Here’s your Daily Brief for September 23rd:

Cause Marketing: Social Responsibility Is Dead (via GoodWorks) – In this article, Tim Sanders argues that Corporate Social Responsibility (as he defines it) died (or is on life support) in our current economic state. He argues that there is a need to fuse CSR and core business operations (an argument this blog has long advocated for). Tim writes:

Long live CSO: corporate social opportunities. CSO should be a marketing function, designed to seek out the cutting edge of brand innovation — where a company’s assets intersect with the greater community’s needs. When you find this match, you can produce a sustainable program that inspires sales while it makes a difference.

He cites two examples – Aveda:

Aveda Corp.’s joint venture with the Yawanawa tribe in Brazil is one example. The company’s founder, Horst Rechelbacher, heard a speech by a tribesman from Yawanawa at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro about the group’s struggle to resist clear-cutting of their forests. Meanwhile, Aveda’s chemists in Minnesota discovered that uruku, a rain forest plant grown by the Yawanawa, provided a rich red-brown pigment for Aveda’s growing makeup product line. Inspired by the social opportunity, Mr. Rechelbacher fast-tracked an alliance with the Yawanawa and invested in a new city in Brazil called Nova Esperanca (New Hope) that would focus on producing a sustainable supply of uruku.

And Office Depot:

At Office Depot, the social opportunity came in a different arena: small-business development. The company has a practice of seeking out product suppliers that are historically underutilized businesses, or HUBs, for its customers. The company operates in tandem with the National Minority Supplier Development Council in picking HUBs to buy from and feature in the company’s product catalogs.

Cleveland inner-city office chair parts manufacturer Master Manufacturing is one of Office Depot’s HUBS, and another example of a corporate social opportunity. Master Manufacturing is run by Iris Rubinfield, who founded the company with her husband in 1951. She has her own CSO program, hiring underemployed people, such as single mothers. Her workers are loyal to the opportunity and make some of the finest chair casters in the country.

Office Depot was inspired by Master Manufacturing’s hiring practices, so it features the company prominently in its product catalogs and in promotions. Customers have responded to those placements, giving high share to Master Manufacturing over much larger (and cheaper) competitors. Over the last decade, the company’s business has grown exponentially, helping the company delve into new areas such as chair cushions and door stoppers.

Economic Crisis Demonstrates Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is here to Stay (via 3BL) – This article highlights some points gathered in a “State of Corporate Citizenship” survey of 800 senior executives, showing that “the recession has deepened the integration [of] corporate citizenship into the core of business strategy and operation.”

Highlights include:

• Despite upheaval in the economy, a majority of U.S. companies are not making major changes in their corporate citizenship practices. Of those who made changes 38% reduced philanthropy/giving, 27% increased layoffs, and 19% reduced R&D for sustainable products.
• Reputation was cited by 70% as a driver for corporate citizenship, tied for the top spot with “it fits our company traditions and values.”
• Most U.S. senior executives believe business should be more involved than it is today in addressing major public issues including health care, product safety, education, and climate change. Surveyed in June, just as the national debate on health care began to intensify, some 65 percent said business should increase its involvement in this issue.
• Large companies significantly increased their investments and involvement in citizenship activities, but were more likely to impose layoffs. Small firms stayed committed to their emphasis on treating employees well by minimizing layoffs. But they significantly decreased attention to other aspects of citizenship.

On The Eve of CGI, A Secret Meeting with President Bill Clinton (via Social Edge) – Co-Founder of Zenzele Circle, Magogodi Makhene, wrote this great piece describing a “secret meeting” with President Clinton prior to the kickoff of CGI. One of the questions asked President Clinton was about social innovation and the role of business in Africa. Here’s what Magogodi tells us about President Clinton’s response:

Clinton spoke about a need for business to bake social investment into its model beyond and instead of giving out cash.  When I asked how do businesses do this, he gave the example of Coca-Cola in South Africa.  At the outset of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the company was among the first in South Africa to offer free HIV/AIDS tests to all employees.  The company encouraged an open environment and investing in the health of its employees because it recognized that it “wanted more Africans to live, to drink more Coca-Cola”.  
”It’s good business.  We have to broaden the notion of what it means to be an effective corporate citizen”.

The President also spoke favorably about the Office of Innovation, “I like it”, but made no further comment about its perceived impact.  It would be interesting this week to get a sense of the role social entrepreneurship can play as a stop-gap for government shortfall on service delivery, especially in developing African economies.  The Founder of South Africa Private Equity (SPESA), Kojo Parris–who will speak at the Africa Social Enterprise Forum Saturday September 26 at the Desmond Tutu Center–has some interesting thoughts about the application of African social entrepreneurship in this regard.