A popular definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is "the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large."¹
 
John McEleney, CEO of SolidWorks Corporation, conveys the same thought more elegantly, "At the core, great companies give back."
 
Aligning your company with good causes helps built trust, according to a decade-long research effort conducted by Cone Corporate Citizenship Study. The research 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.
 
SolidWorks is an example of a B2B technology company that has built a philosophical and pragmatic framework for helping make the world a better place, one small step at a time. The company's expertise lies in helping companies, governments, schools and individuals solve fundamental product design challenges via its 3D CAD software.
 
One of SolidWorks' many ongoing CSR initiatives involves donating software, training and engineering expertise to high school and university students in Rwanda, the most densely populated country in Africa where the average life expectancy is only 39 and people toil to live on less than $180 a year.
 
In a focused, synergistic way, SolidWorks is helping rebuild Rwanda's infrastructure by teaching crucial engineering skills. Participating institutions include the National University of Rwanda; the Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management and the Ecole Technologique Officiel (ET) Gitarama high school.
 
"We're not bragging about this," McEleney continues. "It's something we should have started doing much earlier. The opportunities to contribute are everywhere. We learned an important lesson: doing anything is better than doing nothing. Start small. Start now."
 
SolidWorks put the wheels in motion several years ago when it assembled and empowered a cross-functional team to develop a foundational charter. A guiding CSR "board" was created with participation from all levels of the company. The company carefully evaluates any "giving back" idea as long as it is aligned with its business focus and fits within its annual CSR budget.
 
One of the pragmatic realities affecting good corporate citizenship is the ability of public companies to simultaneously achieve balance with primary financial commitments.
 
In a March 2007 interview with The Wall Street Journal, David J. Vogel – the Haas School's Distinguished Professor in Business Ethics at the University of California at Berkeley – said "There is a place in the corporate world for responsible firms, but the 'market for virtue' is not sufficiently important to make it in the interest of all firms to behave more responsibly." Vogel doesn't believe in the argument that CSR costs shareholders in terms of stock performance, saying "In most cases, companies don't commit huge resources to CSR."
     
McEleney, whose SolidWorks is the largest subsidiary within a $1 billion public company, agrees. "Of course you have to consistently increase shareholder wealth, but there's room to take care of more than that."  
 
Some CSR experts believe corporate social responsibility goes far beyond philanthropy and good deeds. They say a fully responsible company must take into account its impact on all stakeholders and the environment when making all decisions. Several independent auditing organizations exist where companies can proactively report CSR compliance, including http://www.accountability21.net/ and http://www.sa-intl.org/. Many CSR experts say the three pillars of true CSR are environmental, labor issues and human rights.
 
Most discussions about corporate social responsibility, however, embrace a less rigid view that includes philanthropy and good citizenship in all its forms. Several consumer companies led the way years ago with socially responsible founding philosophies, including The Body Shop, Ben & Jerry's and Whole Foods.
 
In the world of manufacturing, Toyota currently articulates a messaging platform that talks about "being a good corporate citizen." The world's soon-to-be number-one global automotive company believes being a good corporate citizen "starts with hiring lots of good citizens." This view is compatible with McEleney's.
 
"A lot of companies say 'It starts with the customer,' but I believe your employees are actually number one. They are the link to customer satisfaction and loyalty. You build a foundation of giving back by hiring great people who embody the values you embrace as a company. It starts with your own people," McEleney said.
 
In the world of technology, Bill and Melinda Gates' personal charity has created an extremely positive ripple effect on the corporate entity behind these philanthropists. 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. The company says, "We believe that aligning our corporate social responsibility mission with our business goals is not only crucial to maintaining our company's success today and sustaining it for the future; it is also paramount to helping communities and the environment thrive." Sun has a number of initiatives including sharing "groundbreaking assistive technologies" for free to people with disabilities.
 
McEleney is pleased to see more and more technology firms embrace this philosophy. "Technology is so all-consuming; it's a real rat race. Sometimes we forget there's a world outside our own world."
 
These days CSR is, arguably, most frequently aligned with the "green" movement.
 
Timberland, the outdoor shoe and clothing company, fosters an internal culture of strengthening communities through service, augmenting volunteer efforts with its "Community Grants Program" where financial and product investments are also made. Timberland shoeboxes even have a "nutrition label" which detail the environmental impact of "making the shoes you put on your feet."
 
Patagonia spotlights its "environmental activism," and has given more than $20 million to more than 1,000 organizations via various environmental grants. Patagonia co-founded The Conservation Alliance which has helped save over 34 million acres of wild lands. Its "1% for the Planet" initiative motivates any-size business to donate at least one percent of annual net revenues to environmental organizations worldwide.
 
Within the world of technology, IBM led the way in 1971 when it first issued its "corporate policy on environmental affairs." Today Big Blue remains "vigilant in protecting the environment across all its operations worldwide." The EPA recently recognized IBM as a "top green power purchaser."
 
Intel is becoming more green, promising to reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent by 2010 from 1995 levels.
 
Validating tremendous strides by the technology industry over the past few years, nine of the top 12 "One Hundred Best Corporate Citizens," published by Business Ethics in 2006, were tech companies: HP; AMD; Motorola; Agilent; Salesforce.com; Cisco; Dell; TI and Intel. The remaining companies in the top 12 were Green Mountain Roasters (number one) and The Timberland Company (number six). HP, the number two "best corporate citizen" was cited for its Digital Village Program which establishes computer centers in villages in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
    
McEleney believes this movement of technology companies helping make the world a better place is an enduring trend that will continue to blossom.
 
"It's human nature; people want to help, it's in our DNA. Some people are self-expressive and initiate philanthropy by themselves. But many just need a little push to get started, and when you ask them to step up, they do. People are proud to work for a company that cares," McEleney concluded.
 
- Andy Beaupre

 
¹ World Business Council for Sustainable Development