Summary of what we learned this week

In this first week of the course, we have discussed what CSR is all about. We have also looked at stakeholder theory. More specifically, we have covered:

• The core ideas within CSR.

• What is meant by ‘traditional’ and ‘contemporary’ approaches to CSR.

• What a stakeholder is.

• What is meant by the ‘stakeholder serving’ concept.

During the week, we have learned that:

• CSR is associated with the wider role of the business in the global economy.

• There is no agreed upon definition of CSR. Rather, CSR is an emerging practice, which is largely defined and pragmatically developed by companies.

• For a business that practices ‘contemporary’ CSR, CSR is part of the core value-creating activities. Collaboration with other parties in the supply chain fosters collaborative value creation.

• A stakeholder is an individual or a group who can affect, or is affected by, the achievement of an organisation’s purpose.

• The ‘reason for being’ for most businesses is that they serve some need in their external environment. The more focused they are in terms of how better to serve stakeholders, the more likely they will survive and prosper over time. This is referred to as the ‘stakeholder serving’ concept.

• Stakeholder mapping provides a helpful tool for identifying the most prominent stakeholders for a business. In addition to being specific in terms of stakeholder identification, the analysis should identify their ‘stakes’.

In week 2, we will be exploring sustainability, one of the core constructs underpinning CSR. We will be approaching sustainability from a marketing perspective. Our starting point will be that of theory. We will then investigate what real companies do in order to implement sustainability within their marketing practices.