{"id":3462,"date":"2018-05-30T21:47:15","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T21:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.com\/?p=792"},"modified":"2022-01-20T16:08:32","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T16:08:32","slug":"does-the-role-of-business-in-society-equal-csr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/2018\/05\/30\/does-the-role-of-business-in-society-equal-csr\/","title":{"rendered":"Does \u201cthe role of business in society\u201d equal CSR?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had the pleasure of moderating a regional EACD<\/a> debate in Copenhagen on 15 May, which brought together corporate communicators, marketers, academics and CSR executives \u2013 and focused on the topic of the changing role of business in society. To clear things up right off the bat I posed this question at the very beginning \u2013 is it really just about CSR?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I showed the recent SAP commercial as an indication that large companies are beginning to understand that the public today expects more from them: to solve societal problems not just as part of their social responsibility, but as part of the very definition of how they create value. Surely this means the role of business in society extends beyond what we know as CSR?<\/p>\n

The event\u2019s host, Copenhagen Business School\u2019s new Dean of Education Gregor Halff, then spoke about the issue that while business is often part of solving big societal problems \u2013 it is many times part of creating them. He challenged the audience to think whether business schools today truly educate tomorrow\u2019s leaders in a way that equips them to solving such problems in a future business landscape that\u2019s changing so rapidly. He was followed by Michael Rasmussen, owner of purpose@heart<\/a> and formerly CMO for 17 years at Velux<\/a> \u2013 the Danish roof windows and skylights manufacturer. Michael spoke about the importance of purpose driving business, as it\u2019s not just expectations that are changing \u2013 it\u2019s the consumers\u2019 actual perception of value that is completely transforming.<\/p>\n

Ulrich Bang, VP at TryghedsGruppen<\/a> (the owner of one of the largest Scandinavian insurance providers), then added an interesting perspective: as a co-operative owned by its policyholders, his company\u2019s role is to \u201cprovide safety\u201d in the wider sense \u2013 both by selling insurance policies but also by increasing the sense of safety for individuals and communities through its foundation, which is involved in a wide range of activities<\/a> that aim to promote \u201cpeace of mind\u201d among the population. Mirella Vitale, SVP for Group Marketing and Communications at Rockwool Group<\/a> \u2013 the world’s second largest maker of insulation materials \u2013 rounded up by agreeing that a true purpose-driven company makes sure that the business it does is also good for the world, meaning that product innovation should not be driven by \u201cwhat could sell more\u201d but rather by \u201cwhat could solve people\u2019s \u2013 and society\u2019s \u2013 problems\u201d. She gave a great example of Rockwool\u2019s new floor board product that absorbs water to prevent flooding in public areas \u2013 an important innovation in a world that experiences ever more floods.<\/p>\n

For some, any discussion of \u201cbusiness in society\u201d is a discussion of CSR. But if industry leaders talk about the changing consumer perception of value and the need to drive product innovation by what\u2019s good for society, and if leading business schools talk about how to equip future business leaders to solve future societal problems \u2013 then there\u2019s no doubt in my mind that this topic goes far beyond the traditional CSR debate.<\/p>\n

I wish to thank Copenhagen Business School<\/a> for hosting this important and engaging debate \u2013 and I look forward to having more such discussions in the near future!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the pleasure of moderating a regional EACD debate in Copenhagen on 15 May, which brought together corporate communicators, marketers, academics and CSR executives \u2013 and focused on the topic of the changing role of business in society. To clear things up right off the bat I posed this question at the very beginning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-3462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3462"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4511,"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3462\/revisions\/4511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3462"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/groupcaliber.banyodev.dk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=3462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}