Should Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) be considered in the Research Paper

Should Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) be considered in the rating of Wall pathway companies - Research Paper caseThis poses the question whether CSR should be considered in rating of Wall Street companies. In this paper, CSR is discussed in cases for and against inclusion in Wall Street company ratings. Approaches to CSR, research and trends be also examined. The author argues that CSR is important and should be considered side by side the companies ratings so that stakeholders get a cleargonr picture about the companies operations in the auberge they work with. The author proposes a simple, qualitative rating scale as a starting point for something as universal as CSR for inclusion in rating Wall Street Companies. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an ethical belief and practice that companies, just like individuals, are responsibilities as good stewards of the society in which they do business with (Wood, 1991). Corporations ha ve an obligation to act in ways that will benefit or preserve society and that their responsibility is not limited to their profit. In the last decade, we have seen movements gather momentum requesting for more corporate social responsibilities in ethical practices, for the environment, the workings conditions of employees, for the local communities, and towards all stakeholders from suppliers to post-consumption of products. CSR is soon to be integrated with the human resources, business development, operations, and relations (Barnea and Rubin, 2010). This paper will examine the two companies rated by Wall Street Goldman Sachs and British Petroleum (BP), which very recently have been involved in practices that did not do well to the society in which they do business with. An tone-beginning will be made to see if CSR should be considered in their ratings. In the year 2010, each of the three major credit rating agencies - Moodys Investor Services, Standard & Poors and Fitch Rating s - rated both of these companies mainly on their credit worthiness. In the same year, Fortune Magazine also named them as two of the worlds most admired companies. The question then is whether these companies should be rated solely on scales that try their credit-worthiness or should these ratings also include a dimension that will show how well a company performing in the society in general. British Petroleum (BP) In April 2010, an explosion occurred on BPs oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard reported that 11 people were killed, 17 other others injured and about 4.9 million barrels of oil released to the Gulf of Mexico poignant Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. The oil spill caused extensive environmental damage to the sea and wildlife creatures in the Gulf of Mexico. It also damaged the fishing and tourism industries. The US disposal held BP accountable for the damages. BP officials committed to shoulder all cleanup costs and other damages. In addition, t he company is also being investigated for alleged unsafe practices which caused the occurrence on the rig leading to the explosion. An internal probe made BP admit to mistakes that led to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2010, Moodys rated BPs senior unsecured ratings as an Aa2 from Aa1. Fitch Ratings rated BPs long-term issuer default rating and senior unsecured rating as an AA from AA+. Reuters also reported in June 2010 that Standard and