Tweet

Ethics is good business

Guest post by: Kathryn Kates

Article Overview: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is great for developing a company's brand, but it is up to PR to demonstrate bottom line value.

Ethics is good business

In a perfect world, everyone would like to be ethical. The majority of people don’t set out to do bad things, and we would all like to be thought of as good people.

Somewhere in business, however, things get complicated.

There are numerous ways for a company to be ethical that vary from sector to sector and country to country. Legitimate “Green” initiatives, sustainability, community outreach and charity are just a few ways that a company can be socially responsible within their communities and industries. Those individuals passionate about corporate social responsibility or CSR will have great intentions and gusto to make the world a better place.

However, a problem these passionate individuals often face is in demonstrating the value of CSR initiatives to superiors focused on the bottom line. CSR initiatives are expensive to implement and sustain, and if the value cannot be easily shown, many companies will scrap these good intentions under the guise of good returns.

So how to demonstrate the value? A little PR lesson helps.

The companies with exceptional CSR practices tend to be some of the most successful companies in the world. In 2010 Maclean’s magazine listed their top 50 socially responsible corporations. Names like Adidas, BMO, CIBC, Enbridge, McDonald’s, Telus and Volkswagen jump out, but most readers will recognize every single name on the list.

The key correlation here: CSR = Powerful brand.

When CSR practices are integrated with public relations effort, what a company has gained is positive brand image. While it is important that a company does good things, it is equally important that the company’s public relations function communicates these good deeds to the general public. To make the money spent on CSR worth it, it is necessary to be seen doing good things, not just to do them.

In the end, CSR is a win-win situation. The company gets good publicity and is seen as a good corporate citizen, and the public benefits from the initiatives designed to help their communities. In the end, being socially responsible is being financially responsible.

Related Articles
  We Have an Ethical Dilemma!
  Business Ethics Lesson From An Unlikely Individual
  “Building An Environment of Ethical Behavior. Ten Tips From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach ”
  Decisions Decisions Decisions
  “Business Ethics – What’s Happening Where We Work?”
  Have You Defined Integrity within Your Business Values or Business Ethics Statement?
  The Ethical Road to Success
  Business Conduct and Ethics
  The Critical Importance of Business Ethics For Effective Leadership, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  Are You an Ethical Salesperson?
  The Business of Ethics and The Ethics of Business
  Business Ethics Entrepreneurship
  “How Valuable Are Your Ethics or What is Your Price to Compromise Your Ethics?”
  International Franchise Association Code of Ethics
  Managers Where Are Your Ethics?
  Teamwork
  How Social Media Challenges Your Business Ethics and Values
  Sales Training – Salespeople, Let Me Sell You a Bridge!
  Accepting Responsibility and Making Ethical Decisions
  How Referral Marketing Appears to Be Quid Pro Quo

Article Tags: bottom line value, corporate social responsibility, csr, good business, pr, public relations



Related Forum Posts
Re: LEADERS - Nice post, i like the Doers and the listeners comments from my handbook 8.5 HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT LEADERSHIP? Planning Problem Solving Vision Innovation Leadership Emotional Intelligence Delegation Communication Self-Development Relationship Building Commercial Financial skills Personal Energy Ethics Transparency Even there I see that we are missing "PASSION"
Re: Great start, but no finish - Hi Keven, By good idea or niche I mean the area where you have good knowledge. Here is how. I want to start my online business. And I must find the good topic for my business. WHat can it be? I 'm lawyer and have enough knowledge about it. THen why not to start a blog giving legal advice to people? Or if you are weight loss expert, then weight loss i a good idea or niche for your online business. Also the monetization potential of the niche is important too. If there is good mon. potential and I have special knowledge about my niche then I can have advantage in the competition and it can be a good idea for my future business. This is what I mean by" good niche" After finding my pofitable niche, it will be easy to build business on it. Orxan
Re: Search Engine Optimization - If a good SEO can hit your business then no doubt a bad SEO can be responsible to make your business flop. So, always hire a good and experienced SEO so that you can be success in your online marketing business. There are quite number of optimizers that provide SEO services for your online business.
Is "Good" - Good Enough - I was just reading the thread about whether people need a business plan and this idea hit me. Someone commented that if you don't have a business plan and you're doing all right - then why spend the time or money. But, is doing good or doing all right - good enough? Maybe you're a business that is getting by and making the bills. What if, taking the time to really evaluate your business with a detailed business plan could help you see places to make some changes which could take your business to the next level? Would it be worth your time? I think it would definitely be worth the time. That could be because I've worked with a number of business owners who were "getting by", but once they committed to having someone evaluate the business - they saw a drastic increase in their revenue. So, why couldn't or wouldn't an entrepreneur do an evaluation to determine where the business is, where it isn't working and where it should be going? This could be done in a business plan format. Just some random thoughts. Shri
Business Plans - Hey Brandon, I do agree that there is a link to a sound business plan and a successful business. When you think about it, one of the purposes of a business plan is to give the owners some direction. When you have a good "plan" to follow, odds are you won't end up in 100 different directions. And yes, I would love to look at some good and successfully complete business plans. -Kai


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Making the Most of Your Trade Show Experience

4 Steps To Hypnotize Your Business Prospects

Time management for DIY PR

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.