Through their operations, businesses are called upon to satisfy a large number of stakeholders and to create value for them. Each stakeholder group expects value expressed in different terms; consequently, in some cases, satisfying one stakeholder group may cause a burden on another.
Therefore, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be attributed as the business’s response to the conflicting expectations of various stakeholders, which presupposes voluntary behavior and action, meaning a response to current social beliefs, values, and expectations, which may exceed legal requirements. Furthermore, according to CSR, businesses are managed based on voluntary codes of conduct and position their action in three areas simultaneously:
This approach, which has been named the triple bottom line, links CSR with the principle of sustainability and sustainable development. The term “sustainability” refers to the ability of human activity to continue to rely indefinitely on global environmental systems, while the term “sustainable development” means development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
By extension, the triple bottom line approach includes the need for a balance between the priorities for economic growth, social progress, and environmental protection.
*The information for the above article was sourced from the book “Organization and Management of Shipping Companies” by Professor Yannis Theotokas (Alexandria Publications, 3rd edition, September 2019), p. 550.
