Pandemically Speaking: Sustaining Corporate Social Responsibility During Times of Uncertainty

Abstract

In a pre-COVID-19 world, corporate social responsibility (CSR) transformed how organizations reported on ethical and responsible behavior to enhance their reputation and public perception. With COVID-19 quickly spreading around the world, shrinking supply chains, and limiting resources, leaders were faced with the challenge to transition workers to new environments and become agile in addressing customer demands. Entering into an unknown world, leaders took unofficial steps toward CSR practices that could lead to a strategic competitive advantage. As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders of organizations should reflect on the positive approaches that emerged. Just as how leaders experienced the benefits of a remote workforce resulting in increased efficiencies due to reduced commuting times with social distancing and shelter-in-place mandates, the increased focus on the organization's true capital-its human capital-may lead to a more sustainable world.

Full text

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 07 Issue: 06 | June 2020 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 5514
Pandemically Speaking: Sustaining Corporate Social Responsibility
During Times of Uncertainty
Justin Goldston, PhD
Assistant Professor of Project and Supply Chain Management, Department of Business and Economics
Pennsylvania State University
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Abstract - In a pre-COVID-19 world, corporate social
responsibility (CSR) transformed how organizations reported
on ethical and responsible behavior to enhance their
reputation and public perception. With COVID-19 quickly
spreading around the world, shrinking supply chains, and
limiting resources, leaders were faced with the challenge to
transition workers to new environments and become agile in
addressing customer demands. Entering into an unknown
world, leaders took unofficial steps toward CSR practices that
could lead to a strategic competitive advantage. As the world
emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders of
organizations should reflect on the positive approaches that
emerged. Just as how leaders experienced the benefits of a
remote workforce resulting in increased efficiencies due to
reduced commuting times with social distancing and shelter-
in-place mandates, the increased focus on the organization’s
true capital - its human capital - may lead to a more
sustainable world.
Key Words: COVID-19, Coronavirus, Corporate Social
Responsibility, CSR, Organizational Change; Change
Management, Project Management, Supply Chain
Management
1. INTRODUCTION
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become
increasingly prevalent and visible in corporations such as
Google, Levi-Strauss, Starbucks, and others being used as a
mechanism to energize and motivate stakeholders as well as
manage societal perceptions. According to one study, there
are over 8,000 companies from more than 150 countries
who are focused on issues of human rights, labor standards,
the environment, and anti-corruption initiatives [1]. This
commitment to CSR leads corporations to conceptualize and
enact their social obligations. Edmans [2] conducted a four-
year study to see if socially responsible firms perform better,
or if CSR responsibility is a distraction to the bottom line. In
this study, Edmans looked at how employee well-being
affected future stock returns by looking at the Fortune the
top 100 companies to work for in America. In the results,
Edmans found the top 100 best companies to work for in
America beat their competitors by 2-3% per year over a 26-
year period. By providing evidence such as Edmans’ study,
leaders of organizations can demonstrate how CSR can have
a positive impact on the organization’s bottom line.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be easy for leaders of
organizations to overlook the importance of CSR. CSR is the
belief and, in some instances, the requirement that a
corporation should operate in a manner that considers
impacts to stakeholders versus just maximizing shareholder
profit. The triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit is a
concept that illustrates the buckets into which those various
stakeholders can be classified. Conventional thinking would
believe organizations that provide additional benefits to
their employees and pay higher wages than the industry
standard are focused on employees to the detriment of their
shareholders. For leaders of organizations primarily focused
on profits, CSR is not a priority. If leaders continue to focus
mainly on the financial health aspect of the triple bottom
line, they will continue to steal from our future - our children
and grandchildren - for monetary profits [3]. The impact of
corporations not committed to CSR is substantial.
Corporations not focused on CSR do not contribute to
economic growth, quality of life for its workforce and
families, environmental preservation, or improvement in the
quality of their local communities. Leaders of these
organizations must understand that CSR has a significant
impact on corporate reputation and must balance profit-
making with socially responsible decisions.
2. INTEGRATING CSR WITH SUPPLY CHAIN
MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
CSR has transformed how organizations report on ethical and
responsible behavior to enhance their reputation and public
perception. Leaders have now realized that CSR must be a
core part of their organization to remain sustainable [2].
Socially responsible leaders should be instrumental in
assisting businesses in appreciating how the triple bottom
line can be an indicator of long-term business sustainability.
Additionally, socially conscious leaders have a moral
responsibility to recognize and adhere to the expectations of
societal ethics by going beyond established regulations [4].
With CSR, organizations find that companies that treat their
employees better perform better, resulting in increased
profits.
Measuring operational success using the triple bottom line is
a key indicator of an organization’s sustainability. This
model takes into consideration that organizations using
fewer natural resources will ultimately become more
successful. Furthermore, with the COVID-19 pandemic
shrinking supply chains and limiting resources, leaders of
organizations were forced to operate with a Lean mindset.

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Lovins, Lovins, and Hawken [5] offered a new approach for
environmental sustainability that can contribute to
improving profits and a new way of conducting business
post-COVID-19. Using advanced techniques to maximize
resources, both shareholders and future generations can
receive benefits from an approach identified as natural
capitalism. Transitioning to natural capitalism requires four
key modifications in business practices:
 Maximize the output of natural resources: Changes in
technology and manufacturing processes can reduce
energy, water, and other natural resource waste.
 Shifting to biology-inspired operational models: Closed-
loop supply chain systems allow for raw materials to be
returned to the ecosystem or reused for other products.
 Convert to a solutions-based business model: A shift to
providing services to repair or replace worn parts
versus replacing an entire finished good can reduce
overall product and process costs.
 Reinvest in natural capital: Replenish natural resources
by participating in activities such as planting trees to
counterbalance carbon emissions to protect the earth’s
biosphere.
As business partners of global firms continue to question
whether their supply chains and production facilities are
sustainable and safe, these companies have vowed to
become environmentally sustainable. By integrating
sustainable operations, processes, and information through
knowledge-sharing within an organization, organizational
leaders could have a positive effect on social change by
fostering employee collaboration, innovation, and
empowerment [6]. To document their efforts, these
companies are working with ERP providers to modify their
current applications to create modules to track their
information. To develop a tool to track sustainable
processes, researchers have begun to call these new
applications Sustainable Enterprise Resource Planning (S-
ERP) applications [7]. While decision-makers within firms
can utilize existing technology using the tools and
information they currently have at their disposal, the
following caveats could be identified regarding the
implementation of S-ERP applications:
• Data management in organizations
• Data penetrations through ERP systems consistency in
data logging
• Supply chain transparency
• Supply chain reliability
• The language (and education) issue
While leaders of organizations speak to supply chain
concepts from a theoretical perspective, these leaders could
move toward advanced sustainable technology to put these
theories into practice.
As personnel continued to seize counterfeit COVID-19 tests
and protective equipment at ports and airports around the
world, healthcare supply chains became threatened due to
greed and the opportunity to profit from the world’s
vulnerability. To mitigate this risk moving forward, leaders
of organizations must develop strategic business partner
relationships and create communities where everyone
strives to give their best to deliver the value the firm
promises [8]. In order to change an organization’s culture,
leaders must change their stakeholders’ mindset to align
with the company’s CSR strategy. When culture is perceived
as an organization’s core values, assumptions, and
interpretations, the link between internal stakeholders and
culture is apparent [9]. Given both practitioners and scholars
associate CSR to the triple bottom line, focusing on the four
types of CSR - environmental sustainability, philanthropic
giving, ethical business practices, and economic
responsibility – an organization’s corporate citizenship could
lead to a strategic competitive advantage for an organization.
3. IMPLEMENTING AND INFLUENCING CHANGE
DURING UNCERTAIN TIMES
For today’s leaders looking to transition to an organization
focused on the triple bottom line, it is an unfortunate reality
that they can spend much of their time managing resistance
from internal and external stakeholders. Identifying the
various stakeholders of an organization is an elementary
step towards crafting and gaining agreement on CSR goals.
Industry analysts and researchers define resistance to
change as an insistence that the status quo remains and that
there is no need to change it [10]. Some stakeholders resist
change because they associate any change to risk. In
conducting change management initiatives for small,
medium, and large enterprises around the globe, Goldston
[11] identified risk management strategies when
implementing enterprise-wide initiatives:
• Treat ongoing project iterations as an opportunity for
learning and foster an organizational culture that
supports it.
• Be open to discussion and reflection, and do not be
afraid to alter the strategic direction during the
initiative.
• Repurpose technological and organizational-based
learning from past experiences.
• Treat sub-projects as part of an ongoing program that
promotes continuous improvement.
• Allocate at least 50 percent of the budget of the project
to organizational aspects of the change, such as
developing new processes, roles, routines,
communication, education, and training.
• Put change management on top of the executive agenda
and develop tools, roles, methods, and skills for its
execution.

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• Make sure that the leaders that act as change agents and
transformation managers excel at listening and
communication.
In researching the risks of not implementing a CSR program,
a study by Cone Communications and Echo Research of
10,000 global consumers found that 91 percent of shoppers
worldwide will likely switch to brands that support a social
or environmental cause [12]. Additionally, another study
found that 90 percent of shoppers would boycott a company
based on moral or irresponsible business practices [13]. In
identifying the rewards to implementing a CSR program,
Karla Jo Helms, CEO of JoTo Public Relations discussed the
rewards of implementing CSR company-wide by stating
“positive publicity and will increase the overall success of
any CSR being performed simply by creating better word of
mouth and getting the news out to the media and ultimately
to the public. By leveraging your CSR efforts with a proactive
public relations strategy, the public eye will take notice of
the work your company is doing, which studies show heavily
influences buying decisions” (p. 2).
As validation to Goldston’s [11] empirical experience,
industry thought leader, Sikich [14] noted that leaders
should be transparent and candid in the risks associated
with an enterprise-wide project at a strategic, operational,
and tactical level. To mitigate the risk of a failed project,
Sikich identified four critical steps to implement, track, and
monitor during a large-scale project:
• Establish organizational goals and objectives: In order to
establish the goals and objectives centered around CSR,
leaders of organizations should be able to answer the
following questions.
• What CSR strategies are leaders of the organization
committed to?
• How will the organization fulfill these objectives?
• Does the organization feel its current state
environment supports the identified goals and
objectives?
• Does the organization have the appropriate
resources (financial and non-financial) to drive,
implement, and support this initiative?
• Does the workforce currently have the skills
required to support this initiative?
• How will communication and information be
delivered throughout the organization?
• Begin to understand the project complexity: Similar to
other enterprise-wide initiatives that could be identified
as risky endeavors, leaders should perform research and
reach out to other organizations that have completed a
CSR initiative. Also, hiring a CSR expert would be
beneficial in understanding the holistic view of
embarking on this type of project.
• Develop a communications plan: Visibility is one of the
most critical aspects of an enterprise initiative. A public
relations strategy to communicate the project and the
progress will increase the buy-in from both internal and
external stakeholders.
• Rethink current paradigms: Leaders of organizations
should encourage their internal and external
stakeholders to become thought leaders and visionaries
regarding CSR. By rewarding stakeholders for their
ideas, organizations are increasing their exposure to the
CSR initiative, while also mitigating risk through
increased buy-in.
Although it is important to identify the risks and mitigation
strategies for a project, it is more imperative to communicate
and demonstrate the rewards that internal and external
stakeholders will receive with this project. In an effort to
validate this initiative, during the interactions with
organizations and consultants that have successfully
implemented CSR programs, leaders should inquire about
how long it took to achieve strategic, operational, and
tactical goals, as well as any additional rewards attained.
With this information, organizations embarking on a CSR
project can create an infographic to provide a quick visual as
to the benefits of implementing a CSR strategy. Additionally,
published interviews and white papers created by business
partners and consultants are valuable to add to an
organization’s communication plan to demonstrate the value
of a CSR adoption from a third-party source. Once the
future-state visioning has been established, leaders should
work with their project team to develop mini or sub-projects
that can be implemented as inputs into the full-scale CSR
roll-out. In adopting this Agile-style approach, organizations
will experience small wins that not only empower internal
and external stakeholders to continue with this initiative, but
these stakeholders will also experience the positive impacts
these small changes have on individuals of the organization,
the community, and around the world.
Another way to mitigate the risk of conflict among
stakeholders is by incorporating transformational
leadership. Through transformational leadership, leaders
could encourage innovation and discard obsolete traditional
approaches, which would help improve the business
environment and stakeholder relations, which could foster
CSR [15]. A transformational leader would embrace
integrated strategies that would balance profits and
competitive advantage with social sustainability and initiate
continuous CSR-oriented actions and programs into the
corporate agenda that solves social concerns. Although we
may think shareholders are only concerned with monetary
gain, stakeholders are also focused on the profit aspect of the
triple bottom line in hopes of achieving the American dream.
Operating in a multi-stakeholder environment, leaders must
learn how to navigate through both the positive and negative
commentary they will encounter with this new initiative. In
portraying the following traits, transformational leaders can
inspire, encourage, empower, and influence project team

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members to work toward the common objective of a
successful implementation.
4. DEMONSTRATING POSITIVE SOCIAL CHANGE
WITH CSR REPORTING
Leaders of an organization that are seeking a higher purpose
and desire for stronger social responsibility may exhibit
organizational citizenship behaviors. The ability to recognize
and be empathetic to other’s emotions is a trait of emotional
intelligence (EQ) [16]. Organizational citizenship and EQ are
two examples of positive behaviors that leaders can exhibit
that bring a stronger commitment to social, environmental,
and global responsibility. To make a positive impact, these
leaders must demonstrate their social responsibility
initiatives, both internally and externally. To do this, similar
to following global standards such as ISO 9000 for quality
assurance and quality control, the International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) launched guidelines for social
responsibility, referred to as ISO 26000. Developed by 450-
plus experts from over 100 countries, ISO removed the term
‘corporate’ to stress the fact that social responsibility is a
social initiative compared to a corporate or enterprise effort
[17].
ISO 26000 is broken out into seven core subjects:
1. Organizational Governance: Leaders must practice
accountability and transparency throughout the
organization.
2. Human rights: Leaders should treat all individuals with
respect while also providing additional attention to
vulnerable groups.
3. Labor practices: Organizations must provide safe and
healthy conditions for workers while also offering two-way
communication to address issues and concerns.
4. Environment: Leaders of organizations should identify and
improve the environmental impacts of their operational
practices.
5. Fair operating practices: Leaders should practice
accountability and fairness when dealing with all business
partners.
6. Consumer issues: Organizations should provide the
population with safe products that promote sustainable
consumption.
7. Community involvement and development: Leaders and
employees of organizations should become more involved
with their local communities.
With ISO 26000 providing organizations with a methodology
to implement social responsibility practices, ISO designed its
standards to integrate with existing reporting guidelines
such as the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI’s)
sustainability guidelines. Since 2000, GRI’s Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines have been used by over 10,000
organizations from more than 90 countries to report their
impacts on the triple bottom line publicly [18]. In an effort to
standardize the process, GRI’s prescriptive guidelines are the
world’s most widely adopted sustainability reporting
standards. Within the United States, many Fortune 500
organizations have also joined the GRI movement. In
adopting these reporting standards, Dow Chemical’s Vice
President for Sustainability and Environment, Health, and
Safety, Neil Hawkins, stated: “I believe that GRI is the best
standard for reporting in the world, and I think the
companies that are using it and especially getting third-party
validation are some of the more sustainable companies out
there. GRI creates confidence that the report you are looking
at is accurate” (p. 45) [19]. Reporting on these impacts
enables organizations, and their stakeholders, to understand
their contributions towards the goal of sustainability.
In developing their sustainability reports, organizations can
follow the steps below to ensure they are aligned with GRI’s
standards:
• Identify the aims of reporting: Through brainstorming
sessions and the voice of the customer surveys,
organizations should identify the drivers for reporting.
Some considerations are as follows:
• The organization’s current market position
• Stakeholder pressure
• Customer requirements, requests, and expectations
• Government regulations
• Materiality assessment: Organizations should identify
what matters most for their business and stakeholders
based on the company’s mission and vision.
• Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics:
Once the focus areas have been identified during the
materiality assessment, organizations will determine
their data collection approach.
• Report progress: Once the data is collected and
analyzed, organizations will finally report their results
and add their report to the GRI database that currently
holds over 30,000 reports for organizations from
around the world. The GRI standards will outline the
disclosures and reporting requirements needed during
the data collection and reporting processes.
Corporate citizenship goes beyond the concepts of corporate
philanthropy as it is a corporation’s civic duty to contribute
to sustaining the world’s well-being in cooperation with
governments and civil society [20]. Corporate citizenship is a
mindset that must be developed and demonstrated
throughout the organization. In order to successfully
implement corporate citizenship, leaders and stakeholders

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
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© 2020, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 5518
must be deliberate and thoughtful for the effects to be felt
globally.
5. CONCLUSIONS
As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic,
organizations should reflect back on the positive approaches
that emerged. If leaders begin to take precautionary steps to
protect the organization’s workforce, communities, and the
planet, the profits will follow. Just as how leaders
experienced the benefits of a remote workforce with
increased efficiencies due to reduced commuting times with
social distancing and shelter-in-place mandates, the
increased focus on the organization’s true capital may lead to
a more sustainable world.
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