LEICESTER SQUARE — My colleague Chris pointed it out yesterday: Copenhagen is essentially a great big positioning exercise. And on a week when we are doing this in the Boardrooms of two big multinationals, it’s interesting to watch.

Essentially the nations involved have asked that a written proposal, proposition… or positioning statement be put to them. And then they’ll argue the detail of it. Consensus should flow from that. And even if it’s not consensus (let’s be grown-up about this) then at least the lukewarm, middle road will come with greater insight. Everyone will know where the problems are, and then we can work around them.

We tend to have too black and white a view of these kind of things. Compromise is still success. Everyone goes away with more knowledge and able to start to act on the things that they know need addressing.

At the same time, I am fascinated by how this is still a movable feast. I’m not talking about the debate over data (I looked at that earlier this week). I am talking about yesterday’s report that the recession has helped the environment.

Imagine that?

We consume less and the earth benefits!

Then there’s the fascinating world of cross-cultural negotiation. I was reading about that last night. I am thinking we might develop a course on it for another client.

Although I have worked on every continent, and therefore negotiated contracts with many types of people, I haven’t thought of the science of it before.

And there’s lots of science.

Copenhagen will be brilliant for that. The academics will be rolling in it for years.

Woohoo.

/df

HAMMERSMITH — I am meeting my friend Gillian today for a tea. She’s become a bit of a corporate goodness guru. And I love talking to her.

Personally, I am still unsure about CSR programmes and how they fit with company communications and change. Is that a bad thing to admit?

I suspect it is.

I believe strongly that organisations and corporations need to develop means and processes to behave more consistently as “good corporate citizens”. Better regulations for banks, for example. And environmental standards, and connections into the community, are all good things.

But I am less sure about PR-driven CSR programmes.

Let me give you two examples:

1. A global resource business that wants to be known and appreciated for it’s environmental record and concerns…

…which is just not going to happen. When your primary business is taking stuff from the earth — that you cannot replace — it is unreasonable to be expected to be seen as a poster-child for the environment.

Does that mean you shouldn’t do the responsible, environmental, community-focused work? Of course not. What it does mean though is that we need another reason to do it… Other than that it can be good PR.

2. A company in the Arab world, that is government owned. It does a sizable number of amazing things.

If employees need to buy a house the business will collect cash and pass it on to the employee.

If a local school needs to be built, the company just does it. No naming rights. No gala openings. Kids just get taught.

If an employee loses a relative, the business pays for the funeral arrangements.

What do you do with that? It is serious CSR. But it’s also driven by religious and cultural norms. It’s just “the way we do things around here.” Publicising it actually runs against the reasons why they do it.

The problem I am getting to here is that “corporate social responsibility”, “sustainable development”, community outreach, volunteering programmes… have all got their own reasons to exist. And they are many. And they need to be many. That is where the value of CSR is, in shaping the complete view of the business. They can’t be a tactic for building a reputation, they need more reasons to exist than that. They need to be one of the ways that a business succeeds. They need to check a dozen different boxes:

- Employees can participate
- Employees want to participate
- The business takes more responsibility in the community
- Governments have to spend less
- Needy situations get addressed faster
- New expertise is developed

That’s a bad list. But there can be a good one.

/df