New survey shows perceived value CSR has moved so far in last decade

Based upon a new article in British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ the landscape for a corporation’s CSR practices have gone from being very pedestrian to a fully fledged component of how they do business. This is encouraging news and to be expected, the days of a corporation assigning a few employees the responsibility for corporate social responsibility and perhaps upping their recycling program are long gone. Not only is CSR becoming a companywide practice but perhaps more importantly the perception of business leaders has changed dramatically in the last decade – 10 years ago on the 11% of CEOs felt that CSR was an integral part of the company’s platform for success whereas today that figure stands at more than two thirds of the same population.

If you rewind the clock 10 years ago CSR was seen primarily as a function related to public relations and was treated as such. Now in 2010 the last majority of large businesses have escalated their CSR activities to being a staple of what they do which is being reinforced by how they do it. Therein lies the key to a certain extent, operating transparently and applying a formula of corporate social responsibility to the company’s actions is no longer far-fetched as it once seemed. From supply chain management and purchasing through to fair labor practices and energy use the foundation of many companies behaviour has been modified to a remarkable extent in the last 10 years.

The phrase greenwashing was in common use only a few years ago when many observers would feel a company may have been cynically enacting marginal changes to afford themselves a measure of ‘green’ credibility. Studies show that the perception and hopefully the actuality of greenwashing is in rapid decline over the last few years. More effectively to my eyes companies are also doing a much better job of engaging all different divisions within the company to foster improved employee engagement and practices that are more far-reaching. The trend of 5 to 10 years ago to assign CSR as a responsibility unique to one group of individuals within the business has now become outmoded and deemed less effective. The same survey reported on by the paper noted that 96% feel that sustainability efforts do need to be fully integrated into the businesses daily strategies and operational methods. As I’ve written about previously the knock on effect is almost just as pinpointed as 88% expect that their suppliers should be engaging similar practices. The survey data below demonstrates just how much perceptions have altered in the last decade when evaluating the benefits of CSR.

The changing perceptions of CSR benefits from the “World in Trust” survey

In the not-too-distant future the eligibility for suppliers to support large corporations may well be very much contingent upon the suppliers’ own CSR practices. Although there may be some rebuttals not only is it good for our communities and planet but it can also go a long way toward leveling the playing field in global terms. The only result from the survey which was lower than I might have expected was that 69% felt that companies would see better financial results due to their commitment to long-term sustainability. Even so, that figure is still significantly higher than it would have been in years gone by.

The survey was provided by Echo and was titled ‘A World in Trust’.