Introduction
Corporate social responsibility is an integrated business model that allows companies and organizations to self regulate their corporations. It is an inbuilt self regulating thought that permits businesses to scrutinize and make certain their prompt conformity to the law’s spirit, worldwide norms, and moral standards. A corporate social responsibility’s target is to embrace the organization’s actions and tasks, as well as support the company to attain a positive impact on its clients, surroundings, recruits, stakeholders, neighborhood and the general community.
Discussion
Telstra’s corporate social responsibility starts with the company’s commitment to their principled decision making (Hunnicutt 2009, p. 65). This makes the company’s corporate responsibilities to include: serving the requirements of their customers, providing their staff with a stimulating and dynamic work environment, increasing shareholder values and securing shareholder interests, providing good environmental stewardship and contributing resources such as technology, people, products and services, which are necessary for supporting communities in the company’s immediate environment.
However, Telstra’s effort to manage and meet these principles seems to have failed, visible by the company’s near bottom position in the corporate behavior class. The hottest corporate social responsibility topics influencing associated with this failure includes fair staff wages and executive salaries (Windsor, 2006, p. 134).
Telstra’s customers seem to have a poor perception about the company, especially in the areas they regard most important: transparency in operations and conducting of businesses, the company’s efforts to limit their influence on the environment and imposition of limits on executive pay. Marketing campaigns also focus on support for charities, activities in developing countries, and community projects. Telstra’s CSR report indicates less involvement with developing nations and fairness in wages to staff. This has significantly contributed to the company’s poor outcome in regard to its image to the public. To increase its global visibility, Telstra’s management should focus on establishing a prominent global social responsibility by responding to the global environment (Stace, 1996, p. 175).
Telstra’s management is faulted by placing very little efforts to ensure effective marketing campaigns, which would have provided a warm human face for Telstra. The telecommunications company may have tried to work on its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), but it has failed to generate a connectivity level at the human face using its recent campaigns (Garriga & Mele 2004, p. 55).
Telstra’s efforts to impose corporate social responsibility have faced several limitations. The company provides dividends, wages, jobs and tax payments. The conflicts it faces in meeting its objectives include excessive executive salaries, voluntary community work and taking care of resources.
Conclusion
The company has placed emphasis and efforts in ensuring their CSR is at par with major international and big companies. Telstra’s company report of 2009 indicates major efforts and contributions to several CSR issues. The report focused on performance against the actions that it publicly stated in its 2008 report. The report indicated hard work in the company’s efforts and governance as well as the governance of the CSR. The company realized that its CSR failures were centrally an issue of its management. By this realization, it made a decision in 2008 to form a council, which would manage its corporate social responsibility.
The council established a senior executive committee, which comprised of ten managing directors from various Telstra groups. In 2009, a year after the establishment of this council, the company achieved 80% rating on the sustainability Index of Dow Jones. This was a ten percent improvement from the previous year. Telstra’s performance after this change of management indicates that the chief problem of its poor CSR rating relies on its management. Since 2003, the company has witnessed a growing number of shareholders, stakeholders, customers and employees. This indicates improvements in the company’s management and internal operations.
References
Hunnicutt, S 2009, Corporate social responsibility, MI, Greenhaven Press, Detroit.
Garriga, E & Mele, D 2004, Corporate Social Responsibility Theories: Mapping the territory, Journal of Business Ethics 53: 51-71, Kluwer Academic publishers, Netherlands.
Stace, D 1996, Telstra: reaching out internationally, de-regulating domestically: case study of Telstra’s International Business Unit (IBU), University of New South Wales, Sydney.
Windsor, D 2006, Corporate Social Responsibility: Three Key Approaches. Journal of Management Studies 43:1 0022-2380, Rice University, Texas.