Does the economic downturn mean a meltdown for CSR?

This was the hot issue at a couple conferences some of our team members attended recently - the Corporate Responsibility Officer (CRO) conference in Chicago, and the Business For Social Responsibility (BSR) conference in NYC. 

In general, the prevailing sentiment was "no," but many people stressed the need for focused strategic priorities and a clear connection between CSR efforts and core business growth and/or efficiency drivers.

While speaking on a panel at the CRO conference, I answered this query in the following way:

If a company views CSR as an initiative, or a program, its lifeline may be severed or reduced. If, on the other hand, CSR has already been integrated as a value and a way of thinking, it will continue to evolve within the business.

I feel fortunate to say that at McDonald's, we are well positioned in the latter group of companies.

Overall, even given the tough economic times, our business is doing very well.  Financially, our results are better than ever.   We are serving 10 more million customers per day than we were five years ago.

But, it's important to note that five years ago when our stock was at an all time low, we were expanding our animal welfare auditing program, phasing in our sustainable fisheries standards and developing an environmental scorecard to help our suppliers measure and track their environmental performance. We knew then, as we do now, that these types of actions make us a better and more sustainable company.

Back in 2003, we made some major changes in our business to address emerging consumer issues.  We focused on being better, not just bigger. This approach applies to our CSR commitment as well. You can read more about our social and environmental commitments in the message from our CEO, Jim Skinner, from our most recent CR Report.

I feel very reassured - not to mention proud - to work for a company that has woven the objective of being a socially responsible company into its strategic business plan. At McDonald's, we call this road map our Plan To Win (P2W).  At the foundation of our P2W are the seven values that drive our actions and decision making in everyday business life. Several of them are closely tied to our CSR commitments. For example, one of our values is giving back to the communities where we operate, defined as "using our size, scope and resources to help make the world a better place." Other values articulate our commitment to people and operating our business ethically.

In my opinion, CSR as a stand alone is not sustainable. CSR must be part of the way we think and act every single day. It is this type of mindset and way of doing business that does not waiver in the face of economic instability.

-Bob