Is there a place for “do-gooders” in business?

Posted by Tara Greco

As the year draws to a close, I’m catching up on the stack of clips sitting on my desk.

A few weeks ago, an interesting opinion piece ran in the B-School section of the Business Week Web site.

In it, the author posits that “an ethical corporate culture can only be created and sustained from within.” And that there’s a place for “do-gooders” in business—they all don’t have to work for Peace Corps or Teach for America.

Data shows us that Generation Y is demanding that employers be more responsible. The 2006 Cone Millennial Cause Study reports:

• Nearly eight out of ten millennials want to work for a company that cares about how it contributes to society
• More than half of all millennials would refuse to work for an irresponsible corporation

I think that the corporate sector is already feeling the effects of their demands. Many companies are taking a longer look at their policies, practices and procedures to evaluate responsibility, ethics, sustainability, etc., and making changes when necessary.

It will be interesting to see how things change over time and once millenials get into the C-suite…I’m guessing that most annual reports will provide triple bottom line data and the majority of corporate shareholders will be expecting more in return than cash or stock dividends.