Procter & Gamble’s Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

The key stakeholders of P&G can be identified as their customers’ present worldwide, the suppliers, the governments of countries they are present in, the pressure groups around and the employees who work for them.

Hence, the responsibilities of the organization are high. The values, purpose, and principles of P&G give the analysis of how the company has planned out its strategy in accordance with the socially responsible attitude. The 5 strategies of P&G are about the products, operations, social responsibility, employees, and stakeholders.

The following are the stakeholders and their priority levels in Procter & Gamble’s corporate social responsibility strategy:

Consumers – Customers are the boss

Employees – Inspire and motivate customers & Suppliers – Mutually productive relationships

Communities – Sustainability

Investors – Innovation for success

Consumers: Consumers are the stakeholders that take the highest priority level in Procter & Gamble’s CSR efforts. Consumers are significant in determining revenues and profits. Procter & Gamble satisfies interests through extensive market research. For example, the company’s external focus involves research regarding consumer preferences and needs. The resulting data are used in developing Procter & Gamble’s programs for corporate social responsibility, such as programs for sustainability based on consumer’s preferences for sustainable firms. In relation, Procter & Gamble has corporate citizenship initiatives that employ a wider perspective on consumers. The aim is to identify consumers’ interests, even beyond the consumer goods market. Such effort makes Procter & Gamble’s corporate responsibility strategy comprehensive in satisfying the interests of this stakeholder group. The company wants to gain the trust of the customers also. One incident related to it was recalling of the Vicks Sinex Vapor Spray. The discovery of B. cepacia bacteria was found in nearly 12,000 bottles of P&G’s Vicks Nasal Spray. All of the dispatched orders had been recalled. There were no reported illnesses from its use, however. B. Cepacia does not carry much risk; however, it can be dangerous (can cause lung cancer) to people who have a weak immune system. The customers who had already purchased the product were told to stop to use the product immediately and given refund token. This was a very socially responsible action done by P&G to restore the trust of their customers.

Employees: The P&G Company values employees as its second priority in CSR efforts. The interests of employees are career development and proper compensation. P&G’s corporate responsibility programs address these interests through training and related support. For example, the company trains employees to achieve higher levels of innovation and productivity. Motivation is also a significant factor. For instance, HR programs aimed at motivating and inspiring P&G’s employees to maximize business results. In addition, the company’s CSR efforts satisfy these stakeholders’ interests through HR programs for competitive compensation and leadership development.

In China, P&G has offered a new working hour policy to the employees. The policy is that employees have been given the leverage to work five days, of which, one day from home. This step has been taken to ensure that employees are retained in the organization and they are also enjoying the much-needed freedom from work and they are spending the quality time with their family and friends. The policy was much liked the employees who are nearly 6000 in number.

Customers and Suppliers: Customers are the corporate clients and business partners of the company. On the other hand, suppliers are firms that provide the materials that Procter & Gamble uses to manufacture consumer goods and to maintain business processes. These stakeholders are interested in a growing and mutually beneficial relationship with the company. For example, one of P&G’s corporate responsibility goals is to provide guidelines that customers can use to maximize the benefits of using P&G’s consumer goods. Also, the company addresses its corporate citizenship objectives by providing valuable information that enhances suppliers’ processes and ensures supply chain stability.

P&G aims to increase data collection and the ability to work with key strategic suppliers in reducing the collective environmental footprint. A challenge for P&G is the number of potential suppliers it must deal with because the ingredients in its products come from palm kernel oil at a secondary stage of processing. This means that the company is buying already processed palm oil, which, in a previous step, was gathered by different subcontractors, and therefore it was impossible to know exactly where it was coming from.
Communities: The P&G Company’s CSR strategy assigns the fourth priority level to the stakeholder group of communities. Communities are important because they influence corporate image and brand image. These stakeholders are interested in the contributions of P&G’s consumer goods business to economic development and the environment. P&G’s CSR strategy has an external focus that considers these interests. One of the company’ s major focuses is on the use of renewable energy. For example, the company ensures sustainability in its products, packaging, and operations to minimize environmental impact. The strategy also supports programs for hygiene education and sanitation in communities. In addition, the P&G Fund provides financial support for nonprofit organizations and community development projects via the Great Cincinnati Foundation.

Investors: These stakeholders significantly influence the market valuation and capital of the consumer goods business. The interests of investors are profits and growth of the Procter & Gamble Company. These interests are considered in the company’s corporate social responsibility strategy through constant innovation, which is viewed as P&G’s cornerstone for success. For example, research and development efforts aim for continuously innovating current products and developing new ones. And strategic CSR like Shiksha program done by the company helps the company (investors) and people as well. These efforts ensure that Procter & Gamble’s generic strategy and intensive growth strategies are fulfilled toward higher business performance for corporate responsibility, including sustainability.

1. P & G, a giant of the consumer goods industry, is one of the most efficient companies on the global platform.
2. P & G's success is largely attributed to its business strategies and management decision
3. P & G also environmentally conscious tries to make a minimum of losses/damage due to their production process
4. It systematically ensures that technologies are up-to-date and comply with all laws and regulations, to ensure that its ethical responsibilities are respected.
5. When comparing the corporate social responsibility activities to its adverse effects caused by different or reckless actions of the company, the favorable CSR policies outweighed the balance as the company plans and undertake more projects on the way to improve their CSR.

However, if we refer to CSR policies established by the company, if the company applies and implements the policies mentioned, it will be considered to be in compliance with generally accepted CSR standards, even if there are none specific in existence. The organization is a multinational, with diverse employees, a diverse clientele and with nearly 180 countries in which they work, they do their best to be socially responsible and very careful about their actions and their works they do not harm the environment, people and their stakeholders at all levels of their function.