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IBM: CSR is Good for Business

IBM has some advice for companies that are tempted to ease up on their commitment to corporate social responsibility during the recession: Don’t. Read More

IBM has some advice for companies that are tempted to ease up on
their commitment to corporate social responsibility during the
recession: Don’t.

To the contrary, IBM argues companies need to get better at
collecting data that measure their social and environmental impact,
whether that be a carbon footprint, the results of factory inspections
or life cycle analyses of products they sell.

In a new report issued today, based a survey of 224 senior
executives, IBM says there are “significant gaps” between the corporate
responsibility goals of companies and their ability to achieve them.
The survey found:

• Companies aren’t collecting and analyzing the right information about CSR or aggregating it often enough.
• Few are collecting CSR data from their suppliers.
• Most don’t understand the concerns of their customers when it comes to CSR.

“There is a gap between the aspirations and the capabilities that
are necessary to realize those aspirations,” says Eric Riddleberger,
IBM’s business strategy consulting global leader, who heads up the
company’s corporate social responsibility consulting efforts.

You won’t be surprised to hear that IBM is ready to help companies
close those gaps. Riddleberger heads up a group of about 3,500 business
strategy consultants, most of whom do some work around corporate
responsibility and sustainability.

You can find the IBM survey here
To me, what’s more interesting than the survey is the fact that IBM is
putting so much of its intellectual capital, as well as its marketing
dollars, behind sustainability. My FORTUNE colleague Jeffrey O’Brien
wrote a terrific story
recently about the substance behind IBM’s Smart Planet campaign; if you
missed it, it’s well worth checking out. IBM’s consulting work,
meanwhile, is driving sustainability deeper into hundreds of other
companies.

IBM’s view — again, not surprising for an IT company — is that the
spread of the Internet has made CSR a front-burner issue. In a report
called Attaining sustainable growth through corporate social responsibility, IBM says:

“Companies are more visible, more exposed, than ever
before, especially as they expand their sphere of operations and their
markets. Watchdog organizations are working hard to keep people aware
of what businesses are doing.

“Since 1990 the Web has spurred the growth of more than 100,000 new
citizen groups devoted to social and political issues. And the torrid
pace of information traveling the Internet is transforming consumer
expectations as customers gain continuous access to special-interest
action plans and third-party scorecards that rate companies on
environmental practices and ethical concerns. In fact, companies can
easily lose control of their own brands and reputations.

“Customers are joining with activist NGOs and advocacy groups, who no
longer depend on door-to-door canvassing and street demonstrations to
bring environmental and fair trade issues to worldwide attention. They
use blogs, podcasts, text messaging, MySpace and YouTube to proliferate
their messages.”

Whatever the reason, the people at IBM are persuaded that CSR helps drive shareholder value. Businesses that get CSR right

“will have a significant advantage attracting investors,
talent and customers, developing new products and services, and gaining
access to new markets and new opportunities. It also will help them
improve operational efficiency and reduce costs, and meet regulatory
requirements, which can allow them to qualify for incentives and avoid
penalties”

All this would indicate that CSR is going mainstream, right? Well,
maybe. Harvard Business School graduates its class of 2009 next week
and, according to The New York Times, about 20 percent of them have signed a student-led pledge called “The MBA Oath
that says the purpose of a business executive is to “serve the greater
good by bringing people and resources together to create value that no
single individual can create alone.”

That’s nice, but what about the other 80 percent?

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