Forget corporate social responsibility: doing good should be a core part of your business model

The author contends that integrating sustainability into core business operations is an economic necessity and a driver of growth. Using Unilever's 'Sustainable Living Plan' as a case study, the text demonstrates how 'Sustainable Living Brands' grow 30% faster than the rest of the business. Specific examples include oral health campaigns in Africa that drove business growth by over 25% between 2014 and 2015, a waste reduction program that avoided approximately €250 million in costs since 2008, and the Shakti project in India which trained 70,000 women by 2015 to create rural livelihoods and distribution networks.

• Integrating sustainability into the core business model is more effective than maintaining separate corporate social responsibility (CSR) and marketing departments. Unilever's 'Sustainable Living Brands'—which include Dove, Omo, Knorr, Lipton, and Hellmann’s—are growing 30% faster than the rest of the company and account for nearly half of its growth.
• Addressing public health needs can drive economic growth. Unilever's Signal toothpaste brand aimed to reach 50 million people by 2020 with oral health campaigns; it has already reached 71 million. In Africa, investment in these programs resulted in business growth of over 25% from 2014 to 2015.
• Reducing waste provides significant cost savings and operational efficiency. By February 2016, over 600 Unilever sites across 70 countries achieved zero non-hazardous waste to landfill. This waste program has avoided approximately €250 million in costs since 2008.
• The Shakti project in India promotes gender equality and rural entrepreneurship by training women in business, IT, sales, and hygiene. By 2015, approximately 70,000 women were trained, with the majority earning more than Rs 1,000 per month while distributing products to over 4 million rural households across 165,000 villages.

APA

Weed, K. (2016). Forget corporate social responsibility: doing good should be a core part of your business model. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/forget-corporate-social-responsibility-doing-good-should-be-a-core-part-of-your-business-model/

Chicago

Weed, Keith. Forget corporate social responsibility: doing good should be a core part of your business model. World Economic Forum, 2016. https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/forget-corporate-social-responsibility-doing-good-should-be-a-core-part-of-your-business-model/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Weed |first1=Keith |title=Forget corporate social responsibility: doing good should be a core part of your business model |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=2 August 2016 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/forget-corporate-social-responsibility-doing-good-should-be-a-core-part-of-your-business-model/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{weed2016forget, author = {Weed, Keith}, title = {{Forget corporate social responsibility: doing good should be a core part of your business model}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2016}, month = aug, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/forget-corporate-social-responsibility-doing-good-should-be-a-core-part-of-your-business-model/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }