WhatI

sCor
por
ateSoci
alResponsi
bil
i
ty?

I
ntoday'
ssocial
l
yconsciousenvi
ronment
,empl
oyeesandcust
omer spl
aceapremium on
wor
kingforandspendi
ngtheirmoneywit
hbusi
nessest
hatpri
ori
ti
zecorpor
atesoci
al
r
esponsi
bil
it
y(CSR).

CSRisanev ol
vi
ngbusi
nesspracti
cet
hati
ncor
por
atessust
ainabl
edevel
opmenti
ntoa
company'sbusi
nessmodel
.Ithasaposi
ti
vei
mpactonsoci
al,economi
candenvi
ronment
al
fact
ors.

Kati
eSchmidt,
thefounderandleaddesi
gnerofPassi
onLil
ie,
sai
dCSRcanpositi
vel
yimpact
yourbusi
nessbyimprovi
ngy ourcompanyi
mage,buil
dingy
ourbrandandmot
ivat
ingyouasa
busi
nessowner.

"Whatthepubli
cthi
nksofyourcompanyiscr
it
ical
toit
ssuccess,
"Schmi
dtt
oldBusi
nessNews
Dai
ly."Bybui
l
dingaposit
ivei
magethatyoubeli
evein,
youcanmakeanamef ory
ourcompany
asbeingsoci
all
yconsci
ous."

Astheuseofcor porat
eresponsi
bil
i
tyexpands,itisbecomingextremelyi
mportantt
ohavea
soci
all
yconsciousimage.Consumers,employeesandst akehol
dersarebegi
nningtopri
ori
ti
ze
CSRwhenchoosi ngabr andorcompany.Theyar eholdi
ngcorporati
onsaccountabl
efor
eff
ecti
ngsocialchangewi t
hthei
rbusi
nessbeliefs,pr
acti
cesandpr of
it
s.

"ArobustCSRprogr
am isanopportuni
tyforcompaniestodemonstr
atethei
rgoodcorporat
e
ci
ti
zenship…andprotectthecompanyfrom out
sizedri
skbylooki
ngatthewholesocialand
envi
ronmental
spherethatsurr
oundsthecompany ,
"sai
dJenBoy nt
on,CEOofBTar geted
Marketi
ngCo.

Toill
ustratehowcr i
ti
calsocialr
esponsibil
ityhasbecome,previ
ousresearchbyCone
Communi cat
ionsf oundt hatmorethan60%ofAmer i
canshopebusinesseswill
dr i
vesocialand
envi
ronment al changeint heabsenceofgov er
nmentregul
ati
on.Nearl
y90%oft heconsumer s
surveyedsaidt heywouldpur chaseapr oductbecauseacompanysuppor tedani ssuetheycare
about.Mor eimpor tant
ly,roughl
y75%wi l
lrefuset
obuyf r
om acompanyi ftheylearnitsupport
s
anissuecont rarytotheirownbel i
efs.
Consumersaren'
ttheonl yoneswhoar edrawntobusinessesthatgi
veback.SusanCooney
,
headofglobaldi
versit
y,equi
tyandincl
usionatSymantec,saidthatacompany'
ssustai
nabi
li
ty
str
ategyi
sabigf actori
nwher etoday'
stoptal
entchoosest owork.

"Thenextgenerat
ionofemployeesisseekingoutemployersthatar
efocusedont hetr
iple
bottom l
i
ne:people,
planetandrev
enue,"saidCooney."
Comi ngoutoftherecessi
on,corporat
e
revenuehasbeengetti
ngstronger
.Compani esareencouragedtoputthati
ncreasedprofi
tint
o
programsthatgiv
eback."

Inaddit
iontoabettercompanyi
mage, Schmi
dtsaidsust
ainabledevelopmentcanhel
pyour
busi
nessf i
nanci
all
y.Forexampl
e,usi
nglesspackagi
ngandl essenergycanreducepr
oduct
ion
costs.

4cor
por
ater
esponsi
bil
i
tyt
ypesy
ourbusi
nesscanpr
act
ice

Recogni
zi
nghowimpor
tantsoci
all
yresponsi
bleef
for
tsaret
othei
rcust
omers,
empl
oyeesand
st
akehol
ders,
manycompaniesnowfocusonaf ewbroadCSRcat
egori
es:

Envir
onmentaleff
orts:Oneprimaryfocusofcor por
atesocial
responsi
bil
it
yistheenvi
ronment.
Businesses,
regar
dlessofsize,havelargecarbonfootpr
int
s.Anystepstheycantaketoreduce
thosefootpr
int
sareconsideredgoodf orboththecompanyandsoci et
y.

Phil
anthr
opy:Busi
nessescanpract
icesocialresponsi
bil
it
ybydonatingmoney,pr
oduct
sor
servi
cestosoci
alcausesandnonprofi
ts.Largercompaniestendtohavealotofr
esour
cest
hat
canbenefi
tchari
ti
esandlocalcommuni t
yprogr ams.I
tisbesttoconsul
twit
hthese
organi
zati
onsaboutthei
rspeci
fi
cneedsbef oredonati
ng.

Ethi
callaborpracti
ces:Bytr
eati
ngemployeesfai
rl
yandethical
l
y,companiescandemonstr
ate
thei
rsocialresponsi
bil
it
y.Thi
sisespeci
all
ytrueofbusi
nessesthatoper
ateini
nter
nat
ional
l
ocationswithlaborlawsthatdi
fferf
rom t
hoseintheUnit
edStates.

Volunt
eer
ing:
Attendi
ngvolunteereventssaysalotaboutacompany
'ssincer
it
y.Bydoi
nggood
deedswit
houtexpect
inganythinginretur
n,companiescanexpr
esst
heirconcernf
orspeci
fi
c
i
ssuesandcommi tmentt
ocer tai
nor gani
zati
ons.

Bui
l
dingasoci
all
yresponsi
blebusi
ness
Alt
houghbeingsoci
all
yresponsi
bleisn'tf
ree–itcancostt
ime,moneyandresources–i ti
s
i
mpor t
antt
or ememberthatever
ylit
tlebitcanhel
ptheenvir
onment.Schmi
dtsaidy oucanstar
t
makinganimpactonsocietybydonatingasmallport
ionofyoursal
estoacausey oucare
about.

"
Even5%,
thoughi
tmi
ghtnotsoundl
ikealot
,canaddupt omakeadif
fer
ence,
"saidSchmi
dt.
"
Whenthi
nki
ngofway
stodonateandgiv
eback,star
tlocalandt
henmovefrom t
here.
"

Wheni ni
ti
ati
ngCSR, gi
v eyourempl oyeesav oicebyinvolvi
ngthem i
nthedecisi
on-maki
ng
process.Cr
eateaninternalteam tospearheadt heeff
ortsandchooseanor gani
zati
onorcause
theycareabout.Contr
ibuti
ngt osomet hi
ngy ouremployeesarepassionateaboutcani
ncrease
engagementandsuccess.I nvolv
ingyourempl oy eesi
nt hedecisi
on-
makingprocesscanalso
bri
ngsomecl arit
yandassur ancetoyourt eam.

"I
fdeci
sions[aboutCSR]aremadebehindcloseddoors,
peopl
ewillwonderiftherear
estr
ings
att
ached,andifthedonat
ionsar
ereal
lygoingwheretheysay,
"Cooneysaid."Engageyour
employees[andconsumers]i
ngivi
ngback.Letthem f
eelli
ket
heyhaveav oice."

Regar
dlessofwhichst
rategi
esyouuseforsust
ainabl
edevel
opment
,Boy
ntonsaidi
tis
i
mportanttobevocal
.Letyourconsumer
sknowwhaty ouar
edoi
ngtobesoci
all
yconsci
ous.

"Consumersdeservetoshareinthegoodf eelingsassoci
atedwithdoi
ngtherightt
hing,and
manysur v
eyshavef oundthatconsumer sareincli
nedtopurchaseasust
ainableproductovera
convent
ionalal
ter
native,
"shesaid."Announcingthesebenefi
tsisawin-
winfrom botha
commer ci
alandsustainabi
li
typerspecti
ve.
"

Whatt
oav
oidwhencr
eat
ingasoci
all
yresponsi
blebusi
nessmodel

Becomingasoci all
yr esponsi
blebusinesscanbesi mpl e,butthereareaf ewt hingst
oavoidi
n
theprocess.Businessesshouldav oidparti
cipati
nginchar i
tableeff
ortsthatar enotr
elat
edto
thei
rcorebusinessf ocusorethicalstandar
dsi nanyway .Insteadofblindlysendingmoneytoa
completel
yunrelatedor gani
zati
on,findanonpr ofi
tthatyourcompanybel iev
esi noraproj
ecti
n
yourcommuni ty.
Av oi
dusingCSRoppor tunit
iessolelyf
ormar keti
ngpurposes.Schmidtsai
dr unningacorporat
e
responsibil
itycampai gnasaqui ckmar ket
ingschemecanbackf i
rewheny ourbusinessdoesn't
foll
owt hrough.Insteadofempl oyi
ngaone- t
imeact ,y
oucanadoptsoci al
lyresponsibl
e
businesspr acti
cesov ertime.Schmi dtsaidempl oyeesandconsumer stendt oreactposi
ti
vely
tocompani est hatembr acel ong-t
erm socialresponsi
bil
i
ty.

Ifyouareconsideringsust ai
nabl
eacti
vit
iesthataren'
tl
egall
yrequi
redy et
,don'
twait
.By
adopti
ngsoci al
l
yr esponsiblenormsearl
yon, youcansetthebarforyourindust
ryandref
ine
yourprocess.Under t
akingCSRi ni
ti
ati
vesistrul
yawi nforever
yoneinvolv
ed.Theenvir
onmental
i
mpactofy ouractionswi l
lnotonl
yappealtosociall
yconsci
ousconsumer sandemployeesbut
canalsomakear eal di
fferencei
nthewor l
d.