Corporate Responsibility Budgets Decreasing

While 43 percent of respondents to the BSR/Cone 2008 Corporate Responsibility survey say their corporate responsibility budget will stay the same in the face of the current economic conditions, 31 percent say it will decrease and 26 percent say it’s too early to determine.Still, 77 percent remain optimistic that global business will embrace responsible business practices as part of their core strategies and operations over the next five years.

While corporate values are an important driver of corporate responsibility decisions (59 percent), companies today seek reputation benefits (84 percent) and long-term cost savings or efficiencies (75 percent) as return for their corporate responsibility investments.

At the same time, 94 percent anticipate increased government regulation of issues related to corporate responsibility, including climate change (86 percent) and corporate governance and financial transparency (83 percent).

Seventy-two percent expect that there will be increasing demands on business to solve societal problems, and more than half believe business will meet those demands.