Corporate Social Responsibility in the Noughties

"Most CEOs agree that over the course of the last decade, it has become more important for firms to show that they are socially responsible. The definition of that may have evolved, but it has become more of a priority: in a survey of over a thousand CEOs for the Economist Intelligence Unit conducted in 2007, 34.1% thought it had been a high or very high priority in 2004, rising to over half — 56.2% — in 2007, and with nearly seven in ten — 68.9% — saying they thought it would be a high priority by 2010.

Perhaps this is because the range of social topics about which firms are expected to care has risen over the decade. The environment has moved firmly onto the agenda via climate change, deforestation, and the like, and there has been a growing awareness of the effects of globalization on international labor standards. The teenager browsing for new clothes in 2010 is more likely to understand that they are cheap in part because they are stitched for such low wages, often in Asian countries, than her counterpart in 2000 would have been. There is a greater consumer understanding that firms' behavior has social consequences. 95% of CEOs told a McKinsey survey that society now has higher expectations that firms will 'take on public responsibilities' than it did five years ago, and that was in 2006.

The case for corporate social responsibility is based on a few simple premises...."

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