Page 250 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 5: LEA VE A LASTING FOOTPRINT
a greater threat of operating losses due to legal/regulatory actions
or loss of favor in the marketplace.”
While many leaders champion corporate social responsibil-
ity programs as a wise business investment, some cynically sug-
gest that these programs are necessary only to create a politically
correct impression in the mind of the consumer. Simon Cooper
takes a more holistic approach to the importance of corporate
social responsibility at Ritz-Carlton: “For us, doing the right
thing and giving back to our Ladies and Gentlemen and to the
communities we serve, and even making contributions for good
causes in areas of the world that we don’t serve, are not
a business strategy; rather, they are part of our DNA. In fact, if
anything, we often underplay our social contributions because
we don’t want them to appear self-serving.”
Leaders understand that socially responsible efforts are diffi-
cult messages to communicate. If too much is said about a com-
pany’s socially responsible behavior, it can quickly be perceived
as propaganda. On the other hand, a dearth of information leads
to criticisms that a company is not concerned with broader so-
cial issues. Sue Stephenson, vice president of Community Foot-
prints, Ritz-Carlton’s community partnership program, says,
“More and more people are asking us about what we do on be-
half of communities and the environment. We are careful not to
rush out and communicate everything we do. For our efforts
to be successful, they must be authentically committed to service
and not about patting ourselves on the back. At the same time,
there needs to be a way to responsibly communicate the fruits
of a company’s efforts without being aggrandizing.”
It is critical, then, to create a well-thought-through ap-
proach to communication concerning the breadth of socially re-
sponsible offerings and to make sure that those programs emerge
naturally from the core values of the business. The mission state-
ment for the Community Footprints program reads: “At Ritz-
Carlton we have built a legacy of extraordinary service. This
tradition extends into our Community Footprints program and

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