ecently about the idea of adopting more socially responsible business practices. This particular owner expressed his personal view - "Our agency is here to write business and take care of our clients, not the entire community."

After talking with this owner, I began looking into the idea of social responsibility t

It's a brave new world. Effective management now means more than how you handle your staff. Management also includes how you manage your social reproducibility to others in your community. "There is no way to avoid paying serious attention to corporate citizenship: the costs of failing are simply too high. There are countless win-win opportunities waiting to be discovered: every activity in a firm's value chain overlaps in some way with social factors - everything from how you buy or procure to how you do your research - yet very few companies have thought about this.

The goal is to leverage your company’s unique capabilities in supporting social causes and improve your competitive context at the same time. The job of today’s leaders is to stop being defensive and start thinking systematically about corporate responsibility.”

Michael Porter, Professor, Harvard Business School, at the April 2005 Business and Society Conference on Corporate Citizenship, sponsored by the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management

Most agencies will probably agree that they have a moral obligation to serve as a contributing member of their community. What many are not sure of, however, is exactly how it is done.

I was visiting with an agency recently about the idea of adopting more socially responsible business practices. This particular owner expressed his personal view - "Our agency is here to write business and take care of our clients, not the entire community."

After talking with this owner, I began looking into the idea of social responsibility to

ntless win-win opportunities waiting to be discovered: every activity in a firm's value chain overlaps in some way with social factors - everything from how you buy or procure to how you do your research - yet very few companies have thought about this.

The goal is to leverage your company’s unique capabilities in supporting social causes and improve your competitive context at the same time. The job of today’s leaders is to stop being defensive and start thinking systematically about corporate responsibility.”

Michael Porter, Professor, Harvard Business School, at the April 2005 Business and Society Conference on Corporate Citizenship, sponsored by the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management

Most agencies will probably agree that they have a moral obligation to serve as a contributing member of their community. What many are not sure of, however, is exactly how it is done.

I was visiting with an agency recently about the idea of adopting more socially responsible business practices. This particular owner expressed his personal view - "Our agency is here to write business and take care of our clients, not the entire community."

After talking with this owner, I began looking into the idea of social responsibility t

s in supporting social causes and improve your competitive context at the same time. The job of today’s leaders is to stop being defensive and start thinking systematically about corporate responsibility.”

Michael Porter, Professor, Harvard Business School, at the April 2005 Business and Society Conference on Corporate Citizenship, sponsored by the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management

Most agencies will probably agree that they have a moral obligation to serve as a contributing member of their community. What many are not sure of, however, is exactly how it is done.

I was visiting with an agency recently about the idea of adopting more socially responsible business practices. This particular owner expressed his personal view - "Our agency is here to write business and take care of our clients, not the entire community."

After talking with this owner, I began looking into the idea of social responsibility t

Corporate Citizenship, sponsored by the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management

Most agencies will probably agree that they have a moral obligation to serve as a contributing member of their community. What many are not sure of, however, is exactly how it is done.

I was visiting with an agency recently about the idea of adopting more socially responsible business practices. This particular owner expressed his personal view - "Our agency is here to write business and take care of our clients, not the entire community."

After talking with this owner, I began looking into the idea of social responsibility t

ecently about the idea of adopting more socially responsible business practices. This particular owner expressed his personal view - "Our agency is here to write business and take care of our clients, not the entire community."

After talking with this owner, I began looking into the idea of social responsibility to better understand an agency's place in their community. I discovered a new buzz word working its way into the 21st century definition of doing business. The term is "CSR - "Corporate Social Responsibility".

It seems that a growing body of evidence suggests that social responsibility is a sound business strategy, and worth every agency investing their time to learn more about.

What Is Social Responsibility?

According to Wikipedia,

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept that organizations, especially (but not only) corporations, have an obligation to consider the interests of customers, employees, shareholders, communities, and ecological considerations in all aspects of their operations. This obligation is seen to extend beyond their statutory obligation to comply with legislation.

CSR is closely linked with the principles of Sustainable Development, which argues that enterprises should make decisions based not only on financial factors such as profits or dividends, but also based on the immediate and long-term social and environmental consequences of their activities.

Christine Arena, author of "The High-Purpose Company", says "more businesses are