Asked to Be Charitable, More CEOs Seek to Aid Their Business as Well
Many top executives are besieged these days by nonprofit groups seeking help for a myriad of causes. They realize that corporate efforts to improve society can enhance their company's reputation, but it isn't always easy to know which projects to support.
The old model of corporate philanthropy no longer works. Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, for example, donated millions of dollars of his fortune to build libraries, universities and museums. But he also badly polluted towns where his steel mills operated and dealt harshly with workers, even hiring Pinkerton guards to shoot at strikers.
These days civic largess won't make up for shoddy treatment of employees, customers or the environment. Beyond decent management practices, though, corporate social responsibility -- or CSR as it's often called -- presents a dizzying array of choices, from programs to recycle office stationery to funding for schools in Africa to research on global warming.
The solution for a growing number of CEOs is to focus on programs that directly relate to and benefit their businesses. "It's very difficult for a CEO to rationalize why you're spending a certain percentage of your top line on philanthropy," says Orin Smith, president and CEO of Starbucks. His company has been making charitable contributions since it was launched in 1971, he says, "but now we also build social responsibility into our business model."
To motivate hourly employees and build a stronger connection with them -- which can pay off in improved customer service -- Starbucks pays its workers more than the minimum wage and offers health benefits to any who work at least 20 hours a week. In addition, for every hour an employee devotes to a charity or community project, the company donates $10. Employees who have volunteered for this "make your mark" program have cleaned beaches in California and worked at daycare centers and hospices. "One way to inspire employees is to create a company they feel proud to be part of," Mr. Smith says.
A few years ago, when activists in the "fair trade" movement -- which advocates fair payments to farmers in developing nations -- accused Starbucks of underpaying coffee growers, the company opened its books to them to prove that wasn't the case, Mr. Smith says. But since then Starbucks has started buying more fair trade coffee. This year it expects to spend about $10 million on fair-trade beans, up from $2.1 million in 2003. It's also negotiating long-term contracts with coffee growers who farm in environmentally friendly ways and helping to fund schools and health-care clinics for their workers.
"Only a small proportion of customers buys a company's products because it is socially responsible," Mr. Smith says. "But if they think for a moment that you aren't responsible, a much larger percentage will have a negative response" and potentially stop buying from you.
Nonetheless, corporate-social-responsibility initiatives also serve as forms of advertising and brand building, says Shelly Lazarus, CEO of WPP's Ogilvy & Mather. She believes that "customers get impressions about products from hundreds of sources, but when they believe a company is a good citizen, they feel more positively about a brand."
Her ad agency recently developed a new campaign for Unilever's Dove soap with this idea in mind. It uses the slogan "campaign for real beauty" and shows women who are wrinkled, chubby or freckled, announcing, "We believe beauty comes in many shapes, sizes and ages." To supplement its ads, Unilever has donated money to a "self-esteem fund" to support educational programs for girls that may help counter eating disorders and other problems.
Unilever doesn't advertise all its philanthropy, though. After the tsunami disaster, the company's employees in Sri Lanka used Unilever trucks to distribute medicine, food and other supplies. "Our people straight away used the skills they had without any cues from top management," says Unilever Chairman Anthony Burgmans. "This is what it means to be human," he says, but he agrees that such spontaneous charity also reflects well on the company.
Corporate social responsibility can also lead to new business opportunities. Citigroup has funded some microfinance initiatives in developing countries for decades. Last year, it decided to look at some of them as a business opportunity, appointing a banker to develop services and products for microlending programs, initially in Mexico and India. The company doesn't expect to make profits from these projects anytime soon, but it does hope to learn more about expanding in developing regions.
Many corporations have learned a lot about image making since the days of the robber barons. "Companies that make unhealthy products, such as cigarettes, aren't going to be able to offset that with philanthropy," says Timothy Smith, senior vice president and director of socially responsible investing at Walden Asset Management. "But those who say being socially responsible just costs money and detracts from the bottom line are wrong. It can boost the bottom line and add value for investors."
捐助慈善事业的企业开始兼顾自身利益
这些天，许多公司的首席执行长都遇到了非营利机构的围追堵截，要求他们为各种各样的慈善事业提供资助。这些高管虽然都深知参与慈善事业有助于提升企业形象，但要确定具体支持哪些项目并不那么容易。
企业参与社会慈善事业的旧模式已经不适用了。当年钢铁大亨安德鲁?卡耐基(Andrew Carnegie)曾捐赠几百万美元建造图书馆、大学和博物馆，并因此享有美誉。虽然实际上，他的钢铁厂污染了很多小镇的环境，卡耐基本人也有对工人粗暴苛刻的名声，他甚至还曾雇佣臭名昭著的平克顿(Pinkerton)侦探事务所的人向罢工工人开枪。
如今，慈善事业的光环已不足以掩盖企业对员工、客户或环境处置不当的负面效应。除了管理层要处事得体之外，可体现企业社会责任感的选择太多了，从办公用品的循环再利用到资助非洲学校，再到支持全球变暖问题研究项目等等不一而足。
在选择项目时的一个解决办法是，集中关注那些与公司自身业务直接相关或能令自身业务受益的项目。“首席执行长总是很难为资助慈善事业找到合理的理由，”星巴克(Starbucks)总裁兼首席执行长奥林?史密斯(Orin Smith)表示，“但现在我们必须将行使社会责任感融入商业模式中。”星巴克自1971年成立以来一直在为慈善事业捐资。
为了激励计时工的工作积极性、加强他们的归属感，星巴克提供高于最低水平的工资，并为一周至少工作20个小时的员工提供医疗福利。而且，雇员为慈善或社区项目每义务服务一个小时，星巴克就会随捐10美元。志愿参与这项计划的星巴克雇员曾参与加州海滩清理工作，并在日托中心和救济院提供服务。“激励雇员的方式之一就是打造一个他们引以为荣的公司，”史密斯表示。
几年前，公平贸易运动（即要求向发展中国家的农民支付公平的收购价格）的倡导者曾谴责星巴克低价收购咖啡豆。史密斯称，星巴克将帐簿向这些人公开后，证明事实并非如此。自那以来，星巴克开始购买更多的“公平贸易”咖啡，今年预计将购买约1,000万美元的公平贸易咖啡豆，高于2003年的210万美元。该公司还在和环保咖啡种植者协商签订长期合同，并出资为咖啡种植工人开设学校和诊所。
“只有很少一部分客户购买某家公司产品是因为该公司具有社会责任感，”史密斯称，“但如果他们一旦想到某家公司有缺乏责任感的行为，他们作出负面反应的可能会高得多，而且很可能会不再购买这家公司的产品。”
WPP旗下奥美集团(Ogilvy & Mather)的首席执行长拉扎勒斯(Shelly Lazarus)称，反映企业社会责任感，有时也以广告和品牌建设的形式出现。拉扎勒斯指出，“客户对一件产品形成的印象往往会有几百个来源，但当他们相信一家公司是“好公民”时，他们对品牌的感觉就更加积极。”
奥美集团最近为联合利华(Unilever)的多芬(Dove)香皂进行新推广活动的创意设计时，就融入了上述想法，采用的 广告词是“追求真正的美(campaign for real beauty)”，画面上体态臃肿、皮肤上有皱纹和雀斑的女性宣称，“我们深信无论体形胖瘦、个子高矮、年龄长幼，美都存在。”为配合广告的投放，联合利华还向一个“自信基金”捐资，帮助那些有厌食症等倾向的女孩克服困难。
联合利华也有一些善举并不为人所知。在去年年底的海啸灾难过后，联合利华的斯里兰卡员工用联合利华的卡车运送了药品、食品和其他配给品。“无需最高管理层的任何指示，我们的员工就自觉地以自己的专长提供公益服务，”联合利华董事长安东尼?伯格曼斯(Anthony Burgmans)表示，这种自发的慈善努力对公司形象大有裨益。
企业社会责任感也可能带来新的商业机会。几十年来，花旗集团(Citigroup)为一些发展中国家的小额融资计划提供了资助。去年，该集团决定从其中一些项目上发掘商业机会，并任命了一位银行专业人士为这些小额贷款项目开发产品和服务，最初选择的地点是在墨西哥和印度。花旗集团并不打算很快就能从这些项目上赢利，只是希望从中能学到如何在发展中国家拓展业务。
自从“强盗大亨”时代以来，很多公司对建立企业形象的了解日渐加深。“生产香烟等不健康产品的公司，并不能通过参与慈善事业来美化其不利的形象，”Walden资产管理公司资深副总裁兼社会责任投资主管蒂莫西?史密斯(Timothy Smith)表示，但那些认为行使社会责任感就意味著捐钱的人错了，慈善事业也能提升企业利润和增加投资者价值。
