According with World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.
In the same mode, a definition is provided by European Commission; Employment & Social Affairs who consider Corporate Social Responsibility a concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment.
Regarding these definitions we appreciate that the emergence of corporate social responsibility today is a new guideline to follow for conducting business in an uncertain and changing world. In the post-Enron era, the number of companies reporting their social and environmental impact on society has increased. CSR involves the increased recognition today by all kind of companies that reports information not only for shareholders, but for all the stakeholders who are impacted by the company’s behavior. These include employees, customers, suppliers, governments, and non-governmental organizations. In this approach of social responsibility, stakeholders also could include socially responsible investor organizations, consisting of investors who make investment decisions using various social and ethical information.
In this context, Corporate Social Responsibility had to join business operations with social values, companies can be profitable while at the same time minimizing their negative impact on stakeholders.
CSR integrates the interests of stakeholders all of those affected by a company's conduct into the company's business policies and actions.
CSR focuses on the social, environmental, and financial success of a company the triple bottom line, with the goal being to positively impact society while achieving business success.
Some organizations follow a "Triple Bottom Line" reporting strategy, which covers Economic, Environmental and Social Responsibility. In the meantime other organizations focus on Economic and Corporate Social Responsibility, where the environment is included under the CSR concept.
Depending on the organizations risk profile, globalization and maturity, it may include some or all of the following elements within CSR objectives: Ethics, Transparency, Environment, Health & Safety, Corporate Governance, Human Rights, Community Investment.