Note: This post is adapted from my original blog entry, Corporate Social Responsibility is Dead; Long Live Corporate Social Innovation, on SIGeneration.ca.

As Harvard's corporate strategy guru Michael Porter points out, over the past century the boundaries between business and social issues have undergone dramatic changes. One hundred years ago, a large business enterprise might have been the social patron, providing housing, education or other forms of welfare for its company town residents. But over time the scope of corporate responsibility retreated.

In a recent presentation prepared for a Montreal conference in June on sustainability, Porter argued that we need to transform the thinking and practice about the role of the corporation in society, using the concept of shared value, something akin to Jed Emerson's earlier and broader concept of blended value.

Porter sees shared value thinking providing new catalysts for global economic growth and the next wave of innovation and productivity in the global economy. It is when "businesses acting as businesses, not as charitable givers", says Porter, that they "are arguably the most powerful force for addressing many pressing issues facing our society."

Like Porter and Emerson, many people are beginning to see traditional corporate social responsibility (CSR) as outdated. One person who adamantly thinks so is Liam Black, one of the UK's most prominent social entrepreneurs and commentators. Liam is also on the board of National Endowment on Education, Science and the Arts (NESTA) and is an active participant on NESTA's social innovation board committee.

Liam and Adrian Simpson have created a new initiative called Wavelength, whose motto is, "Passionate about companies making a difference in the world through business."

Wavelength, which works with private businesses and social enterprises, uses conferences and exposure trips to assist companies scale up their social impact. They don't mince their words in going one step further than Porter:

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is dead. Giving money to charity, staff volunteering, painting the community centre – all good things but peripheral to the business. They don't lead to the creation of new products and services, differentiate your brand, engage your people or achieve lasting social or environmental impact.

The answers to the world's biggest social challenges will not be found by governments, charities or NGO's alone. Increasingly big companies are creating new business models, new products and services that deliver lasting, financially viable solutions to the big problems we face.

We call this corporate social innovation (emphasis added) and we believe it's the future of business.

The marketplace for leveraging good through corporate social innovation is growing. Who's catching the wave in Canada and globally? Let me know who you think is.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gcwest/195893645/

Share:  

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•