Winds of change
In January, Marks
& Spencer announced plans to become carbon neutral within five
years. A few months before, Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson had
announced that for the next decade he will donate profits from his
rail and air travel businesses to researching environmentally
friendly fuels.
As these examples show, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is
now important to almost every corporation, regardless of sector or
background.
Yet, while companies may be keen to develop their CSR credentials
as quickly as possible, they should approach the area cautiously.
CSR is a broad and complex area. Rushing in too quickly can cause
many problems. It can create enormous operational disruption, it
can prove very costly and, in extreme cases, it can do more harm
than good to the consumer and employer brand.
Rachel Hawkes, Account Director at Elemental Communications, a
media communications consultancy, says: ‘A fully integrated and
operational CSR plan is not one that can be decided and implemented
within a week. There are many issues to take into consideration,
such as who will drive the initiative, how the internal culture
will need to change to successfully carry any changes and how to
communicate this to stakeholders.’
The first step is to gain commitment in the company to social
responsibility. The business can then begin appraisals of how
various parts of the company currently affect society. Typically,
companies consider their impacts on the environment, their
employees, their supply chain, their local community and their
customers. However, each company needs to work out where it has the
greatest environmental and ethical impact on society.
While researching existing impacts, the company should develop a
vision of where it wants to end up. It should talk to key
stakeholders to build a picture of what they feel the company
should do to be responsible.
The views of stakeholders, such as investors and environmental
campaigning groups, are likely to conflict so, having listened to
all views, the company needs to make its own judgment on what
constitutes a responsible position.
Having assessed the current situation and defined the ultimate
future goal, the next step is to produce a strategy for getting
from here to there. This should identify clear first steps and
incorporate frequent reviews.
The steps that we’ve covered are just the beginning of the process;
even getting to this point requires considerable investment of time
and money – an investment that sceptics and even some shareholders
may feel doesn’t pay off.
Finding the balance is a lengthy process. As Peter Walker,
Executive Chairman at Pielle Consulting Group, advises: ‘Don’t set
out to save the world. Focus your efforts where the business and
the individuals in it can make a difference and accept that, to be
effective, CSR has to be rooted in self-interest.’
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