We need to transform moral obligation into a moral motivation

By Ellen Moulton Yui

To address the major challenges facing the world today, from cleaning the environment to feeding the planet, to fomenting peace, we need all players at the table. Multinational corporations, which are increasingly supplanting the nation-state in terms of global impact, need to be welcomed for their potential. They need to sit alongside public sector representatives, activists, non-profits, investors and consumers. Getting that cornucopia of potential to the table will only be achieved by invitation, not excoriation. 

Too often I hear activists say we need to “shame” corporations and consumers into doing the right thing. But will shame drive participation or merely drive them away? If harangue and censure were effective motivators, sales and marketing divisions across the world would have adopted them as tactics centuries ago. In reality, shame only drives sales in porn. And sometimes the collection basket.

Are marketers cheapening CSR? I fear it’s getting watered down as a gimmick, akin to greenwashing. More and more, I’m hearing “CSR” used interchangeably for “PR.” For the noble causes embraced by CSR visionaries to take root and have a truly substantive, transformative, and wide-reaching effect, we need to elevate CSR from PR tactic to purpose. People within and without your organization need to be motivated to participate as if their very livelihood depended on it. 

We need to transform moral obligation into a moral motivation.

Where to start?  

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