Corporate Social Responsibility

Organizations; It should act ethically and responsibly towards all its stakeholders and carry out its activities within this framework. When corporate social responsibility is mentioned, only measures to protect nature / environment come to mind. However, this is an extremely narrow perspective. It should not be forgotten that organizations; is responsible to all stakeholders that may be affected by its decisions / activities. The concept of "stakeholder" comes to the fore as the basic definition element in the literature on corporate social responsibility, which is gradually expanding. Stakeholders are all social parties in the society with which the business is in contact, affected by the activities of the business and affecting the business with their activities (Baron, 2000: 571). Freeman (1984: 25) defined a stakeholder as "a group or person who influences or is affected by the achievement of organizational goals". With the passing of time, the number of these social partners that their businesses are in contact with has increased and their relations have become quite complex. According to Freeman, the stronger the relationships with non-business groups, the easier it will be to achieve common goals, otherwise the worse the relationships the more difficult it will be to reach the common goals.
The scandals that have emerged in the business world in recent years have shaken the trust in businesses and made the concept of "corporate social responsibility" come to the fore. On the other hand, under the leadership of various international organizations (United Nations, OECD, ILO, European Union); It has revealed the necessity of enterprises to act more cautiously about corporate social responsibility with the protective approaches towards human rights, the environment and the working workforce and the standards developed in this regard.
Today, it is seen that there are many different definitions in the literature on corporate social responsibility. We bring to your attention the definitions that we consider important.

European Commission:
Corporate Social Responsibility; It is a concept that businesses integrate their social and environmental issues with their organizational activities and interactions with their social stakeholders on a voluntary basis. Being socially responsible is not just about fulfilling official expectations, but going beyond volunteering and investing more in human capital, the environment and relations with shareholders. (Commision of the European Communities,2001:6)

United Nations Conferences On Trade and Development (UNCTAD):
Corporate social responsibility; It should be considered within the framework of how relevant businesses are to the needs and goals of society. All social groups expect specific roles and functions to be fulfilled in order to be able to change times through their own social changes and evolution. Expectations about businesses, and especially multinationals, are changing at an unusually fast pace, with the increasing roles these businesses play in a globalizing society. That's why; Discussions on the social responsibility standards and practices of multinational enterprises constitute an important part of global community development efforts. (UNCTAD,1999:1)Corporate Social Responsibility; It is a concept that businesses integrate their social and environmental issues with their organizational activities and interactions with their social stakeholders on a voluntary basis. Being socially responsible is not just about fulfilling official expectations, but going beyond volunteering and investing more in human capital, the environment and relations with shareholders. (Commision of the European Communities,2001:6)

International Standard Organization (ISO): Corporate social responsibility; It is an approach where organizations address economic, social and environmental problems in a way that benefits people and society. In this context; workplace and worker problems, including human rights, occupational health and safety, unfair practices in the workplace, environmental approaches, market and consumer problems should be evaluated.(ISO Advisory Group, 2004; Leonard & McAdam ,2003)

Corporate social responsibility, as a concept, expresses the responsibility towards all actors both internally and externally. It is possible to classify these areas of responsibility as follows.
● Responsibility towards employees,
● Responsibility for customers (consumers),
● Responsibility for shareholders,
● Responsibility towards nature and the environment,
● Responsibility to the state,
● Responsibility towards suppliers,
● Responsibility towards competitors,
● Responsibility to society.

Among these, responsibilities towards employees, shareholders and managers (internal stakeholders) are within the company's internal responsibility area. Responsibilities towards competitors, customers, suppliers, the environment, society and the state (external stakeholders) are within the scope of the external responsibility of the enterprise. Businesses should be between these two areas of responsibility, and try to balance and fulfill their corporate social responsibility in a way that meets the wishes and expectations of both parties.

In the light of these general explanations, ATLASCert® develops systems that will enable organizations to fulfill their social responsibilities and to establish strong and healthy communication with their stakeholders at all levels. It carries out all kinds of studies required for the effectiveness of the developed systems.