Changing Business from the Inside Out

1The department of good works

This chapter covers the evolution of the corporate responsibility function within companies, its organizational structure, and how these factors affect the practice.

Doing well is the result of doing good. That’s what capitalism is all about (Ralph Waldo Emerson).

I believe that most people would claim that they want to do good things for others. But, when it comes to their careers, that inner altruism is often forced into the back seat. At the risk of stating the obvious, “the business of business is business.” When you go to work for a company, whatever your role may be, you are expected to deliver a return on the company’s investment in your pay and benefits. For most roles within big companies, this means that ...