Executive Summary....................................................................................................

2
Introduction................................................................................................................ 2
Sustainability.............................................................................................................. 3
Accountability............................................................................................................. 3
Transparency.............................................................................................................. 4
Recommendations...................................................................................................... 5
Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 5
References.................................................................................................................. 6

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Executive Summary
This report provides an insight on the principles of CSR in MNCs and discusses the three
key aspects which a company can implement in their organization and reap benefits from it. This
report also sheds light on some of the challenges that the organization may face after the
implementation of these CSR principles.
Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the responsibility of a company, both either a
multinational or a local, towards the society and the general wellbeing of its environment. This
brief definition summarizes a huge topic which is gaining worldwide attention from First World
countries to even Third World countries as well (Jamali & Mirshak, 2006, p. 243). The era of
international trade and globalization has led people to believe that earning profit for a particular
company is not the only objective. Rather there are many other factors that need to be considered
once that profit is earned, in how to invest it properly and in the right places so that the company,
its employees, its consumers and the general public will benefit from it and then eventually the
society and finally the country as a whole. First of all, our sincere greetings and regards to Vapor
Lock Inc. for giving Sion Consultants the opportunity to survey your company and provide the
best methods for implementing CSR in their multinational organization, which will actually be a
first milestone for them, and present the challenges they may face during and after its
implementation and how it is going to affect their business overall. We at Sion Consultants do
believe that this report would pave the way for a clearer track and provide you the building
blocks of implementing CSR in your organization, which will no doubt increase the value of
Vapor Lock Inc. and open up a new door of customers for them.
To begin with, there are many different aspects in CSR which could be considered
however, we will focus on the major ones, as those are the most important and once the major
points get implemented, the rest of them usually follow. For the sake of simplicity of this article
we will be following the way Crowther & Aras has divided the principles of CSR into three
categories: sustainability, accountability and transparency (2008, p. 14). We will define these
three terms briefly before diving deeper into each one of those and its effect on the organization.
Sustainability is defined as the use of finite resources to build new products. In the distant
future these resources will get depleted and other alternatives will be required, therefore care
must be taken to understand and effectively utilize the limited resources on-hand. Accountability
means that the organization fully understands that its actions affect the external environment,
and therefore assuming responsibility for the effects of its actions (Crowther & Aras, 2008, p.
15). Therefore, what we learn from this definition is that accountability is the process of an
organization investing in tools to record their external environmental factors which may or may
not be effecting the environment. Lastly the transparency aspect of the principles of CSR talk
about the organization being like an open book, to everyone. Because if they hide their wrong
doings, it would eventually show up and that would put a black spot on the company and by
unnecessarily hiding things they are not going to get any benefit out of it in the long-term.

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Now since we have a basic idea of the CSR principles, we will dive a bit deeper into each of
those and philosophies and provide you with the best method of implementing and benefitting
from it. Later on in this study we will also highlight some of the challenges you may face and
how to overcome them as well.
Sustainability
Beginning with the sustainability aspect, according to a report by National Geographic
survey in 2008 Chan reported that over 80 percent of Americans prefer to work in a company
that cares about the environment (2014). From the above statement everyone should be on the
same page because most of us cannot imagine, that the planet we call home should be subject to
such great environmental damages. Since Vapor Lock Inc. is a construction oriented
organization, it goes without saying that the world is turning Green. Buildings represent the
largest sector of primary energy consumption and the biggest contributor to world greenhouse
gas emissions (Popescu, Bienert, Schtzenhofer, & Boazu, 2012, p. 454). It is generally
considered that the greenhouse gas is the culprit for effecting the ozone layer and causing an
increase in temperature. After being aware of this issue, the companies have started to focus on
using environmentally friendly materials in consideration of the environment. As an example,
most of the buildings are finding ways to replace the traditional filament lamps to LEDs. A major
overhaul like this one would have a high initial cost but thats from a short-term perspective only.
If we look at the long-term, then obviously things look very different. After paying high costs for
the LEDs, we would save a huge amount on electricity, which means lower electricity bills. Even
though in the beginning you would think that, there is a huge cost involved, in using LEDs and
you would be tempted to use the cheaper filaments lamps which consume more electricity, it is
advisable to go along with the LEDs if the budget allows you to. This is because LEDs have a
very long life and you would not have to replace them that often compared to the standard
filament lamps. In this paragraph, we have tackled the situation of sustainability in multinational
corporations and as said by Popescu, Bienert, Schtzenhofer, & Boazu, energy efficiency and
energy certification produce tangible benefits recognized by the real estate market (2012, p.
462).
Accountability
Next we will move on to the accountability aspect of CSR. In layman terms, a business
organization is considered to be accountable for all the actions it takes, related to its employees
and other things as well which may or may not affect the society around them. These business
organizations should at all times abide by the law and if they do deviate from the laws of the
country in which they are operating, strict action should be taken against them. Therefore, to
hold the CSR responsible the law would have to be aimed at regulating the internal selfregulation of businesses (Parker, 2006). Therefore, the most important thing for Vapor Lock Inc.
is to be fully aware of their actions within the organization itself, first and foremost and then look
towards their contractors and suppliers. For example, since your company is in the construction,
the use of approved building materials should be at your forefront. Furthermore, in order to
instill this philosophy of accountability, into each and every single employee as per Parker
formal governance structures and management systems that help produce a responsible culture
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and management in practice (2006). The application of new systems and laws within an
organization usually start from the executive level positions, since the managers and CEOs are
the ones who are responsible for enforcing the system and punishing the ones who dont. they
could organize workshops and trainings within their team, and then have some kind of yearly
standardized tests or survey, just to have all the employees on the same page. Therefore, the
higher management of Vapor Lock Inc. should devise strategies on how to implement the
accountability aspect of CSR in their organization and foresee the benefits that will come along
with it. One of the benefits they could expect is a large customer base for using the best quality
materials doing a high standard of work, just because their employees are truthful and do not
cheat or take bribes for doing good work. The most important thing to note from this discussion
is that, by doing all of the above procedures within the company, they would be indirectly
serving the environment as well. Since they are using the recommended materials for their
construction sites and by doing that they are complying with the laws of the country they are
working in. An additional advantage by following the laws is that, the company is will surely get
recognized within the society for its good behavior which will increase its market value and
people would be interested in investing their money in your company, so that it can grow to
make more profits.
Transparency
The last concept in the CSR scheme that we initially defined is transparency. It basically
can also be referred to as ethics of the company, which is the backbone of the organization. It is
the part of the organization which deals with the legal processes and how intelligently the
company communicates and shares information with the rest of the world. In todays
interconnected world, everything is connected to the internet which is a treasure trove of
information accessible to anyone who can connect to the World Wide Web (www). If I could do
a Google search on Vapor Lock Inc., tons of articles and news would come up. Some of them
might be true, some of them might be fiction or paraphernalia just to put a black stain on the
organization. Therefore, nowadays it is very important to make sure that whatever the
communications and marketing department put up has to be true and should not affect the
sentiments of anyone reading it. This is the first step in building the company-consumer
relationship (Kang & Hustvedt, 2013, p. 253). Its all about the communication. News put up on
social media spread like wild fires. Therefore, the organization must be careful in the kind of
information they are sharing with the world, because by sharing that information they may be
either building a new customer base of getting rid of their most loyal customers as well. The
bond between the companies and its consumers is not only affected by the actions of the
company but the customers as well take into account the strategies the company takes when put
in stressful situations (Kang & Hustvedt, 2013, p. 254). This shows us that an ethical and
transparent company not only does business ethically in front of the public; it also requires an
ethical corporate climate and consistent actions behind the scenes (Chan, 2014, p. 9). If one
thinks logically as well, why would a construction company tend to hide something from the
general public and carry out projects? This will surely raise doubts within ones mind and
question the ethics of the company, which can put a negative mark on the organization. And no
one likes the dirt to come them, therefore they would be better off protecting themselves, before
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putting the company in troublesome situations. As highlighted in the previous principle that
change starts from the top, if the management is enforcing it properly, then why wouldnt the
employees want to follow it. It is all about the culture in place and how strong the management
is. Therefore, the best advice for Vapor Lock Inc. would be to setup a dedicated marketing and
communications and a legal department as well, which would monitor the company activities
and even connect the suppliers and consumers so that there is no communication gap between
either party. In this way the company would expose itself to a wider audience and again gain
more customers which will eventually be profitable for them.
Recommendations
Now since we have discussed all the key aspects and principles of CSR in MNCs we will
provide some recommendations to Vapor Lock Inc. so that they can benefit from implementing
CSR in their company.
With regards to sustainability, as mentioned above they should start using
environmentally friendly materials. Even though this may seem difficult in the beginning but
eventually they will come to savor and reap the benefits of it in the long term.
Going on to the accountability, to company should have some kind of a monitoring
program in which employees are monitored but not to the extent of driving them insane and
eventually decreasing their productivity. The main objective of implementing accountability is to
teach the employees how to engage in fair business practices and use the things learned at the
work place in their daily life. But first and foremost, it should be properly enforced by the higher
management. Without a leader the team cannot move forward.
Last but not least, the Vapor Lock Inc. should also focus on the transparency and ethics
aspect of CSR. This is actually what I consider the most important one. Since if the product you
are making is better than the rest of the market but the company is not marketing it properly nor
providing details of its production or any other details for that matter, it would not succeed. This
is because the consumers need to have absolute knowledge of the product or service they are
paying for. This step will ensure that the company moves forward in the right direction.
Conclusion
To sum up, the CSR is a huge topic and has many different aspects to it. What we have
covered in this report is the building blocks for Vapor Lock Inc. and the first step towards
implementing a successful CSR policy in their company and we at Sion Consultants believe that
the materials furnished in the report serve value and success to your company, with little to no
challenges. The three different aspects that we have covered; sustainability, accountability and
transparency are the most important ones for a growing multination organization like yours and
we trust that this report will bring immense profits and value to the organization. The major
takeaway from this report is that any change in an organization, if not enforced properly will
perish because human nature is to go back to their usual habits, instead of taking the strain to
learn new ones.

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References
Chan, L. Y. (2014). Corporate social responsibility of multinational corporations (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Washington). Retrieved from
http://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1018&context=gh_theses
Corporate Social Responsibility Definition | Investopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/corp-social-responsibility.asp
Corporate Social Responsibility: Definition and Examples. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4679-corporate-social-responsibility.html
Crowther, D., & Aras, G. (2008). Corporate social responsibility. Frederiksberg, Denmark:
BookBoon.
Jamali, D., & Mirshak, R. (2006). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Theory and Practice
in a Developing Country Context. Journal of Business Ethics, 72(3), 243-262.
doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9168-4
Kang, J., & Hustvedt, G. (2013). Building Trust Between Consumers and Corporations: The
Role of Consumer Perceptions of Transparency and Social Responsibility. Journal of
Business Ethics, 125(2), 253-265. doi:10.1007/s10551-013-1916-7
Parker, C. (2006). Meta-regulation: Legal accountability for corporate social responsibility.
Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=942157
Pohle, G., & Hittner, J. (2008). Attaining sustainable growth through corporate social
responsibility. Retrieved from IBM Institute for Business Value website: http://www935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/pdf/gbe03019-usen-02.pdf

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Popescu, D., Bienert, S., Schtzenhofer, C., & Boazu, R. (2012). Impact of energy efficiency
measures on the economic value of buildings. Applied Energy, 89(1), 454-463.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.08.015
Van Rekom, J., Berens, G., & Van Halderen, M. (2013). Corporate social responsibility: Playing
to win, or playing not to lose? Doing good by increasing the social benefits of a
companys core activities. Journal of Brand Management, 20(9), 800-814.
doi:10.1057/bm.2013.13

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