In recent years, Corporate Social Responsibility has moved out of many organisation’s “discretionary spend” and into the Boardroom as issues such as sustainability, climate change and resource conservation have come to the fore in civil society.
Those organisations which have embedded CSR into their business strategies and operational practices won’t be changing the way they view CSR. Britain is one of the more advanced countries in terms of CSR and the last 10 years has seen significant standardisation of “responsibility”
Just as importantly, organisations are waking up to the economic value corporate responsibility can deliver.
Most organisations are now still at the stage of being consciously aware of their “responsibility” efforts. Moving forward, the emphasis in CSR is around partnerships, with technologies such as web 2.0 enabling many more stakeholders to be involved in creating and driving sustainable businesses.
Companies should focus on creating corporate sustainability that will be delivered by responsible practice throughout the organisation.
CSR is now so ingrained in corporate culture that it’s now far-removed from the bolt-on of 10-15 years ago.
One of the keys for CSR’s sustainability is that the business case is now easier to sell. CSR can shape policies and activities throughout the supply chain to cut costs and increase profits without damaging reputation or responsibility.
Far from pulling the plug on CSR, the economic downturn is putting “responsibility” at the forefront of the business agenda.
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Whilst CSR is evolving rapidly I would have to unfortunately disagree that is yet ‘ingrained into corporate culture’. I wish it was, but even though the environmental agenda has pushed more organisations into managing CSR issues, there still remain the traditional sceptics, albeit a smaller (or those just laying low until the economy recovers!) number of detractors.
The future of CSR will lie in strategic alignment, innovation (social media, new products etc), education and also smaller businesses.