Daniel Franklin’s article in the Guardian: ‘Good Company - How will Britain’s economic downturn affect the business community’s ability to commit to corporate social responsibility?’ has become even more relevant this summer as every day another report states the latest hit on businesses due to the economic climate.

As the British and American economies turn down and corporate profits are squeezed, firms are bound to take a closer look at their CSR efforts and ask how much these really contribute to their business.

Leaders will be facing difficult questions regarding their financial responsibility to their stakeholders to ensure they survive. Inevitably they will feel pressure to divert funds away from philanthropy and environmental projects. But let us hope that despite this necessary evil they remember their social responsibility inherent in these increasingly crucial business decisions, not just because they should but because they need to. By keeping true to their values and working to their strengths, leadership teams can avoid the reputational risk of bad business and support their loyal employees in harder times. As Daniel Franklin puts it:

‘So harder economic times may help to sort out CSR… thoughtful companies will keep at it, with a keener understanding that CSR efforts needed to be sharply focused - and require hard work and careful implementation - if businesses are to live up to the increasingly common mantra of “doing well by doing good”.’