Can you run a CSR program? Try online with a realistic ‘simulation’

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) isn’t as easy as just deciding your company is going to change directions and suddenly combine altruistic acts overnight while maintaining the profit margin the owners/shareholders/partners expect. In fact it needs to be part of an underlying strategy to the way you conduct business, how you treat your staff and customers, who you purchase from, and what priorities in the community and globally you seek to impact. Developing a strategy that creates a practical balance is something that needs to be assessed and implemented in a fashion that allows your business to blend the needs to CSR with the bottom line of profit and practicality.

With a giant corporation it takes a team who will work with finance, research, production, marketing and other departments to align the company goals with a developmental approach to subsidize and work in the creation of plans that are practical and work in unison with the entire direction of the company. If you work for a smaller company you’ll surely wear a number of different hats building the contacts needed to initiate new plans and implement them while informing your staff, clients and providers of your approach. All the while don’t forget that your company website is the first place many will look to determine whether you offer an active and buoyant CSR platform.

With the cooperation of the WWF and Allianz a new online game has been launched that helps you learn if you’ve got what it takes to make your company a better and more responsible place. Can you keep shareholders happy while creating a greener workplace? Can you reduce carbon emissions without throwing all of your profit out of the window? Can your company display integrity with all of its decisions but still be competitive in the marketplace?

The CEO2 game will let you find out online (and for free), and while it’s only a game it really shows the balance needed to take a company into the future and drive forward profit,  goals and a sustainable approach. The game doesn’t take much time – perhaps 30 minutes if you do your research on the decisions you’ll make. The owner (you) selects the industry to work within from chemical, automobile, utility and finance. You are then set goals for share prices and environmental impact over the next 20 years. You then research and evaluate new procedures you can implement for your company and the simulator does the rest. You have a budget and a series of options to consider as your company (hopefully) grows into the future. The analysis shows how your shares perform and if your CSR policy is making a true difference.  If you can keep stock prices curving up as carbon emissions head down you’ve essentially won the game, much like real life!

Not to boast but I took over a struggling automaker and in 20 years I had reduced carbon emissions by 58% and increased the value of company shares by over 45%. I expect Detroit will be calling me any minute now!

Link to the game is here