Corporate Social Responsibility and Mass Media Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility and Mass Media - Essay Example The Story of Corporate Social Responsibility (2006), Dunne said that corporate social responsibility has eventually come to mean â€Å"responsiveness†. â€Å"Responsiveness† does not imply any particular action but a range of actions or range of possible responses based on a company’s perception of social or consumer needs and the company’s role in responding either to society’s or the consumers’ needs. Carroll (1999, p. 268) explained that meaning of corporate social responsibility has undergone an evolution from its â€Å"beginning in the 1950s, which marks the modern era of CSR.† Carroll (1999, p. 268) pointed out that the â€Å"alternative themes† in corporate social responsibility â€Å"included corporate social performance (CSP), stakeholder theory, and business ethics theory.† Against the Dunne (2007) viewpoint, the Carroll (1999, p. 268) viewpoint is that corporate social responsibility is â€Å"a core construct that yields to or is transformed into alternative thematic frameworks.† On investigating whether corporate social responsibility adds to financial return, Cardebat & Sirven (2010) concluded that the results of their study do not provide evidence that the adoption of corporate social responsibility improves corporate financial performance. Cardebat & Sirven (2010) used statistical and econometric methods in testing hypotheses on the role of corporate social responsibility on company financial performance. On the other hand, the work of Ali et al. (2010) indicated that the practice of social responsibility may or may not promote the retention of consumer. Based on the study, it can nevertheless be argued however that the practice of corporate social responsibility can promote the retention of the customer base. In my study, I have chosen two cases: the case of the Aviva plc and the case of Thames Water Company. For reasons that will be explained later, Aviva appears to be a lead ing example of a company based in the United Kingdom that espouse corporate social responsibility consistently and diligently for the last several years and has gained additional prominence for the espousal as well as practice of that responsibility. Aviva claims to have â€Å"300 years of insights† which can be interpreted as having 300 years of engagement in the same or similar business (2011). Alternatively, the company â€Å"300 years of insights† is also described as â€Å"300 years of heritage† (2011). In contrast, Thames Water, a water company appears to have experienced a period in which its public image was at its worst. Lately, however, data are suggesting that Thames Water has invested in corporate social responsibility and may be profiting today in the said investment. Nevertheless, it appears that there are still avenues through which Thames Water’s practice of corporate social responsibility can be improved and which the company can exploit for greater profitability. II. Case 1: Aviva plc Aviva claims to the â€Å"world’s sixth largest insurance group and the biggest in the UK, with 36,100 serving around 44.5 million