April 2009, Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship
This report is based primarily on interviews with twenty companies from 11 industries, and a McKinsey Quarterly global survey of CFOs, investment professionals, and Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability professionals. They conclude that responses to social, environmental, and governance concerns over the past few years—whether on the part of politicians and regulators, lawyers or consumers—have reshaped the core business of major companies in numerous sectors, from fast food and pharmaceuticals, to oil, mining, chemicals, tobacco and agribusiness. As the social contract has increasingly come under pressure, companies have realized that ignoring ESG issues is not an option.
