Daft and Marcic (2011) define corporate social responsibility (CSR) as management’s duty to make decisions and complete deeds that add to the good and concern of society and the company. To accomplish total CSR an organization must adhere to four responsibilities that affect the organization and the community it serves: economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary (Daft & Marcic, 2011). The Allstate Corporation (Allstate) has made great strides to be a leader in CSR and continues to advance with projects and initiatives to continually do so. Allstate is a trailblazer in ethical and social responsibility because they implement effective ethical leadership, contribute to their communities, and hold all stakeholders accountable for contributions to the company’s social and environmental impact.
Allstate was founded in 1931 as a result of a card game between two Chicagoan’s, Robert Wood (Sears president) and Carl Odell (insurance broker); the end resulted in Wood financing the endeavor of Odell running the sale of auto insurance out of all the new Sears stores (The Allstate Corporation, 2013). As time went on Allstate began offering other insurance options including home and other property/casualty insurance lines, life insurance and, with the help of Sears, the company formed Allstate Enterprises for any noninsurance operations, such as the purchases of savings and loans (The Allstate Corporation, 2013). The organization became a publicly traded company in 1993 and on June 30, 1995, Allstate converted as a completely independent company of Sears after their sale of its remaining shares to its Sears stockholders (About allstate, n.d.)
Now the organization is based in Northbrook, Illinois and recognized as “the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer and one of the nation’s leading insurers in urban areas” (About allstate, History and timeline, par.2, n.d.). Allstate is public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol...