What is good for the company is good for the people Research Paper

What is good for the company is good for the people - Research Paper Example that had harmed the environment and communities (Utting & Ives, 2006); an immense pressure is unsurprisingly placed now on Colombia’s mining sector with regards to its corporate social responsibility (CSR) to improve its sustainable development (Reyes, 2012). Current pressure will not only be about the sufficient supply of energy, but it will also be about clean energy that is environmentally sustainable (Pemberthy, 2012). Confronted with diverse issues so common in a developing nation, just like Colombia, CSR in this country is more easily criticized than appreciated. One factor Haslam (2004) cited is the low involvement of the private sector in carving Colombia’s CSR policies. As Blowfield and Frynas (2005) have observed, most CSR cases show that stakeholder dialogue and engagement is key to the success of CSR. Added to this, Haslam (2004) furthers, is the weak involvement of the Colombian government in the promotion of CSR and its failure in integrating CSR policies into its whole government policy. This perhaps could explain the conflict between corporations and communities. For example, the adoption of several corporations for sustainable CSR, which impact could not be immediately felt, was not appreciated by communities which due to deep level of poverty would understandably prefer short-term, yet easily felt benefits such as direct economic benefits or positions. (Baena, 2009/10) Whether CSR is good for business or good for the people or good for both, remains debatable until today. Focusing on the CSR of the two main oil companies in Colombia – the ECOPETROL S.A. and the OXY (Occidental Petroleum Corporation) – this study argues that CSR is good for the company and likewise for the people. As many corporations have argued, â€Å"†¦ there is a solid business case for CSR, which is associ ­ated with ‘win-win’ strategies; doing good environmentally and socially can simultaneously improve a company’s competitive advantage, reduce costs, enhance