The push for companies to include corporate social responsibility in their business strategy does not come only from consumers — it comes from investors as well.
This became even more
apparent last week as The New York Times reported that Laurence D. Fink, CEO of
multinational investment management corporation BlackRock, sent letters to some
of the world’s largest public companies demanding they contribute to society or
lose investment support.
In a draft of the letter,
Fink writes, “to prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial
performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.”
The business aspect of a
company’s corporate social responsibility is something that my team at CSR
Training Institute and I have been explaining to our clients for a number of
years. But when the CEO of the largest money-management firm in the world
informs companies that they need to do more, we are hopeful it will have a
large impact and, ultimately, a trickle-down effect on small-to-medium sized
companies as well.
After reading commentary
that suggests BlackRock has caught the ‘do-gooderism’ bug, it is important to
note that this move from Fink is all about smart business strategy. The reality
is businesses are under increasing expectation from markets, consumers,
investors, employees, regulators, and governments.
There is an expectation that
businesses engage with and contribute to society and be an effective
environmental steward at the same time as they are making profit and creating
shareholder value.
It is also clear that
Fink is not interested in seeing ‘social wash’ or all talk and no action from
these companies. It will take considerable time, planning and economic
investment to ensure these actions are not written off as marketing gimmicks,
which are often ridiculed by consumers and do more harm than good.
That is where we come in
at CSR Training Institute. We recognize the pressures companies are under, and
we work to develop innovative ways that they can serve both shareholders and
society at the same time, aligning shareholder value with social impact and
environmental responsibility
We recognize that it can seem overwhelming. Increasing demands for improved business
performance and now you have to create social good too. We help you cut through the confusion to align
business, social and environmental performance.
If you would like to speak to me about how a value-centric
strategic approach to CSR can help your business or organization leverage
social capital to deliver more value, send me an email at wayne@csrtraininginstitute.com.
