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Center survey finds practitioners optimistic despite downturn
By Sylvia Kinnicutt, Research Associate, Boston College Center
Does the current economic downturn spell the end of corporate citizenship? Just the opposite, says a recent survey of the Center’s members. Half of the practitioners surveyed (out of 50 total) believe that instead of falling by the wayside as corporate budgets get slashed – corporate citizenship will instead become more critical to corporate reputation and business success. Most of the rest believe that their role will stay the same in their companies, with less than ten percent of respondents forecasting a lesser role for corporate citizenship.
Our members have also told us that they don’t expect their staff levels (in corporate citizenship related departments) to change, and they don’t expect their investments in corporate citizenship to be altered either. Some companies even reported increases in areas such as community involvement, measurement and reporting, and environmental responsibility.
| In the current business environment do you think corporate citizenship will: | |
| Become more critical to corporate reputation and business success |
|
| Play the same role as it does today |
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| Become less important and not a business priority |
|
| How do you and your colleagues view the impact of the current crisis on your business over the next six months? | |
| Significant impact – severe drop in business (20-30%) |
|
| Some impact (5-10% drop in business) |
|
| Not much impact (0-5%) |
|
| May actually create new business opportunities for us |
|
This outcome is especially telling because the same respondents foresee at least some drop in business in the near term. How can this be so? Our members provide some explanations:
“We believe that the current economic crisis underscores the value of the growing focus on citizenship. A part of the evolution is an expanded understanding and definition of success. In this case, a definition of success that believed you could externalize high levels of risk without consequence has nearly collapsed the global economy. The evolutionary step is in helping corporations realize that they – like all other things on our planet – are interconnected.”
“I believe that, much the same way the scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and Anderson brought corporate ethics to the forefront, this crisis will have the public demanding accountability on Wall Street, banks and other financial institutions… The overall sentiment of people I’ve talked with or encountered is that they are tired of business and politics as usual and want more accountability and transparency. I believe this will drive more people to look for socially responsible companies in all sectors as they are driven away by the real or perceived greed of many companies.”
“My fear is that corporations will do less and talk about it more, or worse, return to the philosophies of Friedman and others who have not understood the value of CSR to the bottom line. I hope that we have evolved far enough that retrenching does not mean eliminating programs, but becoming more strategic and more focused.”
How does the current economic situation affect your company? Click here to contribute to this ongoing survey.
