Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility. That’s what the business world is talking about more and more. The reason I know is because that’s the topic business clients are asking me to speak about. It’s about time. The awareness of the need for social responsibility has exploded in the past three years like lightening hitting a paper dry forest on a hot August afternoon.

A recent national survey (2007 Cone Cause Evolution Survey) reveals that individuals are holding companies to all-time high standards of social responsibility and good business practices. 83% state that companies have a responsibility to support good causes. 87% say they will switch brands to those actively engaged in good causes. And 72% of American workers wish their organizations would do more to support environmental or social issues.

And the fire is raging among our next generation of leaders has even higher standards. 78 million Americans age 13-25 are the most civic-minded generation in the past 50 years. Nearly two-thirds of them feel personally responsible for making a difference in creating a sustainable future. 78% of them believe that companies have a direct responsibility in this effort. And young Americans are quite ready to punish companies that aren’t genuinely doing something to improve the world. Nearly 90% of them said that they would quit buying products from irresponsible companies and shift to responsible ones if they could find a similar product. 80% say they want to work for companies that actively contribute to the good of society. (The 2006 Core Millennial Cause Study)

The demand for new solutions to the social, environmental, health, education, political and resource problems are burning everywhere.

We see it in our popular culture. We are not surprised when Oprah calls out for greater social justice and personal integrity. We are amazed, though, when rock star Bono does it not only with passion but also with intelligent action.

We see it in philanthropy. When Bill Gates resigns from business and convinces Warren Buffet to give his fortune to solve society’s problems or when Bill Clinton and George Bush work together for world relief, or when large-scale giving is built into the core business models of corporations such as Google and eBay, something is up.

We see it in business. When eco-conscious Patagonia clothing company pioneers the use of organic cotton in tee-shirts, it’s cool. When they teach Wal-Mart how to do it, it’s jaw dropping. When the largest for-profit company in the world transforms itself into the largest seller of organic food, fair trade coffee and organic clothing in the globe, when it converts part of its truck fleet to alternative fuel and mandates recycling, we must sit up and take note.  And it’s only the beginning if consumers and employees demand it.

Of course many skeptics see this as nothing but “green P.R.” Others lament that the true costs of these efforts make them either futile or the environment or actually worse. Their only solution is to prohibit, live small and simple, and return to our cabins on the prairie.

But developing countries like India, China, and Russia will have none of that. They want a western lifestyle. Our best hope is to quit wringing our hands and invest in new ways of achieving sustainable abundance. Is it possible? Well, when countries like Denmark get much of their power from the wind, we are not impressed. Most macho Americans think Europeans are eco-weenies. But when big box stores like Circuit City and Target are putting solar panels on their stores and warehouses to cut their energy costs, we take notice. New companies like SunEdison have created a brand new business by installing the solar panels for free in exchange for a 10-year contract to buy the generated electricity. Yes, mainstream entrepreneurs and venture capital firms are beginning to scale large businesses using new solutions that are better for everyone, something positive is happening.

What’s happening is a revolution in how we define quality. Now the term also means sustainability and responsibility. Our personal expectations of the things we buy, how they are made, their safety, how long they last and how they are recycled is being dramatically raised.

But something is missing. Maybe we are moving too slow. We’ve created a consumer economy instead of a producer one. What we don’t need is an endless supply of me-too products that waste resources to make and cost us a lot to dispose of. The world needs products creatively conceived to offer unique value. Products to replace the ones that are killing us. This is the opportunity of 21st century capitalism. To achieve it we need bigger goals, new incentives and a revolutionary concept of value, creativity, and courage. And we need moral leadership. Capitalism needs a soul as well as a brain. In little ways and big ways people are stepping up. These are the enterprises we should start, fund or work for. Are you?

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