Relationship Between CSR And PR
CSR and PR are closely related to each other. PR could be both, a blessing and a curse to CSR. Therefore, it is very important to understand these concepts and relationship between them.
CSR is not PR. The CSR legislation has made many companies view CSR as a marketing tool. The organisations undertake certain activities to gain media attention and mileage even if the activities are barely related to their area of expertise.
According to the experts, CSR needs to be a part of one’s business. It has to be a core component of strategy and structure of an organisation. It is about being fair to all the stakeholders including stockholders, employees, customers, community, supply chain, and the environment.
A company with good CSR strategy in place is sustainable and beneficial to everyone. Such a business has reached its success through smart decisions, integrity and honesty. It recognises, acknowledges and values the contribution of all the stakeholders in its success journey. It includes and encourages everyone in their CSR initiatives including the employees and customers.
For an organisation that actually has CSR imbibed in their DNA, PR is merely a medium of sharing their success story to the world and inspire people through it. Getting media attention is important to them not because they want to show everyone that they do good. They do good because they want to and by showcasing their work, they encourage others.
Another mistake that several organisations make is use CSR as a PR fix. This leads them to initiate a CSR activity to repair the brand image that was damaged earlier by a business practice. This kind of a practice can do more harm to the company’s image than good in a longer run.
For example, several soda companies have set up their manufacturing plants in rural areas near natural water reservoirs. They have exhausted these reservoirs by overusing the water and polluting the reserve, making the water bodies unusable by local dwellers. Some corporate giants undertake CSR programs to conserve water in order to save their image.
PR is a blessing for CSR as long as it shows a clear image of the corporate. It is not only unethical, but also dangerous when PR showcases and celebrates the work which is either not done or is considered to be the duty of the organisation.
True CSR does not need to hide the wrongdoings of the company. True CSR guides the company to stay away from wrongdoings.
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Regards,
The CSR Journal Team
