CSI > CSR

Tim Draimin of Social Innovation Generation recently posted an interesting article titled Corporate Social Responsibility is Dead: Long Live Corporate Social Innovation.  The article details an emerging trend from traditional CSR to CSI...

The principal difference, as I interpret it, has to do with the alignment between a corporation's business mission and the social mission with which they engage. Traditional CSR often sees corporations engage in a philanthropic or social activity that is not directly tied to their core mission; corporations participate in grant-making, volunteering, partnerships, etc. with agencies that boost their brand or reflect the corporation's (real or projected) values and relationships.  With Corporate Social Innovation, corporations take on projects that are more intimately tied with their core operations and business mission; the idea is that viable business solutions that serve the corporation can and should also be employed to address social needs, rather than a pure donor-based model of philanthropy (as pure as CSR 'philanthropy' can get). Danone's work creating a yogurt business to support diets in rural Bangladesh is cited as an example.

I am totally happy with CSR. I'll take as much as we can get and I have no concerns about the motives for the contributions. But CSI present a more compelling, sustainable, and promising approach. For me, the promise lies (lays?) in the notion of "mutual self interest" - unless there is a fundamental and compelling incentive for corporate engagement, it cannot be sustainable. We need to be realistic. We need to recognize that the key to addressing the challenges we face is in the alignment of the motives of those with the power to do so.