At least this is what the poll says. With no disrespect to the folks at Environics, I will say that I haven't seen this become a trend yet in the Canadian banking business. I suppose this is because we're not exactly well-loved by Canadians, regardless of our philanthropy, our human resource practices, our social responsibility. The question isn't whether a company can be both profitable and socially responsible. In the long term, you can't have one without the other.
Social responsibility is no longer something a company chooses to do or be.
It is becoming something the public expects. Businesses exist to make profits. In fact, we must make a profit so that we can continue to serve our customers' needs, provide employment, pay taxes, and contribute to a civic society. The more corporations can do to improve their societies, the more all of us will benefit. The material promoting this Forum described the challenges facing corporations in a highly competitive global marketplace, and seemed to imply that this increasingly complex environment has resulted in pressures to trade-off corporate social responsibility in lieu of shareholder profits.