What Good Is CSR Now?
In the 1990s, you could count on a financial payoff from a corporate social responsibility program. Today, not so much. What marketers need to know before jumping on the bandwagon
In the 1990s firms rolling out corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives could count on positive financial returns — if they were willing to stick their necks out and accept the risk. Flash forward to today, CSR is now considered table stakes for organizations in most industries, but there’s generally little profit to be found.
Jacob Brower, assistant professor of marketing at Smith School of Business, discusses the evolution of CSR into what is now largely a reputation management tool. Offering an overview of his research, Brower challenges the assumption that CSR should be seen as a strategic resource that can improve bottom line performance. He helps leaders develop a more realistic view of the benefits and risks of pursuing a social responsibility agenda.
Participants will learn:
• How to clarify CSR’s true value proposition
• Where risks remain for certain stakeholder groups
• How some firms can still differentiate on the basis of CSR
• What we still need to know about how CSR is evolving
Session Leader
Dr. Jacob Brower
Dr. Jacob Brower is an Academic Co-Director - Business (Master of Digital Product Management), Associate Professor & Distinguished Teaching Fellow of Marketing at Smith School of Business and a recognized expert on corporate social responsibility (CSR). His research areas include corporate reputation and brand management, CSR and sustainability. Brower’s work examines the factors that drive corporate social performance (CSP) by firms, and how a firm’s history of CSP impacts the payoffs from changes in its current CSP level. Prior to earning his PhD, he worked as a consultant and market research analyst specializing in brand management and tracking for several Fortune 500 clients including FedEx, AT&T and IBM.