Firms must give back to community even during crisis

Abstract

"It's now more important than ever for companies to be more responsible to the community. Any company that doesn't have some form of corporate social responsibility will likely stop to exist and go out of business," said Mario A. G. Lopez, an Asian Institute of Management professor. "We all know the notion of a lighthouse. In times of storms, navigators at sea will look to the lighthouse to guide them away from reefs or point them to safe waters. The more turbulent the environment, the more we need people to have ethical visions or [what] we might call a moral compass," Mr. [Benito L. Teehankee] told participants. Mr. Teehankee said the pursuit of profit does not have to be at the expense of ethics. "Ethics or profit is a false dilemma... because it makes us choose as if we have a choice. What appears to be conflicting can actually be designed together. It's the duty of the manager is to creatively achieve [both]."