Buy Better Ships: Why CSR Is Important in Public Relations

Commentary by Gnosis Media Group, a PR Company in NJ
http://gnosisarts.com

This installment of "West Wing Chronicles" offers an excellent example of why Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR for short) has come to the fore in business negotiations. It also demonstrates why CSR is so important to sound business as well as public relations practice. CSR reminds businesses to think about the "Triple Bottom Line": Profits, People, AND Planet. (For a definition of CSR, visit http://gnosisarts.com/home/PR_Dictionary#csr )

Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) is an attorney at a well-known Manhattan law firm. His job is to create legal liability protection for his client - a client who buys ships to transport oil for big petroleum corporations. Sam tries to persuade the client to "grow a conscience", so to speak, urging him to resist the temptation to settle for the cheaper, older, poorer quality ships but rather to spend a little extra money and "buy better ships."

The older ships are a danger to the environment because they create conditions for more frequent oil spills. Although they are more expensive, the newer ships are of better quality, have fewer accidents, and therefore are safer for the environment.

Nevertheless, Sam's proposal is met with fierce resistance - not only from his client, but also from his boss, who threatens to fire him. The client only seems interested in one thing: money. The client only seems to care about paying as little as possible for the ships and getting just enough legal protection to prevent being saddled with any legal liability. Despite Sam's passionate argument, his client doesn't seem to care all that much about the environment. Neither does Sam's boss, who repeatedly asks him, "What are you doing?" Of course, he refuses to listen when Sam actually explains what it is he's doing.

"But there's a broader liability here," Sam contends. He then cites a few cases of oil spills that have occurred over the past decade or so. "People were driving past Exxon [out of disgust, presumably] after Valdees," Sam reminds them.

But his pleas fall on unreceptive ears. "We've got PR firms for PR problems," the client retorts.

And that, right there, is the lynchpin. That statement causes us as PR practitioners to question what our primary role is or should be. Are we just there for "damage control"? Is our only job to just allow our clients to do and say whatever the want, however unethical, and then put a shiny gloss over it to make it palatable or acceptable in the public eye? Or do we really have a responsibility to bring ethics and "broader liabilities" to the conference table?

If the answer is the latter, then it is clear that CSR will play a deal breaking role in the future of public relations. If we believe as PR pros that companies should not merely care about profit but also about creating organizations that sustain the environment as well as themselves - that serve the public interest as well as profits - then we have to be willing to stand up and make arguments like the one Sam made.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• CSR
• Sustainability
• Ethics in Public Relations