Philosophies for Business
Philosophies for Business Introduction
Geoffrey Klempner
Business Arena
Advertising Ethics
What is CSR?
Why Philosophy?
Business Articles
Corporate Social Responsibility

What is CSR?

"As individuals, we care about the quality of our lives. We also, by and large, want to do the 'right thing'. This simple fact is totally at odds with the economists' view of human beings motivated primarily by greedy self-interest.

"I am not saying that companies should in future compete less energetically for market share. Energetic competition and the desire to sell more than your competitor is the cornerstone of the business arena. I am talking about the basic motivations of individuals who work for those companies.

"The best thing a board can do for its company is to abolish the bonus system. So long as executives and managers have their eyes fixed on their yearly bonus, any attempt at developing a longer-term strategy is subverted and undermined. Find some other way to reward your people for their hard work and loyalty...

"In the future, the 'greed is good' credo will be seen for what it is, a curious aberration in human history, a temporary madness that took hold when people allowed themselves to forget that they were human beings.

"Peter Drucker famously talked of a 'post-capitalist' society. Undoubtedly, much has changed and is changing. The old image of capitalists versus workers is no longer valid. But the most important change, which we can see happening now, concerns our perception of values and the true nature of wealth.

"Our wealth is not just the totality of our money or possessions but the quality of our human relationships, the values of the society in which we live, the physical environment which all human beings ultimately have to share."

From Philosophy of CSR (2006).

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