How to Measure Corporate Social Responsibility

Now that we've taken a look at a few different perspectives on corporate social responsibility, it is time to see how we can measure it. Some say there are benefits, others say everybody loses. Who is to say? Well, let's consider how Jennnings attempts to measure social responsibility. Jennings suggests there are eight questions that should be answered about a company to determine the character of its soul (Jennings, 2012):

1. Does the company comply with the law?
2. Does the company have a sense of propriety?
3. How honestly do product claims match with reality?
4. How forthcoming is the company with information?
5. How does the company treat its employees?
6. How does the company handle third-party ethics issues?
7. How charitable is the company?
8. How does the company react when faced with negative disclosures?

How do these compare with traditional measures of social responsibility?

For starters, these questions follow a strict guideline-- one that many large companies attempt to hide behind, whereas traditional measures may not be so strict. For example, let's say company X spends $100,000 on efforts to plant new trees. The public may view it as a good and charitable deed, labeling company X a "socially responsible" company. However, when put under the eight-questions lens, a dark truth may quickly surface. Indeed, some companies actually intentionally hide behind their social image to avoid detection in their unethical activities and scrutiny from the public (Glavas, 2014).

But, as Jennings (2012) has mentioned, "no company is ethically perfect." This is why she devised these eight questions to look at a company's soul from an objective standpoint, whereas a traditional view may overlook many of these questions and assume the wrong conclusion.

It is important to be aware of what goes on behind the scenes before making any proper judgments.

References

Glavas, A., & Kelley, K. (2014). The Effects of Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility on Employee Attitudes. Business Ethics Quarterly, 24(2), 165-202.doi:10.5840/beq20143206

Jennings, M. (2012). Business Ethics: Case Studies and Selected Readings (7th ed.). Cincinnati: West Educational Pub.