Corporate responsibility policies have been gaining increasing attention from senior executives as questions of sustainability and green agendas have come to permeate business the world over.
The financial crisis has only heightened this trend by forcing companies to clearly identify themselves as responsible and trustable. Yet executives commonly don’t understand the most effective ways to design and implement sustainability programs. Because of that they can’t fully capitalize on the potential corporate responsibility has for creating business value, and they are achieving little with it despite all their interest.
So far businesses have mostly focused on direct routes to getting business value from corporate responsibility. They have pursued easy-win strategies or activities with direct commercial benefits, such as measuring and reducing their corporate carbon footprints. Such activities undoubtedly bring some value to businesses and society, but they fall far short of the mark.