Balancing Goodwill Against Profit (HBR Article Collection)

HBR OnPoint collections include an overview and 3 full-text HBR articles, each with a synopsis and annotated bibliography. Hung over from the free-spending 1990s and reeling from accounting scandals, many companies are pondering issues of corporate responsibility. But though we periodically tinker with surface-level aspects of corporate responsibility--establishing tougher regulations, increasing boards' responsibilities--we avoid the fundamental question: What is business for? Is it solely to generate profits for shareholders? To drive social change for the greater good? This collection explores a third option: businesses using profits for a higher purpose--doing something better than anyone else, making life's bounty available to more people. Of course, to achieve that purpose, companies must remain profitable. But they can do so by functioning as members of larger communities--sharing a purpose that includes commercial success. The three Harvard Business Review articles in this collection: "What's a Business For?" by Charles Handy (HBR reprint R0212C), "The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy" by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer (HBR reprint R0212D), and "The Virtue Matrix: Calculating the Return on Corporate Responsibility" by Roger Martin (HBR reprint R0203E).