Corporate social responsibility: how do WE go about it?
Here’s something VERY INTERESTING I found in The Economist, edition of Jan. 19-25th 08. The article title reads “How good should your business be? Corporate social responsibility has great momentum. All the more reason to be aware of its limits“
One: the author sets the stage. There is a “presumption” now that businesses need to be “good”. Second: the author shows us it’s not true and advises caution especially “for a time when the CSR bandwagon is on a roll”. “If companies need to be vigilant about the limits of CSR, the same applies even more to society as a whole.” [Emph. added] Third: Why? “Profits” are “good”. We need businesses to make benefit the society of its “products, services, salaries and ideas that competitive capitalism creates”. Let’s not speak redistribution of profits here, for we may miss the “valid” point the author is trying to make. Fourth: “Most of the disasters have come from politicians seeking to offload public problems onto business: American health care is one sad example. But companies are increasingly keen on public policy.” The author then exemplifies his thinking by highlighting the cases of joint-ventures where companies mix with activists and policy makers to avoid regulation of their business activity and “self-rule”. “In some impoverished places, (s)he writes, such “soft law” help them make money.”
That’s the point (s)he was trying to make at point no. 3. Companies are concerned with the narrow interest of their shareholders: profit making. “Above all, it is governments, not firms, that should arbitrate between interest groups for the public interest.” [Emph. added]
In French, there’s a saying, “Chacun son métier et les vaches seront bien gardées”, meaning, everyone has its purpose and should fulfill it, for this is how each task will be best accomplished. ALL THE MORE REASON TO BE AWARE OF ITS LIMITS…
Laisser un commentaire