Environmental Social Responsibility: The Reality and Rewards of Corporate Citizenship

摘要

In the past 5 years, there has been a dramatic shift in howrncorporations view their role in society. Until recently, the rolernof environmental and social management was one of damagerncontrol and helping companies reverse the unintended effectsrnof business decisions and actions. Now corporations arernactually designating individuals with in-house responsibilityrnfor social and community outreach programs. In addition,rncompanies are taking the step of publishing social andrnenvironmental reports for public consumption.rnThe contributions of social and environmentalrnperformance to the soft side of company value are generallyrnaccepted, but the link between this effort and financialrnperformance has been a difficult thing to sell. Throughrnintegrated approaches to the environmental and socialrnchallenges we face, corporations and civil society are learningrnto better understand and value both the risks and opportunitiesrnthese challenges present. The challenge of the triple bottomrnline is real: how can a company ensure economic growth, andrndeliver on the dual goals of social progress and environmentalrnimprovement?rnIn this paper we will examine environmental socialrnresponsibility and how companies are addressing thisrnchallenge both internally and externally. We will review reallifernexamples that have worked, and also those that failed andrnwhy. In addition, we will discuss the issues of value andrnfinancial performance in the context of the worth of proactiverncorporate environmental responsibility. Finally, we will lookrninto the future to see what strategies might work best forrnmeeting all stakeholder expectations and bringing aboutrnbalanced shifts in corporate thinking on these issues.