Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) as a Means of Materializing Corporate Vision: A Volvo Group Approach

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is considered neither an optional extra nor a philanthropic exercise; rather it is a mandatory and strategic tool by which a company can strengthen its brand, develop good relationships with stakeholders, increase its attractiveness to present as well as potential employees, and enable access to new markets which ultimately lead to materialize its vision. In this article a thorough study has been done on the exercise of CSR activities and sustainable reporting of a world renowned Swedish business conglomerate named Volvo Group with a view to know the nature as well as ways of CSR exercises. It is found that Volvo Group is not only following 'creating shared value' (CSV) approach but also 'Stakeholders model' of CSR and every CSR activity is exercised deliberately and strategically. As a result, the overall performance of the group is increasing gradually, which ultimately leads the group towards the achievement of its vision. Indeed, CSR of Volvo is related to many aspects of business management like risk management, challenge management, environment management, supply chain management, talent management, economic growth management, efficiency management and corruption management. Consequently, the competiveness of the Group is uplifting gradually. It is expected that this study will inspire the corporations of all over the world to exercise the CSR activities in strategic way not only for the greater and better benefits of the stakeholders but also for the sustainable competitive advantage of the company with a view to materialize corporate vision.

Is corporate social responsibility pursuing pristine business goals for sustainable development?

“…From the survey of the literature on CSR practices of the corporations of the world, it is observed that CSR has been perceived and practiced as an optional matter. However, in essence and spirit it actually is not (should not be) an optional extra; it is rather a fundamental responsibility to be performed to ensure social, environmental and business wellbeing and sustainability (Bowd, Bowd, & Harris, ; Hoque, Uddin, Ibrahim, & Mamun, ). It is also revealed that most of the CSR studies did not or could not cover some very pertinent dimensions of CSR practices, such as the amount of money spent on CSR, the percent of profit spent on CSR, the policy for contributing a specific portion of profit to CSR, and specific CSR programs relating to social wellbeing, sustainable development, business sustainability etc.…”

The immediate effect of corporate social responsibility on consumer-based brand equity

“…In this study, we examined the change in brand equity based on an actual CSR program run by the multinational car company, Volvo. The company has taken a strategic approach to CSR by integrating social responsibility to its vision, which is to become the world leader in sustainable transport (Hoque et al, 2014).…”

Brand Personality as a Consistency Factor in the Pillars of CSR Management in the New Normal

“…That is, the objective of CSR practice is to contribute to sustainable development and achieve the triple impact, as follows: economic, social, and environmental [11]. For this, companies must apply policies and systems that benefit them so much as well as their various stakeholders [12][13][14].…”

“…One of the practices in business management that organizations have been implementing in recent years, in response to the socio-environmental demands of different stakeholders and as a strategy for their competitiveness in the market, has been the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which, according to [10], consists of a voluntary commitment of the organizations to generate added value to society through their business activities and, thus, seek the triple impact, which is as follows: economic, social, and environmental, contributing to sustainable development [11]. For this, companies have had to apply policies and systems that benefit their various stakeholders [12][13][14]. This implies not only rethinking its production and commercial processes, but also its strategic business objectives [15].…”