Corporate Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Corporate Planning - Essay Example In the 1930s, after the Great Depression, quality of life management became the most modern phase of CSR where issues of improving societal gain in areas of lifestyle enhancement became the objective of business, government and corporate leadership. As time progresses, economies and specific international regions are recognising new trends in social attitude and consumer behaviour which are driving new and innovative practices for ensuring positive corporate reputation and also satisfying social beliefs on moral and ethical business practices. The historical phases of CSR maintain both strengths and weaknesses, which will be identified in this paper along with discussion of how these historical phases have developed into new CSR objectives in modern society. Additionally, recommendations on implementing effective corporate social responsibility activities in Hong Kong will be identified and discussed. The concepts of social responsibility were largely generated from the American perspective, since this region was essentially a launching pad for industrialism and growth in the late 1800s. â€Å"America in the 19th century was a society of economic scarcity where economic growth and the accumulation of aggregate wealth were primary national goals† (Hay and Gray, 1974, p.136). It was during this period where the business system was considered to be a quality tool for reducing this scarcity, thus the focus of leadership in the corporate environment was to ensure maximisation of profits in order to enhance total economic growth within a region. One weakness of this historical phase is that it did not involve governmental influence when dictating what were acceptable social responsibility policies at the business level, therefore there was no regulatory body to oversee business activities at the internal level. Because of this lack of regulation and legislation, companies were allowed to exploit child labour and provide unsafe working conditions for