Corporate Social Responsibility "Corporate Social Responsibility" (CSR) means that the business has broader responsibilities in relation to objectives and people than the owners or shareholders (Beal and Goyen 2005). These responsibilities are achieved when the company adapts all of its practices to ensure that it operates in a manner that meets, or exceeds, the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of the business. Goals often associated with CSR include the responsibility to manage natural resources sustainably and not to pollute with chemical discharges, odors, noise, dust or other irritants; fair treatment of employees and ethical attitude towards customers. Other people include employees, customers, suppliers, regulators and the general public. In terms of CSR, management should make decisions based not only on financial factors such as profits or dividends, but also on the immediate and long-term social and environmental consequences of their activities. CSR is increasingly seen as an important and integral part of normal business operations. There are several benefits of adopting CSR for companies (Singapore Compact 2007). Creating value for shareholders Today, consumers, investors, governments and even employees have become more sophisticated and more aware of good or bad corporate behavior . A growing number of investors are willing to invest in companies that can meet certain environmental or social standards. Nowadays it is increasingly evident that companies that embrace CSR generally outperform their competitors who do not take it into consideration. Adopting CSR can improve a company's relationship with its stock market valuation, protecting it from stock price instability and volatility. Improves...... middle of paper ...... progress of non-financial performance. For example, DJSI findings showed that the ANB improved in risk and crisis management and stakeholder engagement; ANB has achieved the REputex social responsibility rating of AA; ANB is included in the FTSE4Good index (NAB Group 2007). ReferencesASX, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED (NAB), 2007, available: http://www.asx.com.au/asx/research/CompanyInfoSearchResults.jsp?searchBy=asxCode&allinfo =on&asxCode=NAB, accessed 2 August 2007. Diana Beal and Michelle Goyen (2005) Introducing Corporate Finance, John Wiley and Sons Australia Ltd., Milton, Queensland, Australia. National Australia Bank Group, Corporate Social Responsibility Reports, 2007, available: http://www.nabgroup.com/0,,76587,00.html, accessed 2 August 2007.Singapore Compact, What is CSR?, 2007, available: http://www.csrsingapore.org/whatiscsr.php, Accessed 2 August 2007.