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McKinsey Global Survey Results

McKinsey Global Survey Results:

Valuing corporate social responsibility

Valuing corporate social responsibility
Environmental, social, and governance programs create shareholder value, most executives believe, but neither CFOs nor professional investors fully include that when evaluating business projects or companies.
1 This survey was in the field in

December 2008 and includes responses from 238 CFO s, investment professionals, and finance executives from the full range of industries and regions. The survey was conducted in conjunction with Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship, along with a simultaneous survey of 127 corporate social responsibility professionals and socially responsible institutional investors. The institutional investors are members of the Sustainable Investment Research Analysts Network, who are dedicated to advancing the concept, practice, and growth of socially and environmentally responsible investing. 2 Boston College defines “corporate social responsibility professionals” as senior corporate executives with dedicated responsibilities for managing corporate citizenship issues and staff in the areas of community and public affairs, communications and reporting, and environmental health and safety.

The perceived importance of corporate environmental, social, and governance programs has soared in recent years, as executives, investors, and regulators have grown increasingly aware that such programs can mitigate corporate crises and build reputations. But no consensus has emerged to define whether and how such programs create shareholder value, how to measure that value, or how to benchmark financial performance from company to company. This McKinsey survey1 asked CFOs, investment professionals, institutional investors, and corporate social responsibility professionals2 from around the world to identify whether and how environmental, social, and governance programs create value