VR Monitor: Conflict of objectives in corporate social responsibility
Once again, the swissVR Monitor was published and shows: The swissVR Monitor shows: One third of the 429 board members surveyed have integrated corporate responsibility into their corporate strategy, 45 percent of them only at least partially.
The swissVR association publishes the swissVR Monitor every six months in collaboration with the consulting firms Deloitte and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. This is a survey aimed at obtaining opinions from Swiss board members on the economic and industry outlook as well as current board topics.
Lack of objectives
The latest study shows that although corporate social responsibility is on everyone's lips and a large number of reports have been published, there is usually a lack of clear objectives. Only 9% of the board members have clear and timed goals.
Trade-off between costs and benefits
With regard to the focus of the topics, employees have the highest priority for the board members, followed by fair wages, working conditions and health protection, as well as ethical business practices. The majority of respondents also find that the perception of corporate social responsibility promotes employee loyalty and increases the attractiveness of an employer.
This can facilitate customer acquisition and strengthen competitiveness and reputation. For a third of respondents, however, the focus of companies on economic tasks is paramount, and they make a critical point: corporate responsibility also generates costs, reduces profits and makes products more expensive. This conflict between the costs and benefits of corporate social responsibility measures is more pronounced among SMEs (40%) than among large companies (26%).
(Source: Organizer)
