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Article

4 Dec 2012

Author:
Matthew Taylor (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) for Guardian Sustainable Business Blog

Corporates must be more open about difficulties as well as benefits

[C]ompanies…use a wide variety of assets to create wider economic and social benefits...[Y]et… every few weeks we are…treated to [examples] of corporate misbehaviour…Perhaps being honest about the difficult issues and trade-offs which are involved in combining profitability with social responsibility is…what we…need [as]…commercial messaging tends towards either opacity or overstatement…[C]orporations should…share their dilemmas. Whether successful business can be good business depends… [on] how willing we are to combine being canny consumers with being responsible citizens. [refers to Marks & Spencer, ASDA, Unilever, News International, G4S, A4E, Google, Amazon, Starbucks, BBC]