Supplier Corporate Social Responsibility Policies from a Strategic Perspective

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a corporate initiative to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on the environment and impact on social welfare (www.Investopedia.com). The goal of CSR is to embrace responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all others who may also be considered stakeholders. The term generally applies to company efforts that go beyond what may be required by regulators or environmental protection groups. CSR policies function as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms. Corporate social responsibility may also be referred to as "corporate citizenship" and can involve incurring short-term costs that do not provide an immediate financial benefit to the company, but instead promote positive social and environmental change.