The social responsibility of companies

• Bernard GIRAUD
  Director, Danone Initiatives
  

Summary

The economic might of large companies exceeds that of many countries. The state of health of these large groups is out of proportion to the unacceptable social environment of their factories, in spite of their marketing slogans which are full of promises of happiness. However, more often than not, they do not admit any social responsibility. Is this situation tenable ? Public opinion puts more and more pressure on firms, while employees demand more than just a maximum amount of profit. As far as Danone is concerned, the winners will be those firms which manage to put a human face on globalisation. Having experienced this in France from the very beginning, Danone decided to make social responsibility one of its strategic themes which set it apart from other companies. Bernard Giraud shows how Danone implements this concern in its daily business life.

Summary translated from French by Rachel MARLIN.

• The entire article was written by Loïc VIEILLARD-BARON.

To obtain this article, you can :

• download it for free in French (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference VC200100).

The entire article appears in French in the Journal de l'École de Paris du management N° 24.