Is Corporate Social Responsibility "Hypocritical Window Dressing"?

The New York Times ran an interesting story in the Business Section this weekend, titled, “First Make Money; Also Do Good.”  Basically, it argues that corporate philanthropy is small potatoes and corporate social responsibility not much more than disingenuous marketing (“hypocritical window-dressing” according to Milton Friedman).  Citing Harvard’s Michael Porter’s work on “shared value” capitalism, the story argues for promoting social relevance to be a SOURCE of profitability, not an externality...At our fund, Core Innovation Capital – and as the article points to IBM, GE and Intuit – we believe in the “shared value” paradigm:  in our case, creating long-term value to unbanked and underbanked consumers.

  To read this article in its entirety, click here.   About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is an advanced technology, services and finance company taking on the world’s toughest challenges. Dedicated to innovation in energy, health, transportation and infrastructure, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
 
Citizenship at GE is more than a program or a set of good intentions - it is a full-time commitment built upon cultural behaviors and actions. These actions are integrated with business strategy and have defined goals, strategies and metrics that make it actionable and accountable.
 
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