“‘Giving back to the community’ is the way business people often describe their philanthropy. It is an arresting phrase because it suggests that their careers have involved taking something away from the community.”
The article quotes the CEO of the brewer SABMiller in response:
“… the biggest benefit a business brings to society is "the very act of running its business - paying suppliers, paying wages, paying taxes.”
The difference between a firm with CSR fully integrated throughout (encompassing strategic decision making and all aspects of day-to-day operations) and a firm that ignores CSR is not whether its CEO “gives back to the community,” but the way the firm goes about “the very act of running its business.”
There is a more socially responsible way of “paying suppliers, paying wages, paying taxes” and there is a less socially responsible way of “paying suppliers, paying wages, paying taxes.” Those firms that seek to do the former and minimize instances of the latter are truly “giving back to the community.”
Take care
David
Instructor Teaching Site: http://www.sagepub.com/strategiccsr/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
Why do business titans need to 'give back'?
By Michael Skapinker
782 words
30 November 2010
Financial Times
Asia Ed1
15
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