time, could build up or
strengthens the economy of the company, the relationship with the
communities/stakeholders, and their marketplace. So basically CSV is a
long-term plan for a business in order to maximize their profit and also to
satisfy their communities. And how do they do that? This is where CSR comes in.
CSR is a “voluntary
activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economic, social and
environmentally sustainable manner.” Mainly saying that CSR is one of the
ways for those companies that undertake CSV for the sake of their business’
future, especially if they operate under socially, environmentally, and
economically responsible manner, CSR would be essential for them to undertake.
In order to create value (CSV) you need to do CSR. The main
goal of CSR is not actually to gain profit for the business. It is simply to do
well towards the community/society with a philanthropic activity. And with that,
it supposed to lead onto creating a strong value or bond between those parties involved, or simply, ‘joint value creation for business and
society’, which is exactly CSV’s beneficiary. As in for CSR, the benefits
would be something along the lines of citizenship, sustainability, and
philanthropy.
In simple terms, the one true goal of CSR is to do ‘noble’
things to the society, such as undergoing a friendly environmental activity or just
simply doing a volunteer work. It is entirely separate from profit
maximization, while CSV is a complete vital part of it. We can see that now if
companies are doing some CSR is wouldn’t exactly be beneficial for the society only,
in fact, the whole thing is merely a strategy for the company to gain more
profit in the future by looking good to the eyes of the communities or their
other stakeholders so they would carry on supporting the company to continue
their business. Now we may think that it is almost sneaky, but then I guess
that’s just how business works.
Reference:
Corporate Social Responsibility.
(n.d). Foreign Affairs, Trade and
Development Canada. Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/topics-domaines/other-autre/csr-rse.aspx?lang=eng
Epstein-Reeves, J. (n.d.). What
is 'Creating Shared Value'?. Forbes.
Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2012/06/04/what-is-creating-shared-value/
