5 Socially Responsible Companies

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is essentially about doing good and doing well. Generally, it refers to the process of integrating social values and mission within business decision-making process, so as to achieve positive and sustainable outcomes towards the business, environment and the community at large.

Many companies nowadays believe that they have this responsibility to give back to society. Such socially responsible companies see to it that this act permeates everything they do.

Here are 5 companies that stood out, in my opinion, as great examples of how social responsibility can be productively coupled with sound strategies to advance goodwill, while building sustainable and impressive businesses.

1. Vodafone

In April, Vodafone promised to cut down their carbon dioxide emissions in half by 2020 through improving the energy efficiency of its global mobile-phone networks. Additional points for Vodafone on CSR because they are constantly updating us with the results of the campaign; no matter whether it’s going well or not.

Future promises includes pledging to recycle 95% of network equipment waste and plans to reduce work-related accidents that cause lost time by 10%. On top of that, Vodafone is a leading business in socially responsible products such as the text-to-speech software for blind people and easy-to-use handsets for the elderly.

2. The Body Shop

The Body Shop can be considered one of the pioneers of modern corporate social responsibility. Founder Anita Roddick led her company to stand up for its beliefs and champion causes such as self-esteem, environmental protection, animal rights, community trade and human rights.

One of their major achievements was back in 1985, where they managed to work with Greenpeace and garner more than 4,000,000 signatures against animal testing in the European Union. They have also contributed significantly to the causes they stand for, and exemplifies how others can do the same thing.

3. Starbucks Coffee