Integrating Business and Society
To advance CSR, we must root it in a broad understanding
of the interrelationship between a
corporation and society while at the same
time anchoring it in the strategies and activities of specific
companies. To say broadly that business and society
need each other might seem like a cliché, but it is also the
basic truth that will pull companies out of the muddle
that their current corporate-responsibility thinking has
created.
Successful corporations need a healthy society. Education,
health care, and equal opportunity are essential to
a productive workforce. Safe products and working conditions
not only attract customers but lower the internal
costs of accidents. Efficient utilization of land, water, energy,
and other natural resources makes business more
productive. Good government, the rule of law, and property
rights are essential for efficiency and innovation.
Strong regulatory standards protect both consumers and
competitive companies from exploitation. Ultimately,
a healthy society creates expanding demand for business,
as more human needs are met and aspirations grow. Any
business that pursues its ends at the expense of the society
in which it operates will find its success to be illusory
and ultimately temporary.
At the same time, a healthy society needs successful
companies. No social program can rival the business sector
when it comes to creating the jobs, wealth, and innovation
that improve standards of living and social conditions
over time. If governments, NGOs, and other
participants in civil society weaken the ability of business
to operate productively, they may win battles but will
lose the war, as corporate and regional competitiveness
fade, wages stagnate, jobs disappear, and the wealth
that pays taxes and supports nonprofit contributions
evaporates.