Responsible Corporation

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year starts to promote tax benefits of donations advising to “give generously” by manipulating the numbers of tax credits (Trinh, 2015). Notwithstanding above, it is would be unfair to diminish the actual effect of charitable contributions on the development and implementations of social programmes. Among 48 Heroes of Philanthropy, listed by Forbes, almost everyone is a representative of business, and every single deed is focused on an improvement of quality of lives of socially unsecured individuals in developed as well as developing countries (Koppisch, 2013).

The global trend of the late 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century of environmental responsibility becomes a corner stone of major researches. The United Nations Environment Programme noted increasing interested of national and local governments in environmental costs of business. More over, consumers now “prefer to invest in companies and goods that benefit local communities and do least harm to the environment” (United Nations Enviroment Programme). As a response corporations begin to implement environmental awareness in their business practice. Environmental principles of the Body Shop list the wide range of commitments, like reduction of CO2 emission and water consumption, the usage of “green” energy, waste recycling (The Body Shop). Without any doubts these goals are admirable; however, now they are estimable as well. The Body Shop was purchased by highly criticized L’Oreal in 2006. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) actively addresses the issue of tests on animals to L’Oreal, which supposedly stopped testing in 1993, but requested animal test data from a supplier in the early 2000s (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). What was the price for L’Oreal to improve its public image you may ask? Premium price of 31.5 per cent per the Body Shop share (Devinney, 2009, p. 48). Nowadays, the share price of L’Oreal has 19.57 per cent increase since the beginning of the year 2015 (L’Oreal). A whole section on its corporate website is dedicated to the question of past animal testing and its commitment to alternative methods of researches (L’Oreal). It would be improper to say that the current market price of L’Oreal and the purchase of the environment conscious firm have an absolute causational relationship; however, it is hard not to believe that the corporate values of the Body Shop as a subsidiary haven’t had an influence upon L’Oreal Group.

Sometimes being a responsible benefits corporations in a very seemingly unexpected way. In his work Devinney mentions a good example of how a lobby of high environmental standards gives a competitive advantage to a bigger player, which can absorb new costs. The weaker firms are not able to meet the costs of such new higher standards and leave the market (Devinney, 2009, p. 50). One may conclude that based on above stated example of exploitation a corporation cannot behave in a responsible way to the stakeholders (except shareholders); however, one needs to remember that the institution of corporations is a product of society and in order to achieve its solemn goal with the best results firms experiment and adapt to the constrains they are put in. Basically the demand stimulates the supply, and the consumer, in the end, “voted overwhelmingly for better functionality at the expense of ethics” (Devinney, 2009, p. 53).

Works Cited

Achbar, M., & Abbott, J. (Directors). (2003). The Coproration [Motion Picture].

Campbell, J. L. (2007). Why Would Corporations Behave in Socialle Responsible Ways? An Institutional Theory of Corporate Social Responsobility. Academy of Management Review , 32 (3), 946-967.

Devinney, T. M. (2009). Is the Socially Responsible Corporation a Myth? The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Corporate Social Responsibility. Academy of Management Perspectives , 23 (2), 44-56.

Koppisch, J. (2013, May 29). 48 Heroes of Philanthropy. Retrieved Jul 27, 2015, from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com

L’Oreal. (n.d.). L’Oreal’s Share Price. Retrieved Jul 27, 2015, from L’Oreal Group Finance: http://www.loreal-finance.com/eng/

L’Oreal. (n.d.). The Question of Animal Testing. Retrieved Jul 27, 2015, from L’Oreal Group: http://www.loreal.com/

Merriam-Wbester Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved Jul 27, 2015, from Dictionary and Thesaurus: http://www.merriam-webster.com

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. (n.d.). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved Jul 27, 2015, from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): the animal rights organization: http://www.peta.org

The Body Shop. (n.d.). Enviromental Principles. Retrieved Jul 27, 2015, from Natural Products Inspired by Nature: http://www.thebodyshop.ca/

Trinh, T. (2015, Mar 02). Tax time 2015: 8 ways to make the most of your charitable donations. (CBC NEws) Retrieved Jul 27, 2015, from CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/

United Nations Enviroment Programme. (n.d.). Annual Report 2002. Retrieved Jul 27, 2015, from United Nations Enviroment Programme: http://www.unep.org

Yahoo! Finance. (n.d.). Retrieved Jul 27, 2015, from Canada Business News: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com

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