I just wonder, as a stranger to the corporate world – CR or CSR; reporting on a triple bottom line – how much does it really matter to companies? Especially in these tougher times.
Make no mistake, over the course of the last twelve or so years I’ve been involved in raising a great deal of money for charitable causes and in the course of that time I have met many, many individuals and groups who undoubtedly care about the outcomes for those less fortunate than themselves. Dedicated people who work extraordinarily hard and with great generosity on behalf of those they perceive to be less fortunate than themselves.
But CORPORATE Responsibility; how does that work exactly? I can see how individuals feel responsibility – they give because they feel they should – they feel better for knowing they have put something back. It is easy enough to argue that these are qualities of our humanity. But a CORPORATION doesn’t feel responsibility, or feel better or guilty. So how do these things become manifest reality in a company? Does it come from the top or the bottom? Are companies REALLY better off if they are seen to be charitable?
Tags: Business, Corporate Responsibility, CSR
When times get hard it is necessary to practice CSR more and better – if it is a philanthropic exercise which is peripheral to the main business, it will always be the first thing to go when push comes to shove. If it is embedded within the company’s ethos then like alarm clock, although not absolutely essential to the workings of the business, when it is necessary it becomes absolutely indispensible.
To pick up on one of the points above ‘they give because they feel they should’ – surely the attitude is ‘they give because they know they should’.
For me there has to be a distinction between duty and responsibility – they are not synonyms. Duty implies something that is expected – in this context something you feel obliged to do. This is not conducive to a healthy attitude to your company’s CSR or indeed life in general – if obligation runs what you do then you are a slave – if you do it of your own will and desire then you are in control; responsibility is this acknowledgement of your own influence and position.
Whatever it is and regardless of agenda, Corporate Social Responsibility can become an integral part of the wealth creation process – if managed properly it can enhance the competitiveness of business and maximize the value of particular enterprise to society. It is at this point that CSR transforms from the alarm clock to a cog of a clock.
My experience in the charitable sector suggests it’s impossible to generalise – all that Zoe has said above is a true picture, perhaps the ideal situation for CSR to flourish, but I don’t believe that it can be said to be the norm. Individuals within companies can have the right motivation but it seems there have to be strong leadership examples to make it really take off throughout a company and become a living part of the ethos.
In researching foundations and corporate giving, I see those that dedicate a certain amount of funds (money or in kind) and there are those that seem to want to restrict their giving in various ways.
I may be cynical but I think many companies subscribe to CSR because they feel they should – it is a corporate obligation indeed. Those that are truly responsible have a giving policy that is embedded in the workplace from top to bottom, bottom to top. But at least the notion of giving is there – we can remember – and thank!- our Victorian industrial philanthropists for their legacy!
Do we care? If we think of Corporate Responsiblity as more than “just” giving cash then I think we should. I think we all care that, allegedly, GM/OPEL took €€€€ from the German government having spent years avoiding tax there (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/10/opel-general-motors) and in the UK it looks like Barclays are similarly avoiding their civil duty (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/17/barclays-guardian-injunction-tax). But it*will* matter to them eventually I’m sure. Who wants to do business with a cheat???? What we do positively about it is a harder question!
A problem is that people, corporate people, WILL do business with ‘cheats’ because in the corporate world of profit at almost any price, cheating is considered acceptable. The trick will be to change what is considered acceptable and what the boundaries of ‘almost’ are.
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