The Corporate Responsibility Commitment

10/09/2009

By Patrick Jelly, Managing Director of Pitney Bowes UK

The rhetoric surrounding Corporate Responsibility can be off-putting to companies with many firms assuming they can never live up to such grand claims. But taken in achievable steps, every company can embark upon the CR journey. Patrick Jelly, managing director of Pitney Bowes UK, assesses the reality of CR adoption and outlines some of the do's and don'ts of such a strategy.

CR and CSR sit among those sets of initials - like B2B, CRM, SME - that have simply become assimilated into everyday business speak. CR is a broader term for...

...CSR. To understand what these initials literally stand for is the easy part but, as a casual trawl of the web will reveal, to define what CR (Corporate Responsibility) or the older term CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) means has not proved so simple.

There are a myriad of definitions of CSR, with analysts seemingly divided on whether it is the 'Corporate', the 'Social' or the 'Responsibility' that demands the most focus. Along with this confusion of meaning comes a host of bold claims that seemingly position CSR as the Holy Grail. Little wonder that businesses of every size are both irresistibly attracted to CSR but also somewhat daunted by the prospect of meeting suchgrand expectations.

It is up to companies then to define for themselves what those expectations should be. As a company, Pitney Bowes has decided to use the term CR, extending the concept to caring for the environment and seeing to the proper disposal and recycling of equipment and consumables. It means taking on responsibilities beyond the 'social' and committing to having a positive impact on the physical state of the community as well.

It is important to remember that there are no hard and... continued on page two >

 

 

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