Last week I was asked to comment on a statement by Prof Aneel Karnani of the University of Michigan who proposes that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actions are only truly ‘ethical’ if they reduce the profit made by a business – otherwise any claims are greenwash. I have a lot of problems with this thought, some philosophical, some practical – I’ve been mulling on these since I made my comments, so I thought I would share.

The philosophical side is about whether any action we take is truly altruistic. This is a matter of much debate in the philosophical sphere – when I pick up a piece of litter in the street, or help the old lady across the road replace a recessed lightbulb, I get a little dose of endorphin that sets up my day. Does that good feeling undermine the altruism of my act?

And every major religion teaches that those who are faithful/do good works will be rewarded after death – does that mean that every good deed by a religious person is done out of pure selfishness? Likewise I don’t think any financial reward from CSR undermines the satisfaction from having done the right thing.

On the practical side, I’m not sure that any sensible CSR action will have a negative benefit to the company. Marks & Spencer’s Living Wall won’t save them any money, but it is a fantastic advert for the company’s Plan A sustainability programme – whether to consumers or the next generation of recruits. Study after study has shown that businesses with good sustainability programmes outperform those that don’t in financial terms.

Lastly, the sustainability of sustainability. If CSR is shown to add value to the business, then it won’t get squeezed out if the going gets rough. If the business purpose is aligned to sustainability then we get a win-win. What’s the problem?

In summary ‘doing well by doing good’ is a strong driver. ‘Doing badly by doing good’ isn’t going to inspire many. I’d rather win-win than lose-lose.