Is your business a public enemy or public servant?

By Neil Davey, editor

Right now, your company is public enemy number one. Not your business exclusively, you understand, but business in general. And on reflection, you can understand why. Scandals such as those surrounding Enron and WorldCom have left the public suspicious about corporate finances and transparency. Increasing evidence of climate change means they are angered by the environmental impact of industry. Globalisation is a dirty word, as the exploitation of foreign workers has gained coverage. Health crises such as BSE and foot and mouth disease have left consumers with major qualms about the quality and production processes. And nobody knows what to make of genetically-modified foods…

Yep, the man on the street is pretty bloody mad at the way companies are run these days,and wherever he turns there’s something else to reinforce his suspicions that businesses are filled with fat cuts looking to stuff their pockets no matter what the cost. If he turns on the television, the news is reporting a corporate scandal or highlighting the latest company conmen. At the bookshop, books such as Naomi Klein’s No Logo and Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation have long been taking potshots at industry. And now the cinema too is targeting the practices of the likes of McDonald’s (Supersize Me), Wal-Mart (The High Cost of Low Prices) and the pharmaceutical industry (The Constant Gardener). But the important point to highlight is that although much of this ire does have a specific focus, this modern ethical mindset has implications for all companies – not just book-cooking, fossil fuel burning, battery farming corporations.

It is now no longer enough for companies to just make strong profits. 30 years or so ago, the general public accepted that companies making big bucks was good for society as a whole. But no longer. Consumers want their businesses to be socially and environmentally accountable. They want them to be honest. And this doesn’t just go for the big corporations. This encompasses everyone. And in a sense, this is where the customer relationship management element comes in. Primarily, of course, if you are one of the many businesses that have yet to seriously consider your relationship with CSR, then its time to take your customers’ opinions about it on board – just as if it were their opinions about any other area relating to your firm. Then there’s also the issue of how you build the topic into your overall value proposition. The surge in CSR campaigns have left some doubting the substance behind the rhetoric and numerous firms have been accused of ‘greenwashing’ their business. How can you build a CSR programme that is a natural fit with your company, rather than a bandwagon-hopping ‘bolt-on’?

And then there is the issue of how you communicate your good work. Nearly two-thirds of companies have no ‘green’ marketing plans at all, for instance, yet most marketing professionals believe that being green is actually a competitive advantage. CRM and CSR initiatives can be linked to terrific mutual benefit. Over the next month we will be addressing these issues and more - firstly through Jennifer Kirkby's strategic study of CSR and Stuart Lauchlan's technical analysis of the topic to be found on these pages, and then subsequently week by week with a series of practical articles detailing the strategic decisions, operational changes and the end-results of this generation’s ethically-aware businesses.

CSR is well and truly on the corporate agenda. And the next few years could yet banish the view of business as a public enemy, and rebrand it as a public servant.

• Why CSR is sexy - by Jennifer Kirkby
  
• CSR and the customer - by Stuart Lauchlan

This month's stories:

Costs v CSR: what do consumers really care about?

Co-op: A century of values

A model of compassionate capitalism

Case study: Bringing CSR to customers in the printing sector

Where CSR and CRM collide

Linking CSR and CRM: Shop and save (the environment)