A perfect moment for social responsibility

The Kenexa Research Institute (KRI) reported interesting findings today.

They surveyed workers from Brazil, China, Germany, India, the UK and the U.S. and found out that an organization’s involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) positively influences employee engagement levels and how senior management is perceived.

 

The Cone Corporate Citizenship study adds more fuel. It revealed that eight of 10 Americans have more trust in companies that support causes. Taken from a pocketbook perspective, 86 percent of Americans will switch from one brand to another (providing it is about the same in price and quality) if the other brand is positively associated with a good cause.

 

In other words, if you help make the world a better place, people notice, trust grows, perceptions are more favorable, sales may increase and brand loyalty deepens. Sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it?

 

There was a time when helping society was the exclusive domain of consumer companies. Brands like Ben & Jerry’s, Timberland, The Body Shop, Patagonia and Whole Foods come to mind.

 

But times have changed for the better. Now the world of technology is leading the way.

 

Bill and Melinda Gates’ personal charity has created an extremely positive ripple effect on the corporate entity itself. Microsoft achieved the number one ranking in the eighth annual Harris Interactive/Wall Street Journal ranking of the world’s best and worst corporate reputations. In 2007, Microsoft upstaged Johnson & Johnson which had been in first place for seven consecutive years.

 

Sun Microsystems has a CSR initiative and publishes a corporate social responsibility annual report. IBM issued its “corporate policy on environmental affairs” way back in 1971. They haven’t missed a beat; the EPA recently recognized IBM as a “top green power purchaser.”

 

Validating the phenomenal strides the tech industry has made over the past several years, nine of the top 12 “One Hundred Best Corporate citizens” – published by Business Ethics magazine – were technology companies. HP; AMD; Motorola; Agilent; Salesforce.com; Cisco; Dell; TI and Intel led the way. While the number one company was Green Mountain Roasters, HP ended up in the runner-up slot, cited for its Digital Village program which establishes village computer centers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

 

This movement of helping make the world a better place is an enduring trend that will continue to blossom as mid-sized and small tech and B2B companies decide to do their part.