In good company
06 February 2008
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a company in possession of a decent turnover must be in need of a corporate responsibility programme. It’s certainly trendy – think Google’s “do no evil” tag. The RSA is very trendy too, and we’re currently looking at how an RSA Network could support SMEs in fulfilling all their social responsibilities (including turning a profit).
The argument about sustainable business development hasn’t been won yet. A recent Economist carried one of the best idiot’s guides yet to the potential pitfalls of the fashion for CSR. Is fixing the world what business is for? On a pragmatic level, does it mean having to actively build social responsibility into every part of your business or will the oddn philanthropic donation do?
Consider the CSR question in the context of the UK’s small to medium enterprises (SMEs). The majority of us working in the private sector are employed not by big corporations but enterprises of fewer than 100 employees; their social and environmental footprint is huge. But when upwards of 30% of small businesses go bust after the first year, turning a profit first and foremost is a matter of survival.
Having to respect other bottom lines (environmental, social, progressive working practices) is an unrealistic burden, some say. We want home-grown entrepreneurship, local businesses and economic diversity, so how exacting can we be of SMEs?
The RSA Network’s challenge is to reconcile SMEs’ bottom lines with their impact on the world around them. The aim is to rethink CSR not as a big business luxury, with a small number of high profile wins, but as a huge number of small gestures.
Anyone with practical insights into how we might make that happen should keep an eye on the Networks platform for details of how to get involved. To be continued†
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Matt Cain - 05 Jun 2008 1:45pm
I think your comments on R4 were largely fair. It's not that any part of the speech was objectionable, just that together they don't throw any light on what the government is for. Its continued use of unintelligible language to explain its actions doesn't help and leads many to assume it's being dishonest. Together, this suggests that in the longer term that it will struggle to build an electoral coalition.
Peter Mansfield - 05 Jun 2008 1:42pm
I have thought for some time that financial services companies, particularly those offering private medical insurance, ought to offer their clients the sort of health advice that makes them more confident and competent in managing their own needs. These qualities soon spread from medical to other matters in life, more infectiously than disease ever could. The benefit of fewer and cheaper claims on the company is obvious, and would easily fund the service. But the companies I approached proved very nervous of stepping out of line with the rest of the sector.