Exciting news from Environmental Leader today:

Company executives believe that corporate responsibility programs can positively impact their business and help achieve strategic goals, according to a survey of more than 500 business executives conducted by Grant Thornton LLP.While conventional wisdom might suggest that these initiatives will drain the corporate coffers, only a quarter of survey respondents agreed that profits needed to be sacrificed, while three quarters believed corporate responsibility could enhance profitability. As a result, 77 percent said they expected corporate responsibility initiatives to have a major impact on their business strategies over the next several years.

Seventy-seven percent of companies anticipate more spending on environmental programs, 50 percent expect greater allocation to social responsibility programs and 45 percent say economic/governance initiatives will see more funding. Respondents felt that tax incentives, customer support, and innovative technologies were most likely to prompt companies to invest more heavily in environmental initiatives.

For more information on the study, click here.

Labels: CSR, Environmental Leader

The Indonesian President is expected to sign a bill this month requiring natural resources companies to spend money on corporate social responsibility programs, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Wall Street Journal believes it would be the first instance we know of world-wide that CSR is mandated by law.

The bill provides no definition of how much money a company has to spend, how it should spend it, or how the spending will be taxed. Article 74 is so vague that lawyers tell us it could apply to any company that uses natural resources; in other words, every limited liability company in the country.

Jakarta has a spotty record of enforcing rules on its books, so even when it becomes law, the CSR legislation may ultimately prove a dead letter, according to the article. Regardless, Article 74 sets a precedent that other countries might try to copy.

Reposted from Environmental Leader

Labels: CSR, Environmental Leader