Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a hot item in the business world and certainly an important challenge for the future. Even so, CSR is an unknown or underappreciated term with many business leaders.

To make things more confusing, some organizations and experts will often use other terms. All these terms relate closely to CSR:

• Corporate Responsibility
• Corporate Citizenship
• Sustainable Entrepreneurship

To describe CSR, there are as many definitions as there are flavours. The following definition gives us a workable and understandable idea of what CSR is all about:

“CSR is a strategy that systematically integrates sustainable economical, environmental and social principles throughout an organization’s operations.”

Triple Bottom Line

The Triple Bottom Line refers to the three ‘P’s of CSR: People, Planet and Profit. All three P’s have to balance each other in responsible decision-making.

Taking responsibility and enable initiatives for a sustainable economical, social and environmental advancement is a testimony of leadership.

Leadership and CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility is big in the corporate world, because from a corporate perspective, it's fairly easy to see how CSR impacts and connects management domains such as marketing, supply-chain management, finance, etc. Taking corporate responsibility before your competition not only gratifies your stakeholders, it also puts your organisation in a leading position in your market or industry.

For SME’s (Small & Medium Sized Enterprises) this often seems remote and far fetched. Very often, entrepreneurs find themselves reluctant to assign people and resources to CSR initiatives in their business. Of course, it’s all too clear that the visionaries who dare to do so, are able to attract attention and generate added value. Not only for their business, but also for their community and environment.

Possible Pitfalls

When you get involved with CSR, your stakeholders may expect more from you. Therefore, it is worthwhile considering any potential CSR pitfalls.

“Greenwashing”
Be aware that proclaiming to be green necessitates that you are using sustainable resources. Just as the moon can eclipse the sun, hiding the real deal is not the way forward. CSR means that you embed sustainable processes throughout your organization.

“Formulation”
Make sure that your entire organization, your members, your staff understand and act according to the CSR principles your organization formulates in its vision and mission charters.

“Decision Dilemmas”
Often, we adhere to the highest values, only as long as everything else is going well. What decisions will you make when you have to choose between the short and the long term, between self-interest or collective interests, between local or global challenges?

The 3P+ model

The 3P+ model adds "Identity" to the well-known Triple Bottom Line. Bringing the principles of leadership together with the principles of CSR, the 3P+ model shows us that real value is created when CSR is formulated from within.

The 3P+ Navigator, as a leadership instrument, offers us an easy formula for leaders and team members to explore what initiatives they can take to generate more sustainable outcomes for their project, team or organization.