A trend with legs as well as a heart - Business - International Herald Tribune

A trend with legs as well as a heart - Business - International Herald Tribune: "A trend with legs as well as a heart
By Thomas Crampton International Herald Tribune

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2006


DAVOS, Switzerland At this time last year, corporations great and small attending the World Economic Forum raced to contribute to the tsunami relief effort, spinning their contributions as proof of commitment to doing good.

A total of more than $11 billion was raised over the year for tsunami victims, including $1 billion from individuals and private businesses. That amount is more than 10 times larger than what was raised for any previous disaster, according to the International Business Leaders Forum, a group that promotes business involvement in development projects.

While the bumper year for crisis fund-raising did prompt some skepticism about short-term checkbook charity work, many attending Davos this year say a fundamental shift in corporate philanthropy is under way.

'In the last few years, companies have begun to move beyond traditional philanthropy and basic compliance into a new kind of corporate and social responsibility,' said Jane Nelson, director of the corporate responsibility program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. 'It is the new business environment that has prompted concrete steps by corporations.'

Critical shifts in the business environment highlighted by Nelson include a lower tolerance for bad behavior on the part of activists, and heightened compliance in the wake of Enron and other corporate scandals, combined with the global reach of even the most local media.

'Enron brought legislation to industry and, believe me, industry really does not like to be legislated,' said Alan Hassenfeld, chairman of the toy man"