Sustainability- it makes "cents"

A week from now I will be starting a course on Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in Stockholm, Sweden. I'm tickled to be able to attend this seminar and grateful that my employer is supporting me in this endeavor. To say that me willingly attending this seminar is a surprise would be an understatement. When I was working in corporate America, I was always a fan of Milton Friedman's attitude about Social Responsibility and that is "the most responsible thing a company can do is make money and let the shareholders decide where they want to give their money". I have come to have a change of heart on this view and I do believe that companies should give back to their communities. In business classes, one of the first things we teach students is that there are many stakeholders of the company which includes owners, customers, employees and the communities in which they operate. Giving back in some fashion is now not just for the "big guys" but is becoming more expected of small and medium sized companies. This article from the Financial Times highlights why the Scandinavian model may be the ticket to effectively doing social responsibility.