Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility [Book] David E Hawkins Palgrave Macmillan, ?25

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Many companies recognise the importance of corporate social responsibility and seek to understand how this can be harmonised with current profitability. I looked forward to reading a comprehensive look at

The book, subtitled Balancing tomorrow's sustainability and today's profitability, was a better read when used to focus on a subject as it related to my day-to-day concerns rather than a straight read.

It faces up to the challenge of balancing the interests of competitiveness, shareholder value and the implications of ignoring sustainability when investing for the future. The complexity of the subject means if offers no simple solutions - rather this is a snapshot of approaches adopted today.

The chapter on technological impacts addressed the need to look at both the benefits and the impact of technology, highlighting the issues now faced because of the past failure to spend sufficient time extrapolating impacts over the longer term. It recognises developments in global industries that are switching to innovative holistic thinking.

The author makes the link between today's leading companies and those of the past, showing that CSR is not so new but is more complex today. Do businesses see CSR as a cost or enlightened self-interest? The book certainly makes the case for the latter; it cannot give you the answers for your business but seeks to show you the bigger picture and also examples of achievements others have made to stimulate your thinking.