A key to sustainable competitive advantage is to link CSR to the strengths of the business.  Michael Porter and Mark Kramer state in Harvard Business Review that if “corporations were to analyze their  prospects for social responsibility using the same frameworks that guide their core business choices, they would discover that CSR can be much more than a cost, a constraint, or a charitable deed—it can be a sources of opportunity, innovation, and competitive advantage.” (December 2006).

A company must focus on “shared value” – choices that benefit both civil society and the business.  By definition, this cannot succeed as a short term effort but must be a fundamental part of the strategy of an organization.

One example of a corporate pursuing this approach is Coca-Cola.  The most important ingredient in Coca-Cola is water.   The company is working on making clean water available to the communities it serves through partnerships with organizations such as the WWF, US Agency for International Development and the Gates Foundation.

An example in the hi-tech industry is IBM.  The computer giant links its business model and do-good efforts by its promised “to build a smarter planet.”  IBM demonstrates its use of technology as the linchpin for solutions for smart traffic, smart food and health care to smart energy and infrastructure.

A final example is GE.  GE used its “Ecomagination” efforts with respect to innovative household appliances to alternative energy sources to safer, cleaner jet engines.  GE has repositioned itself so that consumers see constructive and innovate environmental efforts as part and parcel of the GE brand.

Porter and Kramer note that “a company must integrate a social perspective into the core frameworks it already uses to understand competition and guide its business strategies.”  They argue that companies should stop thinking of “corporate social responsibility” and start thinking in terms of “corporate social integration”

Porter and Kramer further conclude that, “When a well-run business applies its vast resources, expertise, and management talent to problems that it understands and in which it has a stake, it can have a greater impact on social good than any other institution on philanthropic organization.”

So, companies can achieve much good and it should fit within their strengths.  The highest and best use of a company’s CSR efforts is to have them closely aligned with the strengths of an organization.