Corporate Responsibility Goes By Many Terms

Corporate Responsibility goes by many terms: Corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, responsible business, corporate social performance, etc. In their eagerness to be better corporate citizens and get and keep customers, corporate responsibility is a trend that many companies are taking more seriously.  It is basically what a company will do beyond what they must do to satisfy a customer.

And it is looking at more than maximizing shareholder value and leveraging the maximum ‘good” to sustain the company for a future generation of shareholders.

Joining us are Guests:

• Ed Ahnert – ExxonMobil Foundation President (retired); Executive in Residence at SMU Cox School of Business
• Paul Pederson – Price Waterhouse Coopers; Management Consulting Partner (retired)
• Fred Smith, PhD – President and Founder of Competitive Enterprise Institute

Ed Ahnert comments: “You won’t find many maximizing shareholder value or making a lot of money on many corporate mission statements. Corporate responsibility is about creating value for all the stakeholders; from employees to the community it impacts.”

The model Paul Pederson shares outlines the various facets of what Corporate Responsibility involves. It includes, yet is not limited to:

• Corporate Sustainability
• Sustainable Development
• Transparency
• Triple Bottom Line
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Business Ethics
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Citizenship
• Corporate Responsibility

He comments: “Corporate Responsibility is an expansion for not just their own- the company’s activities- but the people they buy products from. They want to make sure their own vendors are not violating the law or hurting the reputation of the company. Corporations are more concerned and involved.”

A dissenting voice is heard from Fred Smith, who believes we need to be aware of price and the quality of what our vendors deliver and that they are not operating illegally, but that we cannot and should not “impose our standards and crippling regulations on other countries we trade with. We have no legal responsibility to do so.”

The lively debate continues with viewpoints on many sides of the equation. The outcome: Corporate social responsibility is fast becoming a fact of the American way of doing business.

As always, thank you for joining us, as we talk about things that matter with people who care…

Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive producer/ producer

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