Companies being irresponsible in their promise of caring for minorities, socially disadvantaged people, and the environment are becoming a global problem in the present day. Reading the article by Reckmann (2022), which Schooley contributed to, makes an impression that the authors’ arguments are valid. The article is well-structured, defining what the authors understood by ‘CSR’ and what its functions are. It contains many sources, including quotes by qualified specialists such as Cooney. The key part of the article is the list of types of CSR. Generally, the article uses enough evidence and examples of its possible utilization in practice to be trusted. The authors seem genuine in their belief in the purpose as well.
For this paper, the Global Order/Policies form of CSR and, correspondingly, Blue Washing are chosen. The company discussed will be Unilever, which is a British chemical manufacturer. On its site, the company has released numerous statements that it is “taking action on the issues affecting our world” (“Unilever Global,” 2022). An option in the site menu is named ‘Planet & Society’ and lists numerous environmental and social problems such as climate, human rights, and responsible business. These pledges do not seem genuine due to pretentious choice of words and lack of specifics.
At the same time, when certain problems of Unilever have been uncovered, namely, poor and even dangerous work conditions in its tea manufacturing facilities, the company limited itself to a vague statement. It promised to ‘address’ the issues without stating a plan to do any measures to improve the situation (Macellari et al., 2021). Thus, Unilever fails at keeping its promises to both the UN and its customers, making their pledge bluewashing. The source of information, the article by Macellari et al., is an academic paper published in a respected journal and is therefore credible. Just as with the article by Reckmann, articles based on extensive research are usually trustworthy unless proven otherwise.
The experience of writing the paper did not provide any pivotal discovery on how companies operate. It is common knowledge that, just as new progressive practices become widespread, many corporations pledge themselves to their principles; however, they do not always follow them. The reasons for it may be various, such as not being serious about the statement originally or being unable to follow it despite a genuine intent to. Thus, Unilever’s case does not stand out of common practice.
References
Macellari, M., Yuriev, A., Testa, F., & Boiral, O. (2021). Exploring bluewashing practices of alleged sustainability leaders through a counter-accounting analysis. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 86, 106489.
Reckmann, N. (2022). What is corporate social responsibility? Business News Daily.
Unilever Global: Making sustainable living commonplace. (2022). Unilever.