Corporate social responsibility

   Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a popular term for business nowadays because the relationship between business and the society is closer and more important than before. But what is CSR? Dozens of definitions are available for it, depending on the perspective for CSR. One review literature from Norway has summarised 37 definitions and categorised them to 5 dimensions. This paper has become one of the most cited paper in the field of CSR. On the basis of this paper, following is the introduction to CSR.

   由於企業與社會之間的關係較過去更為緊密與重要，因此對於現在的企業而言，企業社會責任（Corporate social responsibility, CSR）可說是一個熱門的字兒。但是甚麼是CSR呢？關於CSR已有數十種的定義，端視對CSR的觀點而定。有一篇來自挪威的回顧文獻整理了37個定義，並將之歸類為5個維度，這篇已經成為CSR領域中最常被引用的文獻之一了。接下來將基於這篇文獻介紹CSR。

   Basically, CSR can be regarded as the contribution from business to specific sustainable development goals. According to the 5 dimensions identified in this Norwegian literature, such goals include environmental, social, economic, stakeholder, and voluntariness aspects. The environmental dimension focuses on the natural environment, it is generally applied to mean the extent to which business activity negatively impacts on the natural environment; social is concerned about the relationship between business and its local community and the whole society; economic includes socio-economic or financial aspects, as well as the description of CSR in terms of business operation; stakeholder aims on the demands or requirements from stakeholders or stakeholder groups; voluntariness is on the basis of ethical issues, it indicates actions taken proactively instead of complying with the regulations passively.

   基本上CSR可以被視為企業對於特定的可永續發展目標所做出的貢獻。根據此挪威文獻的5個維度，這些目標包括了環境、社會、經濟、利害關係者、與自願等方面。環境維度聚焦於天然環境，通常用於指企業活動對天然環境造成負面影響的程度；社會則是關於企業與其所在社區及整體社會之間的關係；經濟則包括了社經或財務方面，以及由企業營運的角度對CSR所進行的敘述；利害關係者則將目標放在利害關係者或其族群的要求或需求；自願則與倫理道德議題有關，是指採取前瞻積極的行為，而不僅只是被動遵循規範。

   Take the focal company in Taiwan, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (TSMC), as an example, it has started its effort on CSR since 2007 and has set 7 dimensions as the goals for itself: morals, business ethics, economy, rule of law, work/life balance, caring for the earth and the next generation, and philanthropy. As Morris Chang, the chairman and CEO of TSMC, mentioned, they believe they can act as a stabilizing force in society, and inspire others to follow, and make society better in the long run.

   以台灣的重點企業台積電為例，台積電從2007年起致力於CSR，並設定了7個維度為努力目標：道德、企業倫理、經濟、法規、工作/生活的平衡、對地球與下一代的關懷、以及慈善事業。誠如董事長兼CEO的張忠謀先生所言，他們相信他們能夠做為社會穩定的力量、鼓勵其他企業跟進、並長久下來使得社會更美好。


Reference:
1) Dahlsrud (2008), "How Corporate Social Responsibility is Defined: an Analysis of 37 Definitions", Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15: 1-13.
2) Corporate Social Responsibility, TSMC: http://www.tsmc.com/english/csr/index.htm