Sunday, September 25, 2011

Which companies stand out in regards to CSR?

Most companies now are putting a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR, which is the idea that businesses must be concerned about not just their owners but the welfare of society as well. CSR includes a company’s charity and social work along with their responsibility to costumers, investors, and employees. CSR can also include how environmentally conscious a company is. Many computer hardware and software companies are doing their part to keep up with CSR. A few that stand out are Dell and Adobe.

Adobe has a program called Adobe Youth Voices as apart of the Adobe Foundation that’s “designed to provide underserved youth with the critical skills they need to become active and engaged members of their communities and the world at large.” Adobe also has an annual community action week and this past year over 800 Adobe employees worked in their local communities during community action week. Adobe is committed to environmental stability as well even being ranked #7 on Newsweek’s list of Greenest Companies in the U.S in 2010.

Dell has crated a global contest called the Dell Social Innovation Competition. It was founded in 2007 at the University of Texas and Dell began sponsoring in 2008. The competition looks for students who can come up with an idea that can solve a problem and improve their community. The grand prize is $50,000 in seed money to invest in the idea. Dell also has a youth program called YouthConnect that focuses on helping the underserved gain access to technology to increase learning opportunities around the world.

Sources:

1. http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/dell-difference.aspx

2. http://www.adobe.com/corporateresponsibility/

4 comments:

  1. What is the response of the government to this, if any? Were they provided with any incentives or any other benefits?

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  2. In my research I did not see any examples of government incentive but I see what you mean. Companies might possibly get tax breaks on charitable donations but beyond that i'm not sure although it's a good thing to look into.

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  3. I also would love to see some of the government response. The article really proves to be a thinking point on how CSR affects a company's gains and losses.

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  4. Corporate Social Responsibility has one of the strongest influences on a company's ability to survive in an industry. Especially one as cut throat as the Computer/Hardware industry. Adobe's approach to reaching out to the youth, which is a demographic that is a large part of their market, will definitely positively influence the firms effect on the industry.

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