It is very difficult to define CSR and identify the activities which it should consist of. So there are three principles which comprise of all the CSR activity and define its parameters. These are:
- Sustainability
- Accountability
- Transparency
1.6.1 Sustainability
- The actions taken in the present affects the options available in the future for everyone and sustainability refers to the actions which help make the future better for future generations.
- The resources available are limited and if they are all utilized in the present, they will not be available for the future use
- So it is necessary to look for alternatives which would help replacing the function of currently used resources
- As the resources are depleted, their availability decreases and hence lead to increase in its price. So to keep the cost of organizations lower in the future, it is necessary to use the current available resources optimally
- So implication of sustainability is that society must use no more of a resource than can be regenerated.
- If we take example of paper industry, the harvested trees should be replaced by replanting trees which has the effect of retaining costs in the present rather than temporally externalizing them.
- Viewing an organization as part of a wider social and economic system implies that these effects must be taken into account, not just for the measurement of costs and value created in the present but also for the future of the business itself.
- Measures of sustainability can be the rate at which resources are consumed by the organization in relation to the rate at which resources can be regenerated.
- Unsustainable operations can be accommodated for either by developing sustainable operations or by planning for a future lacking in resources currently required.
- In practice organizations mostly tend to aim towards less unsustainability by increasing efficiency in the way in which resources are utilized.