Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development - Essay Example Businesses are facing an increasing pressure to adopt Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in its agenda of growth. Companies have realized that practicing unacceptable processes carry not only legal risks but also the risk of businesses not performing well. Though business leaders realize that CSR is an integral part of a business performance, often the justifications of incorporating it into the business process are unclear. The most justification given in support of CSR highlights the ‘trade-off’ between business and society rather than the ‘interdependence’ of the two. It is seen that businesses view CSR as means to secure the goodwill and reputation of the business, with all the stakeholders, a moral obligation to support ethical values and meeting the needs of sustainable development. What is missed out in this is the reality; the fulfillment of the social objectives of a business actually enhances the economic objectives of the business in the long-r un. That this is possible has been proved by many companies. PepsiCo India has employed various processes to optimise water usage and minimise water wastage. Across its manufacturing plants in India, PepsiCo has installed water recovery equipment and has bettered the water management through recycling and reuse in cooling towers, flushes and gardens. The company has also made it a standard practice to harvest rainwater either by collecting rainwater in ponds that have been excavated for this purpose or by roof-water harvesting.   PepsiCo plants in Bharuch, Bazpur, Palakkad, Jainpur, Panipat, Channo, Pune, Mahul and other places, in India, follow this as a standard practice. PepsiCo has also ventured into community water projects and watershed management programmes. The company has saved an approximate two billion litres of water in two years, from the start of this initiative, build its image as a socially responsible business house and to top it all has done very well with its bo ttled water and non-carbonated beverages. Another case in point is that of Nestl, which entered the poverty ridden Moga region in India. Poor soil, small tracts of land, droughts, animals suffering from disease and non-existent market, all sorts of challenges were existent here, till Nestl entered Moga in 1962. The company started with establishing milk purchasing organizations in the area and by creating infrastructure in the form of dairies with refrigeration, veterinarians, nutritionists and agronomists to advice farmers and medicine and supplements for the animals. Water supply facilities were also arranged