The Myth of Csr
The Myth of CSR
The problem with assuming that companies can do well while also doing good is that markets don’t really work that way
By Deborah Doane
Stanford Social Innovation Review Fall 2005
Copyright © 2005 by Leland Stanford Jr. University All Rights Reserved
DO NOT COPY
Stanford Social Innovation Review 518 Memorial Way, Stanford, CA 94305-5015 Ph: 650-725-5399. Fax: 650-723-0516 Email: info@ssireview.com, www.ssireview.com
~ DO NOT DISTRIBUTE ~ FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY ~
[CHECK]
REALITY
the myth of
CSR
THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) MOVEMENT has grown in recent years from a fringe activity by a few earnest companies, like The Body Shop, and Ben & Jerry’s, to a highly visible priority for traditional corporate leaders from Nike to McDonald’s. Reports of good corporate behavior are now commonplace in the media, from GlaxoSmithKline’s donation of antiretroviral medications to Africa, to Hewlett-Packard’s corporate volunteering programs, to Starbucks’ high-volume purchases of Fair Trade coffee. In fact, CSR has gained such prominence that the Economist devoted a special issue to denouncing it earlier this year. Although some see CSR as simply philanthropy by a different name, it can be defined broadly as the efforts corporations make above and beyond regulation to balance the needs of stakeholders with the need to make a profit. Though traces of modern-day CSR can be found in the social auditing movement of the 1970s, it has only recently acquired enough momentum to merit an Economist riposte. While U.S. and European drivers for CSR have differed slightly, key events, such as the sinking of Shell’s Brent Spar oil rig in the North Sea in 1996, and accusations of Nike and others’ use of “sweatshop labor,” triggered the first major response by big business to the uprisings against the corporate institution. Naomi Klein’s famous tome, “No Logo,”1 gave voice to a generation that felt that big business had taken over the world,
The problem with assuming that companies can do well while also doing good is that markets don’t really work that way
By Deborah Doane
Stanford Social Innovation Review Fall 2005
Copyright © 2005 by Leland Stanford Jr. University All Rights Reserved
DO NOT COPY
Stanford Social Innovation Review 518 Memorial Way, Stanford, CA 94305-5015 Ph: 650-725-5399. Fax: 650-723-0516 Email: info@ssireview.com, www.ssireview.com
~ DO NOT DISTRIBUTE ~ FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY ~
[CHECK]
REALITY
the myth of
CSR
THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) MOVEMENT has grown in recent years from a fringe activity by a few earnest companies, like The Body Shop, and Ben & Jerry’s, to a highly visible priority for traditional corporate leaders from Nike to McDonald’s. Reports of good corporate behavior are now commonplace in the media, from GlaxoSmithKline’s donation of antiretroviral medications to Africa, to Hewlett-Packard’s corporate volunteering programs, to Starbucks’ high-volume purchases of Fair Trade coffee. In fact, CSR has gained such prominence that the Economist devoted a special issue to denouncing it earlier this year. Although some see CSR as simply philanthropy by a different name, it can be defined broadly as the efforts corporations make above and beyond regulation to balance the needs of stakeholders with the need to make a profit. Though traces of modern-day CSR can be found in the social auditing movement of the 1970s, it has only recently acquired enough momentum to merit an Economist riposte. While U.S. and European drivers for CSR have differed slightly, key events, such as the sinking of Shell’s Brent Spar oil rig in the North Sea in 1996, and accusations of Nike and others’ use of “sweatshop labor,” triggered the first major response by big business to the uprisings against the corporate institution. Naomi Klein’s famous tome, “No Logo,”1 gave voice to a generation that felt that big business had taken over the world,