Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept of the business environment that consists of the legal, ethical, humanitarian and economic responsibilities (Schwartz 2017). The policies of corporate social responsibility and staying committed to them determines the kind of the company and the ethical values of that company. CSR depicts the sustainability of a company and hence is important for the company (Tai and Chuang 2014). To ensure sustainability, the company should aim at providing better social, environmental and economic aspect to the people, which will help to retain their old customers and also gain new ones (McWilliams 2015). Proper CSR activities initiated by the company will help to avoid any business risk that they might be facing, provide proper support to the society and hence earn high profits for their company by enhancing their brand name and brand image (Carroll 2015). However, aside from the above mentioned benefits of CSR, the main purpose of CSR is to provide welfare for the society by creating a system which sustains value and is ethical so that everyone is benefited from it (Suliman, Al-Khatib and Thomas 2016).
This study will analyse the CSR activities which are adopted by the Coca Cola Company. To get a better understanding about the study, proper literature will be provided on the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility and Greenwashing. The background of the company will also be provided in the study. Further, the methodology and research questions of this study will be mentioned followed by case studies of the main CSR activities of the company. The study will further state the findings of the case studies and recommend suggestions to build an improvement plan about the company’s CSR activities followed by ways to implement that plan. The study will finally contain a conclusion about the whole study.
Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept of management where various organizations integrate environmental and social activities into the operations of an organization and the way that they interact with the stakeholders of the company (Roy et al. 2015). CSR is the way through which an organization creates a balance between the social, environmental and economic aspects of the community, which is also known as the Triple Bottom Line Approach (Elkington 2013). However, even while managing these aspects they find ways through which they can satisfy their stakeholders and shareholders as well. Keeping this in mind it is important to note the difference between CSR which can be the strategic management of business and charities or sponsorships (Ni and Van Wart 2015). Following the later initiatives can help in the reduction of poverty and contribute to the betterment of the society, which will directly help in increasing the brand name and image in the market (Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim 2014). However, the concept of CSR goes beyond these two aspects.
In the small and middle sized enterprises, also known as SMEs, CSR is adopted in such ways so that it aligns with the needs and capacity of the organization and also that is does create and adverse effect on the economic condition of the business (Servaes and Tamayo 2013). The CSR programme which are implemented with the Triple Bottom Line Approach are the ones who strive to be most successful in their achievement. The Triple Bottom Line Approach have helped the organizations in the developing countries to fulfil their CSR initiatives and provide social and environment help without having to compromise on their competitiveness (Savitz 2013). The Triple Bottom Line Approach is a very important tool through which the economic, social and environmental performance is measured against the performance of the organization (Milne and Gray 2013). The main and vital issues of Corporate Social Responsibility are as follows – eco-efficiency, stakeholder engagement, community and employee relations, gender balance, good governance, environmental management, responsible sourcing, labour standards and working conditions, social equity, human rights and anti-corruption measures (Crane, Matten and Spence 2013). A CSR plan which is properly planned and implemented can add to the competitive advantage of the company and determine various beneficial factors such as getting more access to capital and markets, saving operational cost, efficiency in human resources, increased customer loyalty, better risk management process, increase in profit and sales, improvement in quality and productivity, improvement in the brand image and reputation and better decision making process (Clapp and Rowlands 2014).
Greenwashing is a concept which arises when an organization lies about their CSR activities and creates fake reports which is shown to the public. This happens when an organization wants to appear as a strong and helpful citizen of the community but is not so in reality. A report of an organization which has an environment friendly initiatives will incur higher demand among the public (Mahoney et al. 2013). However, instead of completely lying to the stakeholders and the other public, the company bends and misrepresents the facts and activities which is also greenwashing. A company which practices greenwashing can engage in poor environmental practices and remain silent about the same to their stakeholders, or they can lie about their performance and present themselves as a contributing organization which is using the method of greenwashing (Nyilasy, Gangadharbatla and Paladino 2014).
There are various drivers of greenwashing which can be divided into three sections which are external, individual and organizational. The external drivers are the pressures which are received from the non-market actors who are the NGOs and regulators and the market actors who are the competitors, investors and consumers. The individual drivers are the narrow frames of decisions made, the individual process of decision making and optimal bias. The organizational drivers are the incentive structure of the company and their ethical viewpoint.
There is no existence of a proper jurisdiction or regulation regarding greenwashing and hence this lack of proper punishment, greenwashing is often used by different organizations. The limited source of jurisdiction regarding greenwashing comes in the form of NGOs being the monitor if greenwashing among the organizations. They try to keep a check on the organizations regarding the use of green washing (Bazillier and Vauday 2014). The NGOs work hard to stop the dishonest organizations from using greenwashing by spreading information and introducing campaigns against the use of greenwashing as a part of CSR in organizations.
Coca Cola is one of the largest beverage company in the world. The company was founded on 8 May of 1886 at Atlanta, USA. With time the company has expanded its operations all over the globe, in every country. It has around 500 production and distribution brand and more than 3300 beverages to be sold among the consumers and the market. The main priority of the company has always been to protect its brand name and image and its reputation (The Coca-Cola Company 2018).
The mission that is stated by the Coca Cola Company is that they aspire to refresh the world that inspire moments that are optimistic and happy, to create value and to make a difference in the world. The vision followed by the company becomes a framework for the roadmap and which guides every situation that is faced by the business by stating the facts which will help them to continue achieving a sustainable and quality growth. They want to create a workplace for their employees where they would be inspired to give their best. The company strives to produce beverages which are of good quality and satisfies the desires and needs of the people. Coca cola wants to be a responsible organization who can contribute in the welfare of the society and help to build and support a sustainable community (The Coca-Cola Company 2018). They want to create a network of suppliers and consumers, who can help them to create value for their company. Coca cola as a company have always been aware of their overall responsibilities, and have also maximized the long term return to their shareowners. They have also always tried to be highly effective and a fast learning and moving organization. Coca Cola have operated in the market for about 124 years and have always shown that they are a productive and profit making company (The Coca-Cola Company 2018).
This study contains a collection of many kinds of data which are acquired from various sources. The sources from which these data are collects depicts the methodology if the data collection. The data that is used in this study is secondary data, as they are acquired from journals, articles, researches and case studies (Cheng and Philips 2014). The data is not derived from any primary source such as surveys and others hence it cannot be said that there are any primary data collection method used in this study. However, there are many research questions that could be addressed in this study which will help to better understand the scope and purpose of this research. The research questions that could be used in this study is mentioned below:
Every year there are certain CSR activities that are initiated by the Coca Cola Company. The CSR initiatives taken by the Board of Directors of the company are in different sections of the society and described below. The company ensures that they are able to contribute and adopt projects for environmental protection. For this they undertake solar energy projects and also work for water sustainability (Sustainability Report 2016). The directors proposes that the company takes on certain integrated water shed and also community development projects as water is a very essential resource in the world. It involves and forms partnerships with other civil society organizations and the local communities of the area to fulfil these projects. Sustainable agriculture is also an important area for the company and the board aligns itself with other organizations and forms partnership to address the economic, environmental and social challenges that are being faced by farmers and find ways to increase their production capacities (Sustainability Report 2016). The company focuses on ensuring a better waste management system in the community and they strive to engage the residents of the community into doing the same. The company demonstrates the importance of managing waste in a better way and the benefits of segregating the dry and wet waste in the homes, offices and other surrounding places. The company supports the groups and organizations that promote education for every person creates awareness for the importance of education among all generations if people (Sustainability Report 2016). Along with creating awareness for education the company also strives to create awareness regarding environmental issue in schools and other educational centres such as proper sanitation and basic requirements like toilets and other hygienic facilities especially for the female population. This is done for those areas where even in today’s time many schools do not possess the proper hygienic facilities and this leads to many children dropping out of schools or falling sick often. The company helps the educated but unemployed population to find the right kind of employment according to their skills and requirements (Sustainability Report 2016). They even provide vocational training for the population which can help the people to get the right kind of job according to their desire. Coca cola has several mission by following which they plan a compact and helpful CSR plan. Every employee of the company have to participate and contribute to the corporate social responsibilities of the company and have to be an active part if the initiatives that are taken by the company. The initiatives that are mentioned above are one of the few activities that are carried out by the company. They find more activities which can help them to fulfil their mission and vision about creating a sustainable environment and contribute to the growth and development of the community (Sustainability Report 2016). The Coca Cola Company contributes a minimum of 1% of their annual operating income in the programs and initiatives of CSR. In the year 2014, they invested around 1.3% or $126 million for different activities and initiatives such as healthy living for all people of the community, various water stewardship programs, education for all, empowerment of women, programs for humanitarian and disaster relief and such other initiatives (Sustainability Report 2016). In the Middle East, the company has launched various campaigns as part of their program for corporate citizenship. They support university students who aspire to become entrepreneurs through their program known as Ripples of Happiness. They have also provided clean drinking water to the refugees in that area through their campaign which was launched in the year 2014, known as Arwa Price of Water (Sustainability Report 2016).
The findings of this study is that CSR is an important part if a company and should be fulfilled with vigorous planning and full attention to the initiatives of the company. The company, Coca Cola is one such organization which has always strived to fulfil their CSR initiatives and to work for the betterment of the community and its people. Coca Cola have never supported or believed in the concept of greenwashing and have always in reality found new and different ways through which they promote and develop the community. Not just CSR for the community, the company have also kept an active participation in the betterment of their own organization and also concentrated on the profit making scenario of the company. This was done by ensuring that they are able to enhance their brand image and reputation with the help of proper programs and initiatives being undertaken at various destinations ion behalf of the whole organization.
Based on the above study on Corporate Social Responsibility of the Coca Cola Company, following recommendations can be made. Firstly, the company can adopt new techniques, programs and initiatives which can help to ensure more sustainability in all countries, especially those areas where they have not been able to reach yet. Secondly, they should adopt proper regulations of against greenwashing practices and not align themselves to any false practice to maintain their reputation in the market.
The above recommendation can be implemented only when the company does an extensive research on the various need for CSR initiatives in various areas and countries. This research should be completed done with the help of primary data and quantitative techniques so that a clear data is found regarding the need for CSR activities in the mentioned areas.
Conclusion
It can be deduced from the above study that the management concept of CSR is a vital part of any organization and must be followed by every entity for their own welfare and also for the development if the community. Coca Cola have been one of the biggest player in the market regarding their CSR initiatives and will strive to do so, if can be determined from their performances all these years.
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