Now more than ever, it is extremely important for a company to become socially responsible. Social responsibility for a company means both improving the lives of its employees and improving the environment and society. Companies no longer have the luxury of harming the environment and denying basic human rights without a negative impact on their image and their sales.

1. Why Your Company Needs to be Socially
Responsible
Social responsibility for a company means both improving the lives of its employees and
improving the environment and society. Modern industries no longer have the luxury of
carelessly harming the environment and denying human rights without a negative impact on their
image and their sales. A study of 10 different countries by the public relations and marketing
firm Cone Communications and Echo Research found that 90% of consumers said they would
boycott socially irresponsible businesses and that 53% have boycotted a product in the past year.
The Biggest Consumer Concerns
Social media is playing a major part in the rise of corporate social responsibility. Anyone can
share information about any company with anyone in the world and roughly a third of social
media users do share information about companies. It is much more difficult to hide a scandal
than it was in the past. The top social issues that consumers care about are:
 Human Rights
 Extreme Poverty
 The Environment

2. Human rights activists and charities can be found all over the internet and the media. Companies
that profit from exploiting children, women and poverty are publicly shamed. Increasingly, laws
are written against socially irresponsible companies to disrupt their sales and operations in
countries with higher expectations of human rights.
The Global Exchange Top 10 Corporate Criminals List is typical of the response of human rights
and environmental activists to companies that seek profit without any interest in human welfare
or the future of the world.
How Social Responsibility Effects the Travel Industry
The travel industry crosses country lines, but if you exploit the lower wages, lack of human
rights, or the environment, your company will develop a bad image that can last for several
decades. For example, exploiting women or children for sexual slavery or prostitution in extreme
poverty may sell tickets to wealthy and lustful men, but no family can vacation there. The
terrible human rights reputation will frighten families that want to protect their children from
predators, and other socially conscious consumers will turn their nose up at a socially
irresponsible company. That is only one example, but assume that destroying your employees
and the environment will damage your profits and your company image for years to come.
William Doonan is a tax law and legal expert.