Ouverture, 08/19/08

The contemporary business organization’s dilemma--on the one hand, to adopt a philosophy that encourages environmental sustainability, social responsibility and economic regeneration; and on the other hand, to remain true to shareholders--seems to be losing ground as the cause celebre among strategic planning and corporate communications practitioners. Without much fuss it was resolved that the one does not have to stand at the expense of the other. One by one, companies are starting to plant seeds of greater accountability in all of their operations in hopes of reaping benefits like the competitive advantage of being recognized as an ethical brand. Until a few years ago, we had not seen our energy companies fight for airtime with renewable energy ads; we had not heard of giant soft drink manufacturers’ efforts to purify water in Africa‘s malaria-infested regions. We then ask, what is changing and how quickly is this change taking place?