Check out these three articles on the importance of corporate social responsibility in the current economic climate: The first article suggests that companies should consider the social and environmental impact of their policies alongside profit when determining investment strategy and management practices - another way of describing creating shared value. It also has lots of links and other resources about what companies are doing and how they rank. The second article highlights a recent survey of 2,100 opinion leaders and consumers in the UK – finding that an overwhelming majority of business leaders saw trust in companies’ CSR issues as a critical factor for business success. This quote from Ogilvy PR EMEA managing director, Ash Coleman-Smith sums it up nicely: “Regardless of the fears in the business community, consumers’ commitment to ethical social issues is holding up during the recession. Now is the opportunity for business leaders to prove that they’re sincere and truly committed to their promises and not just fair weather friends.” Third, we have a Q&A with Professor V. Kasturi Rangan from Harvard Business School, cochair of the Social Enterprise Initiative who will also host the seminar described in the article above. He believes CSR should be treated as a business discipline and practiced with the same professionalism and rigor as other aspects of a firm's strategy. "For example, many of the programs that come under the umbrella of 'climate change' have the potential to benefit the environment as well as a company's bottom line." This new evolution of CSR that we’re reading about online really is about creating shared value.
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