Social Responsibility in a Time of Change
Executive Director’s report
Originally published in CR Magazine May/June Issue
Many companies are dedicated to social responsibility—they have social responsibility programs, advertise and market their efforts, form task forces and working groups and reach out to the local and global communities to “do good” in their respective areas. But like those wooden labyrinth ball games, moving the levers to adjust the board and getting the silver ball through the end of the maze, the path to “social responsibility” is not a direct one, and it’s one that is navigated in an environment that is constantly shifting.
So how should a company achieve social responsibility in a situation that is buffeted by change—like political upheavals in the United States and abroad; regulatory changes of the like not seen since the New Deal; trade and economic relationships shifting with multinational agreements like NAFTA and Paris environmental agreements being laid bare or laid aside. How can companies cope?
