Reducing Costs—Investing in people,
products and technologies that align with
a company’s CR strategy not only builds a
positive corporate reputation, it can also
deliver long-term, significant savings. For
instance, one chemical company invested
$1.5 billion in alternative-energy and energy-saving equipment that, over several years,
helped save $7.5 billion in energy costs.
“CONSUMERS WANT TO FEEL
CONNECTED TO ISSUES. IT
PROVIDES GREAT OPPORTUNITY
FOR COMPANIES FOR
SIDEBAR HEADER-
CONTINUED INNOVATION AND
GILL SANS 14PT
BUSINESS GROWTH.”
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—ALISON DASILVA,
CONE LLC
Increasing Sales—Despite the economic downturn, a study by the University of
Western Ontario’s Ivey School of Business
found that consumers will pay a premium (as
Global Corporate Responsibility:
DiversityInc Top 50 Setting Standards
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
50%
38%
30%
30%
25%
25%
Refuse to do
business in countries
with oppressive values
Work to change the
laws in countries with
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Top 10
Top 50
Bottom quarter*
*Bottom quarter of 352 DiversityInc Top 50 participants
much as 17 percent more) for ethically produced products from companies with positive
reputations. More importantly, those same
consumersSpUuBnHisEhAeDd-cGoImLLpaSnAiN esSt1 h0 atPTignored
CR by onlyMbauinyBinargctohpeyir-GpirlloSdauncsts10aptta steep
40 percent discount.
Numerous studies have confirmed that
consumers, employees and investors continue
to have high expectations for corporations—
ALLSTATE: EMPOWERING PEOPLE,
PROTECTING COMMUNITIES
Allstate Insurance Co., one of DiversityInc’s
25 Noteworthy Companies, is in the business of protecting and preparing people for
the future—“and making our communities and
our nation a better and safer place is a natural
extension of this work,” says Vicky Dinges, assistant vice president of public social responsibility. Like diversity, the company’s social commitment is directed by its leader, CEO Tom
Wilson, who says, “We believe business is a
part of society, not apart from society.”
One way the Illinois-based company demonstrates this is through The Allstate Foundation, an independent charitable organization
funded by the company and its subsidiaries. In
2005, for example, the foundation launched a
national smart-driving initiative to help reduce
the No. 1 killer of teens: car crashes. Led by
diverse teams of teens, the peer-to-peer educational program is designed to change the way
they behave as passengers and drivers in vehicles. To date, more than 200 smart-driving
projects—from web sites that highlight the
dangers of driving distractions to community
activism, such as marches by teens to bring
awareness to this issue (shown)—have been
conducted in nearly 170 communities reaching
more than 168,000 teens nationwide.
The Allstate Foundation is also addressing domestic violence, an issue that impacts 1
in 4 American women, according to the U.S.
Department of Justice and the Centers for
Disease Control. Since its inception in March
2005, the Foundation’s Domestic Violence program has given more than $3.5 million in grants
to domestic-violence organizations across the
country. These programs provide tools to help
survivors deal with their financial struggles and
plan for safe, secure futures. Of those grants,
nearly $1 million has been directed to the Education and Job Training Assistance Fund, providing funds directly to domestic-violence survivors for tuition, transportation and childcare,
allowing them to achieve their educational and
professional goals.
