*{Redefining corporate responsibility [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/Redefining%20corporate%20responsibility?open&topic_id=300250000&theme_id=300]

            29.01.2001

            Annual Meeting 2001}

            Increasing pressure from investors and consumers is forcing companies around the world to refocus their efforts regarding corporate responsibility. Carleton S. Fiorina, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hewlett-Packard Company, USA, who chaired the session, said that it is no longer enough for corporations to make good quality products and generate profits. Simply doing well and not doing any harm, she stressed, is no longer sufficient. Companies should do well and do good, and the pressure is coming from employees (who want to feel a sense of pride in working with a responsible employer) and other key constituencies such as civil society. Another issue concerns the growing digital divide. Companies, Fiorina said, are mulling over whether bridging the digital divide is a philanthropic issue or whether the problem can be better served by creating a viable business model. This issue is equally relevant to corporate philanthropy, where the problem is that social projects essentially run out steam after the money runs our.

            Leon Sullivan, President and Founder, The Global Sullivan Principles, USA, said that corporations have a simple choice - change or die. The apartheid system in South Africa, he stated, eventually changed because of pressure from corporations that refused to do business with the regime. The Global Sullivan Principles, he added, are universal and call on corporations to improve the conditions of life, protect the environment, end the practice of running sweatshops in the third world and give people an equal chance. Sullivan said that the principles are in line with the United Nations Global Compact. He said that companies should have a social conscience and warned that a failure to change has the potential to destroy capitalism.

            Jörgen Centerman, President and Chief Executive Officer, ABB, Switzerland, said that the social responsibility of corporations should move beyond saying the right things. Companies must have a cohesive strategy to meet their social objectives, and mechanisms are needed to make the whole process operational. Centerman stated that corporations need to have cultural openness and should behave as insiders rather than intruders in the countries in which they do business. ABB’s own experience in operating in several countries, he explained, showed that it is not just necessary to be a good corporate citizen. The bigger challenge is to find a measurement that can drive operations on this principle.

            François Roussely, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Electricité de France (EDF), spoke about the growing energy shortages in rich and poor nations, a powerful reminder that energy is a vital component of the developmental process. EDF, he said, is working to solve these problems by making significant efforts in building a set of best practices in managing and maintaining energy demand. Another challenge in the energy business concerns using renewable resources and protecting the environment at the same time. 

            Henry M. Paulson Jr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Goldman Sachs & Co., USA, pointed out that an objective analysis would show that, compared with a decade ago, living standards have improved in most parts of the developing world, particularly in Latin America and Asia. He said he finds it difficult to understand or accept the argument of anti-globalization protestors. He added that he feels strongly about the benefits of globalization, open markets and free trade. However he acknowledged that the backlash against globalization is evident with the move towards nationalism and protectionism. Nevertheless, Paulson suggested that corporations recognize that NGOs do have a valid point when they say that poverty is the real threat to economic development.                  

                  *{Contributors:       Centerman Jörgen
                  Fiorina Carleton S.
                  Paulson Henry M.
                  Roussely François
                  Sullivan Leon}