CSR Survey: Are We Making Progress?

Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, just released the results of surveys conducted at the European Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility (Maastricht, November 7-9) and the BSR Annual Conference (New York City, November 9-12).

Covering themes ranging from the competitive advantages of implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR), to the impact of governments and markets on company integration of CSR, top-line findings from the nearly 400 completed surveys in Europe and the U.S. include:

* CSR is not yet being widely or deeply integrated into core business functions with only 10% of respondents asserting that current integration is adequate.

* Senior executives and line managers hold substantially different views regarding the degree to which CSR is successfully implemented in their organizations.

* Financial markets are widely seen as offering inadequate incentives for companies to adopt CSR practices.

* Government solutions that encourage CSR implementation, though more broadly supported in Europe than the U.S., still face significant resistance in both places.

* Three-quarters of respondents expect that there will be legally-mandated accountability measures over the next few years, especially in areas like reporting.

While the results reveal real deficits in the delivery and practice of CSR, respondents hold a very strong and ‘bullish’ sentiment when it comes to the impacts that CSR will have on business, people and the planet. In overwhelming numbers, (93%) respondents see CSR as becoming an even more important part of business practice five years from now, with nearly three-quarters (73%) confident that it will, in fact, make the crucial and necessary contributions for the betterment of people and the environment.

Aron Cramer, CEO of Business for Social Responsibility commenting on the findings said, “We again have clear evidence that CSR is widely viewed — on both sides of the Atlantic — as important. This survey also reveals that broad and deep implementation of CSR is in a relatively early stage of development, reinforcing the need to close gaps in understanding and action to achieve more sustainable business practices. The survey is also significant for what it did not show — substantial differences in thinking between North American and European respondents.”

The survey results can be found at: [sorry this link is no longer available]Learn about BSR: www.bsr.org