Green Washing, Corporate Spin and CSR

As for superficial attempts to practice CSR, the term “green washing” gives an instance of how the aims of CSR are subverted. Green Washing refers to the practice of the corporate spin employed by a company in declaring itself to promoting environmentally friendly policies whereas in reality, the company does not live up to the rhetoric. This is a practice that should be avoided and as noted in the above sections, some companies usually “walks the talk” and there have been no instances of the company indulging in practices that it otherwise repudiates in public. As the Corporate governance council is responsible for overseeing the activities of its CSR and ethical standard compliance, it is the nodal committee for ensuring that there is no “spin” on the business practices.

The opponents of CSR argue about the recessionary times and how difficult it is for them to practice CSR when the focus is on cutting costs and improving the bottom line. In this context, it is pertinent to consider the following excerpt from a Business Week article, “At the root of these innovations is a corporate philosophy that strives for some kind of good beyond mere profits. At the same time, goodness can be good for the bottom line, too. At a time of financial crisis, climate change, vast economic disparities, and pandemics, the existence of companies trying to right wrongs and fix things is certainly soothing”

Till now, this article has considered the opposing viewpoints about CSR and as can be seen from the “slant” of the quotations that We have selected as well as our opinions, it is our firm belief that a firm does indeed exist for making things other than profit and hence, the practice of CSR ought to be enforced rather than merely suggested.

We live in times where the author James Martin has pointed to the dangers inherent in our current paradigm and raised the point about how the central challenge of our time is to ensure that we transition to a new paradigm. Hence, the need of the hour is for businesses and regulators alike to embrace CSR and the notion that a firm exists solely for making profits belongs to the old paradigm.

In conclusion, it is our opinion that companies and businesses work together with the governmental agencies to promote sustainable practices and alleviate the severe environmental and social problems that are besetting us and in this respect, the firms should indeed look beyond their bottom line and have a social component in their accounting statements as a means of measuring the environmental and social impact of their businesses.

It is worth remembering that we have not inherited the earth but merely borrowed it from our children. Hence, we do have a duty to make the world a habitable place for future generations and focus on sustainability instead of destruction.