Discuss the three elements of social responsibility.

What will be an ideal response?

The three elements of social responsibility are market actions, externally mandated actions, and voluntary actions. Market actions are responses to competitive forces in markets. Such actions have always dominated and this will continue. When a corporation responds to markets, it fulfills its first and most important social responsibility. All else pales before its economic impact. Mandated actions are those required either by government regulation or civil regulation. Government, or public, regulation is rooted in the authority of the state and its mandates are enforceable by law. Government mandates have multiplied rapidly in developed countries over the last 75 years. Civil regulation is regulation by nonstate actors based Answer: on social norms or standards enforced by social or market sanctions. Civil regulation has many faces. It is imposed when activists, consumers, investors, lenders, shareholders, or employees make demands on a company and failure to comply will lead to reputational or financial damage. Such mandates are enforced by the power of the market, not the power of law. Mandates based on civil regulation are now expanding rapidly in the global economy. The third element is voluntary actions that go beyond those compelled by law or regulation. Some voluntary actions can be called "legal plus" because they exceed required mandates. Other actions are unrelated to mandates, but respond to public consensus. Still other actions may be strategic initiatives where the firm seeks to profit from solving a social problem.