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Article

18 May 2005

Author:
Alan Murray, Wall Street Journal

Will 'Social Responsibility' Harm Business?: Are the capitalists abandoning capitalism? [PDF]

...General Electric [releases] its first-ever "Citizenship Report," a 75-page bow to the bevy of nongovernmental organizations pushing for ever-more "corporate social responsibility."...GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt...has concluded that efforts to control carbon emissions pose a huge business opportunity for GE...GE may have found a way, for now, to appease the NGOs while still serving its shareholders. ...Whether appeasement works in the long run, as companies face ever more pressure to pursue an ever wider range of social and environmental goals, remains to be seen. [also refers to the Global Reporting Initiative and Bayer, BT, BASF, ABB, Ford, General Motors, Microsoft, McDonald's]