CSR: a strategic Band-Aid or a genuine overhaul?

Having a corporate conscience is vital for any thriving or developing brand. Corporations are beginning to realize the integrity of encompassing corporate social responsibility in their business models. However it seems that some corporations are merely jumping on the CSR bandwagon and the effort might appear anything but authentic to audiences.

Recently, luxury brand Gucci was under fire for inhumane working conditions in China. The company’s slow response to the situation was a promise to: replace senior managers; set up direct communication and reporting outlets; and hire external consultants to investigate the interest of China employees and develop working conditions. Aside from this mishap, Gucci’s CSR extends as far as reducing paper consumption and Co2 omissions, and saving Indonesia’s rainforests.

Walmart was recently involved in one of the largest class-action lawsuits ever made against a corporation. Close to 1.5-million female Walmart employees claimed damages as a result of wage and gender discrimination. Faster than you can say “major brand overhaul needed,” Walmart launched a new worldwide $100-billion campaign called the “Global Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative.” Its goal: to empower women. Walmart can now add this project to its list of CSR initiatives, but do these efforts truly humanize this major corporate machine?

The Hudson’s Bay Company incorporates the most essential aspects of corporate social responsibility into their business model:

· Environmental sustainability

· Community investment

· Ethical sourcing

· Associate care and development.

The HBC successfully fulfills what John Elkington – an expert on measuring corporate social responsibility – calls the triple bottom line: people, planet, profit. The HBC is accountable to the community, their employees and to the environment, and the profits have followed with a reported revenue of $70 billion and new and promising partnership with TOPSHOP. HBC's CSR is a promising model for all brands to aspire to.

What other examples of CSR are worth recognition?