Released: May 14, 2008
Encinitas, CA 92023
Video Clip : Click to Watch
Will Marre, CSR speaker and Consulting Director of CSR at University of California San Diego spoke to a leading financial services company about the fast rising momentum of Corporate Social Responsibility. He cited a 2008 IBM CEO study that discovered that CEOs are increasing their investments in CSR initiatives by 25% in the next five years. Marre stated, “The reason for this is that informed consumers are becoming the true gatekeepers of brand reputation which is a vital business asset.” He continued, “On websites worldwide, products and services are being rated on an easy-to-remember five star rating system based on consumer reviews. The same thing is starting to occur with consumer ratings of a company’s CSR” (The Enterprise of the Future, IBM Global CEO Study).
Marre asserted that this unprecedented rise of consumer activism is merging with social and environmental activism to demand that business leaders wake up to the responsibilities to society beyond making a profit. As an example, Marre cited Visa, which recently announced its first corporate responsibility program that will focus on two areas: humanitarian aid and poverty alleviation (Visa Launches New Corporate Responsibility Program). “It seems more and more public companies are awakening to the fact that they can make a positive difference in the world because of their size and resources,” stated Marre. “While initially they may be motivated simply to improve their brand reputation, in time their own employees and customers will hold them to a higher standard.”
Marre encourages all companies, no matter how big or small, to join the ranks of Corporate Social Responsibility. He asserts, “As many organizations have found, what starts off as “green-washing” can quickly escalate to substantive environmental responsibility. Indeed companies can become trapped by their own good behavior as much as they have been enslaved by their previous bad behavior.” Marre continues, “Real change takes decades, but these initial attempts of economically driven businesses to become socially and environmentally responsible are the healthy signs of global mobilization toward sustainability.”
Visa and other corporations’ efforts in Corporate Social Responsibility is a great step toward a better future, but as Marre states, “As consumers, our job is to reward companies for the good they do and hold them publicly accountable for their bad habits.” Corporate Social Responsibility is more than a trend; it is the future of business.
Will Marre (wmarre@americandreamproject.org)
CEO
ReaLeadership Alliance -- American Dream Project -- Citizen One
P.O. Box 235180
Encinitas, CA 92023
Phone : 760-632-7675
For more information on Will Marre, click here.
Courtesy FeaturesUSA.com