Companies have to weigh the costs and benefits of taking political sides, which will likely depend on the political views of their core customers and investors. It didn’t take long for Orange CEO Stéphane Richard to change his tune on BDS. Just days after he told a Cairo crowd that he would pull his company’s …
When BDS and corporate social responsibility collide Read More »
Even as the government — under a directive from the Prime Minister’s Office — is stepping up scrutiny of foreign-funded non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Indian companies with large foreign shareholdings are growing increasingly uncomfortable working in the grey area around their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributions. To carry out CSR programmes, companies work with or pay …
No longer is the term ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ a novel idea amongst businesses. A 2011 sustainability study by MIT showed that sustainability, in the US at least, now plays a permanent part in 70% of corporate agendas. Organisations such as Unilever haven’t simply been championing sustainable business as a form of corporate philanthropy. Since implementing …
From the classic Friedmanite doctrine of the 70s to present day, there is an evolving perspective on the role of business in society. Business’s sole responsibility, as Milton Friedman argued, is to return profit to its shareholders. This perspective as well as sometimes suspect corporate practices has left a legacy of mistrust towards the private …
A New Type of Sustainable Development: Embracing Shared Value Read More »
There’s a reason brands like Amazon, Kellogg and Lego mean so much to consumers: They’re widely admired not just for products, but for their corporate behavior. And a new study from Cone Communications reveals that worldwide, people don’t just expect companies to play nice in the global sandbox, they want them to prove it as …
People More Suspicious, More Informed About Corporate Social Responsibility Read More »
