I’ve been ‘touring’ Danish universities lately claiming that we are witnessing the rise of an invigorated second generation CSR. Something we call CSR 2.0 in Actics. Both to hint at our own web orientation, to the co-creative nature of next-gen CSR and simply to endow tired old CSR with a much needed edgy flavor. Allow me to offer my view on the intersection of bleeding edge business strategy and ethics from the talks. Unfortunately, I can only offer a Quicktime movie because of the fancy animations that doesn’t translate into PDF or Powerpoint. Besides the slides are without some bonus features only available for the live audience.

However, in order not to bypass those of you who cannot or will not download the file, let me ultra-briefly sum up my view:

CSR 2.0:

  • means taking the company to the ethical economy (formal explanation by Adam) by treating stakeholders as assets in the social capital of the company rather than critical inspectors.
  • is strategically balanced multi-stakeholder value management with deep impact on innovation, productivity and communication.
  • is providing leverage to the 10% truly value creating stakeholders and offering every stakeholder say and sort by merit.
  • is NOT manipulating or exploiting the social/cultural. In the words of Isaac Tigrett, founder of the Hard Rock Café: “You can not seek simply to exploit culture, but you must earn the right to represent it.” This translates to: provide meaning to your stakeholders by acting ethically (i.e. following your own values consequently)

Comments are appreciated! (I shouldn’t get away that easy.)