An Exploratory Study on the Effect of Social Responsibility in Corporate Management
Authors:   Asia-Europe Perspective Association, Lee Kang-Ho 
Published: June 2018

Into the 21st century, a new concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is spreading rapidly in the field of business administration. Advanced companies have announced environmental reports, sustainability reports, and CSR reports related to corporate social responsibility performance. Corporate social responsibility is an important concept that has drawn attention and expectation.
In 2004, together with an ongoing brisk discussion on social responsibility in national and international organizations, ISO started its review for the social responsibility of the international standard. It enacted its ISO 26000 guidance standard in 2010, which was the world's first international standard on social responsibility for all organizations (including companies).
In June 2011, the Korean Standards Association investigated the top 100 Korean companies concerning their adoption of ISO 26000. Only 47% had adopted the international standard. Most companies are experiencing difficulty in adapting social responsibility to their corporate management. They are passive.
The purpose of this study is to solve the problem of domestic companies facing these difficulties. This paper aims to review the contents and range of ISO 26000, an international standard of social responsibility, and to analyze its impact on corporate management. First of all, exploratory research was carried out to analyze the effect of social responsibility on corporate management and to examine the importance of international standards.
The core subjects of social responsibility include seven elements: organizational governance; human rights; labor practices; the environment; fair business practices; consumer issues; and community participation and development. Thirty-six kinds of issues are also proposed. Some of actions list are provided. The range of the ISO 26000 standard is very wide. It incorporates social responsibilities that have been discussed by corporations, governments, NGOs, consumer groups, labor organizations, and other stakeholders. It also includes many issues related to social responsibility, not only for corporation but also for all organization.
The influence of social responsibility through ISO 2600 on corporate management can be summarized as follows. First, companies, as members of a society, are being asked for social responsibility management. By absorbing a social responsibility in a management cycle process (Plan-Do-Check-Act), the corporate social responsibility management for sustainable development must be performed.
Second, it has had a profound effect on the social responsibility charter. Our country’s Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) is coaching social responsibility by enacting the “Environmental Management Charter” and the “Corporate Ethics Charter”. When compared with international standards, these Charters do not mention principles of human rights and labor practices. A charter is a norm to fulfill a promise and to provide basic guidelines for corporate management activities. In this sense, the international standard of the social responsibility will have a big influence on charter revision of business group and the company, which may also strongly influence on a change of the recognition in management activities.
Third, it affects the education and motivation of an organization. This international standard introduces several applicable methods about social responsibility; its usage as a motivator through education can especially be emphasized. In this way, it enables not only understanding well-recognized environmental or community problems, but also social responsibility related to human rights and labor from a global perspective.