A post on the Harvard Business Conversation Starter says that the notion of corporate social responsibility will begin to disappear in 2008. The authors of Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want, Joseph Pine and James Gilmore, argue that “CSR will be seen for the sham that it is”:
Consumers will increasingly flock to enterprises that offer transformational change as the very substance of its offerings — be it in the form of vocational tourism, personal interventions, or even narcithropic giving — and reject initiatives that merely front as the means to sell more wares. Consumer dollars will flow less to promotional programs like (PRODUCT)Red and more to fully dedicated ventures like micro-lending site kiva.org.
In response, Financial Times associate editor/columnist Michael Skapinker writes:
…engaging with the community in the pursuit of profit has its place: indeed, it is essential. Companies cannot thrive in collapsing societies. Without political stability, the future of business is grim: look at Kenya or, worse, Zimbabwe. Stability has many components, but prosperity is one of the most important. The more people have to lose, the greater their interest in social peace. For companies, supporting education, entrepreneurs and good nutrition is more than philanthropy: it is money well spent.
UPS Foundation president Lisa Hamilton writes in Forbes:
Whether a business volunteers to act socially responsible, or if it is pushed to do so by outside forces, these actions or inactions can become defining traits of a company and can greatly impact the relationships it has with its stakeholders.
And Beyond Philanthropy says:
…are companies more profitable because of CSR or is CSR encouraged by greater profits? Either way, the question will eventually become moot, because if the mid-term shows that companies with CSR programs indeed have greater profits, everyone will launch CSR initiatives and thus precipitate the demise of CSR as a competitive differentiator. In short, companies should not engage in CSR in a quest for profits.
Join the conversation: What’s your take? Is CSR a thing of the past, or will it remain an important piece of a corporation’s strategy?
Posted by Crystal Colby 
The Chronicle of Philanthropy 
As critical environmental issues such as global warming and energy conservation become more complex, urgent and prominent, grantmakers across the nation are rethinking how they approach their work. In Minnesota, foundations and corporate funders 
A peer-reviewed, quarterly journal for philanthropy, The Foundation Review, is expected to launch in late 2008. The journal will be published by the 
Wendy Wehr was named vice president of communications and information services for the Minnesota Council on Foundations. She most recently served as development director for the Minnesota Literacy Council. She was previously senior vice president, group manager, at Minneapolis marketing communications firm Colle + McVoy.
