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CSR: the most fascinating of acronyms

Megan MacDonald | Saturday 23rd May 2009

This marks my inaugural post as a member of the Editorial Board for JustMeans (Hi! I'm Megan!) and let me say I am thrilled to be here among a cache of certified CSR rock stars. While I have long believed in the power of CSR as a means of addressing social issues and global problems, my professional background has actually been mostly in public service, with a stint at eBay working on WorldofGood.com (which blends a socially responsible ethos with plain old fashioned consumerism) before my departure for Kenya where I'm pursuing a M.A. in Development Studies.

I think my desire to take my interest and (dare I sound clich) passion to explore CSR, coupled with the distance I still have from the daily grind and practice of many companies' CSR programs, puts me in a great position to begin this new chapter of CSR dialogues at JustMeans. Thankfully, this is a community jam-packed with CSR experience and interest, so my job shouldn't be that hard!

With that in mind, let's jump in and consider a recent article from the Economist on the recession's impact on CSR initiatives. It's an issue that raises one of the most fundamental questions facing the CSR arena, one that I hope will play a recurring role in future discussions: (ahem) WHAT EXACTLY IS IT? I'm sure each of us has a different answer to this question, but I'd venture to say that many companies whose CSR budgets are getting slashed have defined it mostly in the realm of "some money we set aside to give away and do good things with." We all know that this is a far cry from what CSR is (or should be) all about - even Wikipedia recognizes right off the bat the element of "corporate self-regulation" that embodies companies who have taken CSR to heart.

In that vein a good CSR program should permeate a company's total operations, hierarchy, strategic plan and overall identity. Thus when something like a recession comes along, how can CSR be segmented in such a way that its' budget can be cut so drastically? And why, if companies have truly embraced CSR, are retailers like the GAP failing to recognize the few opportunities the recession does present to combine savings with responsibility - i.e. less flights, a smaller carbon footprint and more money in the bank (or at least less in the red). Of course passing necessary savings off as deliberate responsibility is not true CSR, but it would at least demonstrate the perspective that CSR isn't just about how much money your CSR department has to give away, but about how a company as a whole uses all their resources, great or small, in the most responsible way possible. Your thoughts?

One thing I should mention - I do live in Kenya and as my blackberry fell victim to "Nairobbery" recently and I spend much of my day in a 5th floor classroom with an honest-to-goodness chalkboard and nery a computer in sight, I won't always be able to respond to comments as quickly as I might like to until I have a replacement. So...please don't take a slow response as a sign of anything other than my poor choice of handbags one evening that made me an especially choice target for a bag snatcher.

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Megan MacDonald 23 May 2009

Hey Steve - there's a saying that says "when the 1st world sneezes, the 3rd world gets pneumonia." While neither 1st or 3rd world are correct terminologies these days, the sentiment is relevant. The recession hasn't hit full force here yet - but when it does, chances are it will be felt even more than in the U.S. We've already seen lots of layoffs and pullbacks in charitable orgs - one article said we can expect up to a 70% cut in charitable donations internationally. It's hard to know exactly how to brace ourselves - but when you've got a country that is considered one of the better off on the continent, and still struggles with 50% living in poverty, the line between bad and worse is pretty fine...

Steve Shin 23 May 2009

At first I thought CSR was Customer Service Representative, then I read more closely after that.

Is the recession only felt in America, or do you actually see something in Kenya? I know it is not the richest country in the world, but do you see that country being effected by the world economy or is the propaganda on how bad the US recession is and how it effects the world really blown out of proportion?