Looking at the current economic slow down and the prospects for 2009, you might ask yourself: “What does this mean for CSR strategies and related programmes?”

Even if the business outlook is not promising at the moment and resource situations seem to be pretty tough, there is a strong likelihood that companies with solid CSR strategies will come through the economic crisis on a sound footing and that they might even be able to  demonstrate clearly the strong contributions that CSR practices have made and can make to business success.

I found a very interesting video message on this from Stephen Howard from Business in the Community http://vcr.csrwire.com/node/12017. It is in tough economic conditions that businesses look even harder for ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors and to become more attractive to customers and talented employees. In a global consumer study, customers expressed clearly what their expectations are.

If companies want to realise their opportunities, they may well come up with stronger strategies for when the economic crisis is over. Companies that have invested years in building up their CSR credentials will not throw that away lightly. Indeed, aborting commitments now would create a reputation for being superficial and deceptive. Once created, a negative reputation would be very hard to shake off. "It takes twenty years to build a reputation," says Warren Buffet, ‘and it can be lost in five minutes".

Hard times do not mean reversing long-term commitments to sustainability and business responsibility, especially if companies use their entrepreneurial spirit and creativity. Interesting insights on this are  available in the white paper ‘Making the case for continued success during an economic downturn’ (include link, see below). I would be interested to get any additional thoughts from you on this:

When the going gets tough...

London, November 20th 2008 - The White Paper ‘Making The Case For Continued Success During An Economic Downturn’, issued today by the European Business Awards and sponsored by leading credit insurer Atradius, concludes that businesses most likely to prosper during these challenging economic times are not those that are overly cautious, but entrepreneurial businesses that take calculated risks and question prevailing conventional wisdom.

The White Paper examined the characteristics of the Ruban d’Honneur winners (the accolade handed to 70 of Europe’s top businesses) that have prospered through international trade operations. The report highlighted three factors most likely to be exhibited by companies that flourish during an economic downturn:
• The ability to see opportunity where others see only risk
• A high level of competence in evaluating risk and mitigating against the downside
• A strong entrepreneurial spirit, characterised by determination, fast decision making and flexibility

Phil Forrest, Chairman of the European Business Awards Judging Panel and author of the White Paper, says: “In the process of observing these businesses over the past few months, their reaction to the changing economic landscape has been impressive. All have rigorously checked that their operations are in good health to weather any economic storms. But the outstanding feature of these companies has been their focus on looking for opportunities to expand and grow. ‘Most businesses will approach an economic slowdown by cutting costs, from sales and marketing to research and development. This might help them to get through a tough economic cycle, but they will have a lot of ground to make up on those businesses that have been positive, growth orientated and opportunistic.”

White Paper pdf.
White Paper film