Examples of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are going on all around us. For instance, consider TOMS Shoes. Their slogan is “With every TOMS purchase, you stand with us on issues that matter.” They have donated shoes, designer eyewear, and with the launch of their coffee branch, started contributing to programs that ensure safe water for the communities where they harvest their beans. Now, they’ve added “impact grants” to their list of efforts, targeting U.S. gun violence.

As they say on their website, “Since 2006, we’ve given shoes, sight, and safe water to more than 94 million people, and we have our customers to thank for turning our mission—using business to improve lives—into a movement. But the problems facing our world today are more complex than ever. So we are more committed than ever to finding new solutions: in addition to providing for basic human needs, we’re taking a stand on today’s most pressing human issues. And with every TOMS purchase, you’re taking a stand too—for the issues of today, and for a better tomorrow.”

People purchase TOMS shoes because they know that the company is socially conscious and that their money will not only buy fashionable footwear, but also be channeled to people in need.

TOMS is at the top of the CSR pyramid, extending their philanthropy to issues that matter.

Discussion Prompt

Find a company in the news today that’s acting at one level of the CSR pyramid: economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic. Explain what action qualifies the company to be at that level of the pyramid, and then talk about how the company is being socially responsible AND how that action will ultimately benefit their businesses.

Then, review the examples offered by two of your classroom peers and offer your comments and opinions.

Grading

Share your opinions below and respond to two of your classmates’ thoughts.