Gunning for CSR

What is there in it for companies to be involved in CSR?

Innovation - yeah, it seems like an overused word but being involved in CSR or sustainability if you like, companies come up with new products or new processes that help to preserve the environment. There is no need to look far and wide. Just look at the fridge in your kitchen. Is it a green fridge? If it's not, maybe it's time to change to one. I'm not an Electrolux salesman, but looking through the lens of sustainability, Electrolux was able to come up with new products, such as the green fridge, washing machines and dishwashers, that do not behind a carbon footprint. Without concern for sustainability, such products would never have been created.

What better way to motivate a company to be involved in CSR than the fact that it helps to reduce the company's operating cost? This, in turn, will be translated into higher profits. It's so simple really!! Companies' efforts to conserve energy, for example, will definitely lower the energy bill!! Environmental measures such as minimizing wastes will also reduce operational costs. Very often, conserving energy and reducing wastes are the kind of measures prioritized by companies.

Many companies now have CSR as part of their overall corporate strategy. You can say it represents a form of product differentiation or just getting ahead of the pack. Companies can position itself as a market leader in this field. I remember years back, Amway was already producing SA8, a laundry detergent that was bio-degradable. Below is a testimony from a very happy consumer of SA8:

"I started using this product just due to the fact that it is organic and is cost effective The water used to rinse the cloths is very less and it is biodegradable. It gives excellent results. this product uses natural products only.

This product was introduced to me by one of my friends who showed me an experiment in which it was showed that how chemical based products react with turmeric and SA8 is does not react to turmeric. The strong chemicals which we are using daily are slow poison which are playing part in pushing us to life style diseases. I was moved by the statement that in india only we are using few thousand crores of chemical based detergents every month. and it turns out to be several lac crores of detergents dumping into mother earth ( alone in india) and we can help in controlling it. THANK GOD I CAME ACROSS THIS PRODUCT"

Btw, I'm not an Amway distributor. Not doing any promotion here. 

Socially responsible companies are also able to source for capital from institutional investors. There is an increasing number of institutional investors out there who have a sort of socially responsible investment portfolio. These "green" investors look favorably upon socially responsible companies as they believe that these companies have a positive impact upon business.

Companies become involved in CSR for different reasons. CSR is not going to solve the world's problems, but it does move us towards enlightened capitalism!!