www.csbj.com/story.cfm?ID=19994 -
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Published on: 6/6/2008
Last Visited: 6/6/2008
"Ten years ago the term didn't exist," said Jim Burton, office managing partner for Grant Thornton, Denver, an accounting, tax and business advisory organization."During the last five years, it has come into play as a form of management.Companies use it as part of their brand identity."
Heading the list of criteria for assessing corporate responsibility are compliance with environmental laws, conservation efforts, health and safety investigations of products and services, rates of employee injuries, fraud or corruption convictions, and energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, Burton said.
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Burton said that that not every aspect of responsibility has to be adopted â€" just the ones that are important to a business' customers.
"Active companies use it as a differentiator.And companies who don't integrate social responsibility will find themselves at a disadvantage," he said.
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Executives and companies need to take ownership of it," Burton said.