For a number of years now I have argued the case for integration of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into the DNA of the corporation. CSR is not a marketing fad, a necessary evil or a “check the boxes” exercise. It is a way of doing business. A company is either socially responsible, or it isn’t.
It is encouraging to see Australian businesses taking sustainable practices on board. Of the 28 shortlisted companies in the 2009 ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards, 28% were from the energy and utilities sector and 20% from the financial services sector. There was a 54% increase in entries with more than half the ASX50 entering the 2009 awards. But why produce a sustainability report in the first place?
It is specious to argue, as Friedman and his followers do, that businesses don’t have ethics, only people do.
However smart we are, however high in the food chain hierarchy we are, we remain dependent upon every other living organism for survival. And yet, we put corporate needs above those of humanity. We exist as if life is forever, nothing will change…
Why can’t we think bigger? What would happen if we allowed ourselves some what if’s, and could be’s and why’s? What would happen – what could happen – if we began asking of our management and staff: What is the big picture? The…
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