Forty-five companies which have created their own initiatives in the area of CR participated in the Good Company survey.⁵ Such examples as DHL, Deutsche Bank, and Daimler are ­noteworthy but are generally cost-cutting projects which do not develop business potential. But it is important, especially in the current economic situation, to discover and exploit new business potential and not to be limited to cutting costs. Proctor & Gamble is planning to realize total sales of €50 billion with sustainable products within the scope of the CR strategy by 2012. 

In this setting, the CR strategy must support the corporate strategy and must not develop as a parallel phenomenon. It must go hand in hand with daily business so that business potential can be opened. Once a CR strategy has been defined and implemented, steps must be taken to ensure that it is transparent and therefore ­sustainable. 

Corporate Management 3.0 with the corporate responsibility scorecard  

The greatest challenge during the implementation of a CR strategy is the traceability of the success. Securing a sustain­able CR strategy for a company is possible only if clear evidence can be submitted that the measures have been successful. In this context, the implementation of a CR strategy should ­always include the creation of a monitoring instrument. The CR scorecard is based on the principle of the balanced scorecard and bonds elements of corporate strategy with the CR strategy. The procedure ­described below should be followed during the ­implementation. 

First, existing CR components must be analyzed to determine their level of maturity. Taking the results as a basis, elements of the corporate strategy which are supposed to influence the CR strategy are identified. During the next step, the goals which are being pursued with the CR strategy are defined. These ­results are used as a foundation to identify, in cooperation with ­management, success factors for every goal which are set for three years on the basis of goal values. The challenge of the CR success factors lies in creating the link to the corporate strategy. This is where the Detecon CR scorecard model can be used; it breaks down the success factors into the areas innovation, business, community, and sustainability,⁶ linking them with the corporate strategy. 

For example, the goal “implementation of green company” and the success factor “amount of savings in energy consumption” can be used to show transparently how the CR strategy “green-focused IT service provider” can contribute to the company’s success. The CR scorecard offers a way to link the success of the CR measures to the company’s economic success on this basis. Instead of being limited to charity activities, the CR strategy has a sustainable effect on the company’s success, thereby becoming an integral component of corporate strategy.