Corporate Social Responsibility: Attractive to Millennials and Rewarding for Corporate America

By Jenny Gomez 

January 2011

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a field that has been part of most corporations for several years. Or, perhaps closer to the truth, it has been many pieces within many corporations. Those pieces are known by several names: "corporate responsibility," "corporate philanthropy," "corporate citizenship," "community relations," "community affairs," "sustainability," "environmental stewardship," "community development," "global citizenship," "people, planet, profits" and "doing "good," among others.

Because there are so many sound and logical options, there is not a strong consensus on a single business definition of CSR. However, the definition given in Kellie McElhaney's book Just Good Business: The Strategic Guide to Aligning Corporate Responsibility and Brand is perhaps the best. She states, "CSR is a business strategy that is integrated with core business objectives and core competencies of the firm and from the outset is designed to create business value and positive social change, and is imbedded in day-to-day business culture and operations."

So, where is business today as it pertains to CSR strategy? On one end of the spectrum there is Dr. Milton Friedman, who stated in a New York Times article in 1970 that "the social responsibility of the firm is to increase its profits" and that "companies who give money away are stealing from the shareholders.".

At the other end you have Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey, who said, "At Whole Foods we measure our success by how much value we can create for all six of our most important stakeholders: customer, team member, investor, vendor, communities, and the environment."

He went on to say that "the Whole Foods business model could represent a new form of capitalism, one that more consciously works for the common good instead of depending solely on the invisible hand to generate positive results in society."

While most businesses today are somewhere in the middle, over the last 20 or so years, they have started to see significant increases in customer demand for "green" and "environmentally friendly" products. They also are seeing more customer demand for transparency in how companies conduct their business around the world and their efforts to help improve global conditions; how they treat their employees, the environment, and the communities where they serve; and the diversity in their workforce, leaders, vendors and suppliers.

Customers also are asking businesses if they have developed their sustainability report. Have they calculated their carbon footprint and what they are doing to become carbon neutral?