Just Good Business: The Strategic Guide to Aligning Corporate Responsibility and Brand

Through seven principles, McElhaney (corporate responsibility, U. of California, Berkeley) details how to develop corporate social responsibility initiatives that also reinforce a company's brand. She discusses why companies should integrate corporate social responsibility into their strategies and how to communicate it to customers, vendors, shareholders, and other stakeholders, and outlines seven principles of effective branding. Throughout the text, she uses examples of companies such as Wal-Mart, Dove, McDonald's, Dow Chemical, and Levi Strauss. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Every major company has a corporate strategy based on business objectives and competencies of the firm. Most major companies claim to have a corporate social responsibility strategy, most of which are not linked to business objectives or competencies of the firm. These companies are adopting CSR practices, but aren't reaping the benefits of these initiatives because A) they aren't strategic and B) they're failing to communicate them effectively. Fortunately, closing the CSR story-telling gap can represent great opportunity for savvy companies who want to seize it. Just Good Business shows leaders and managers how to develop a unifying strategy for guiding their CSR work. She walks readers through the process of connecting their CSR efforts to the company's core corporate strategy, business objectives, and core competencies. She then shows with her 7 Principles of Branding & CSR why it's critical to embed CSR initiatives into larger corporate strategy, and to tell their CSR story.