Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause [Hardcover]

Philip Kotler (Author), Nancy Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 13, 2004

Today, corporations are expected to give something back to their communities in the form of charitable projects. In Corporate Social Responsibility, Philip Kotler, one of the world's foremost voices on business and marketing, and coauthor Nancy Lee explain why charity is both good P.R. and good for business. They show business leaders how to choose social causes, design charity initiatives, gain employee support, and evaluate their efforts. They also provide all the best practices and cutting-edge ideas that leaders need to maximize their contributions to social causes and do the most good. With personal stories from twenty-five business leaders from socially responsible companies, this is the bible for today's good corporate citizen.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent starting point…" (Long Range Planning, August 2006)

From the Inside Flap

In today's world, it is no longer just acceptable that a corporation does well by doing good. It is expected. With increasing pressures to improve the bottom line as well as to be good corporate citizens, business leaders face tough decisions. What social issues should we support? What charities will make strong partners? What initiatives should we develop that will do the most good for the company as well as the cause? Do we just write a check, incorporate social messages in our advertising, encourage our employees to volunteer, or do we also alter our business practices? How do we integrate a new initiative into current strategies? How do we implement a successful program? How do we generate internal support and passion? How do we measure success? A bible for today's corporate citizens, Corporate Social Responsibility provides thoughtful answers to these vital questions and many more.

Philip Kotler, one of the world's foremost voices on business and marketing, and Nancy Lee, President of Social Marketing Services, Inc., provide best practices and cutting-edge ideas on the best ways and means for corporations to maximize corporate contributions to social issues and to know what good they did. Business leaders will learn how to align their business goals with cultural and social ones; choose social issues and charities to support; gain employee support; implement successful initiatives; and evaluate their efforts.

Offering more than just a theoretical perspective, this book includes the personal insight of some of the business world's most admired companies. Full of proven recommendations and real-world advice on social initiatives, it includes first-person stories from twenty-five business leaders from such successful and benevolent socially responsible companies as Ben & Jerry's, IBM, Washington Mutual, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, The Body Shop, Hewlett-Packard, and American Express. For those seeking funding from corporations such as these, a final chapter presents ten recommended strategies for success.

This insightful and practical book presents twenty-five best practices, assembled to guide decision-making in the area of corporate social responsibility. It is, in the end, intended to help maximize the return on discretionary corporate investments, resulting in efforts that do the most social, environmental, and economic good.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471476110
• ISBN-13: 978-0471476115
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Public Relations

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and Enlightening, July 20, 2007

By 

Elijah Chingosho "Dr Elijah Chingosho" (Nairobi, Kenya) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause (Hardcover)

This is an enlightening book on corporate social responsibility by knowledgeable authors. As a manager you bring with you your own concept of what is right and what is wrong to your organisation. Every decision that you make is the application of these values to the question at hand. This is made more difficult by the pressures of organisational life. These are the pressures of rapid changes, the pressure for greater productivity, competition and superiors, among others. Sometimes managers make decisions which conflict with their own or society's values because of what they see as the pressures of the business world. Dealing with ethical and moral issues is often perplexing. This excellent book provides guidance on how we should we think through an ethical issue, the questions we should ask and the factors that we should consider and how we can ensure that corporate social responsibility issues receive the attention they deserve.

The ways that the authors suggest to enhance corporate social responsibility are practical and simple to implement and should enable companies to benefit from a favourable corporate image which should translate to benefits to the bottom line.

This is a well written book that is easy to follow and understand that is well recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last: a reference work for corporate philanthropy, April 5, 2006

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause (Hardcover)

The days of corporate irresponsibility are past. The public now expects companies to behave according to a higher social standard. And guess what - operating a business built on socially responsible principles pays off. Decision makers at companies large and small are learning that when they build their businesses according to the dictates of social conscience, they reap rewards such as increased profits, an improved corporate image and happier employees. And, they sleep better at night. Author and marketing expert Philip Kotler and social marketing consultant Nancy Lee describe six ways you can develop and implement a corporate social program. They clearly explain and analyze each initiative in its own chapter, including illustrative examples of successful campaigns from leading companies such as Ben & Jerry's, The Body Shop and American Express. Their methods do overlap and they are, at times, redundant. Yet the points are important enough to bear repeating. We think every professional whose company is engaged in corporate social marketing - or needs to be - will find a treasure trove of applicable information in this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As one will expect - marketing oriented, August 6, 2008

By 

Dina - See all my reviews

This review is from: Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause (Hardcover)

This is an interesting and useful book especially if a researcher is interested in the impact of corporate philanthropic giving as a marketing tool - handing over a corporate check in the public eye is what comes to my mind.
The authors describe do's and dont's of such strategies.

However, the marketing focus is a downside for readers interested in CSR from a more general stance.
I have recently read many books on CSR for a research project, and will continue reviewing them step by step, so checking my other reviews might be useful if you are interested in the topic of CSR or corporate governance.