Corporate Social Responsibility And Marketplace Competitive Advantage

A strong sense of Corporate Social Responsibility in marketing activities can help an organisation to gain and sustain business competitive advantage in today's highly competitive and dynamic markets. Corporate Social Responsibility concerns societal expectations, and the effect of all of the organisation's marketing decisions on society. It covers the natural environment, consumerism, community relations and ethical behaviour. It is an organisation's obligation to optimise its positive impact and minimise its negative impact on its stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, competitors, regulators, governments, pressure groups, the public, employees, investors and so on. Different stakeholders have different expectations of an organisation. For example, workers expect such things as good conditions of work, opportunities for training and development, and a decent wage. Customers expect such things as quality products at a reasonable price, a good after-sales service, to be treated honestly and fairly.

There are, however, two opposing views on Corporate Social Responsibility. Firstly, that Corporate Social Responsibility is a distraction from management's responsibility to increase shareholder value and that organisations should concentrate solely on their business objectives. Secondly, the alternative view, that organisations should recognise that the law does not (and cannot) contain or prescribe all duties and responsibilities, and therefore organisations should exercise an informal and imaginative ethical judgement in deciding what should or should not be done, taking account of the interests of others as well as their own, just as an individual good citizen would.

Sustainable business competitive advantage is the attainment and maintenance of a superior, differentiated marketplace position; one that creates superior value for the organisation's customers and investors. Corporate Social Responsibility failures may result in loss of customers and prompt action from the authorities. Although most organisations do keep their marketing activities within the law, some marketing activities are regarded as socially irresponsible, such as unacceptable selling techniques, bribery, price discrimination, deceptive advertising, misleading packaging, trading in counterfeit products and marketing defective products.

Many organisations embrace the additional costs associated with Corporate Social Responsibility in the expectation of reaping benefits in the long term; Corporate Social Responsibility marketing activities can result in, for example, a better understanding of consumer needs and wants, positive publicity, boosted sales, enhanced staff commitment and improved business performance. Corporate Social Responsibility in marketing can result in other valuable benefits too, including reduced costs. Corporate Social Responsibility in marketing can help an organisation gain sustainable competitive advantage. Hence, it is no surprise that many organisations incorporate and implement ethical and social responsibility programmes into their strategic plans.