Measuring what matters in CSR programs

When McKinsey consultant Sheila Bonini examined in 2007 how mainstream investors viewed corporate social responsibility programs, she found a critical shortcoming: companies typically measure only their environmental, social, or governance impact—not their financial impact, which may be significant. In this August 2009 interview with McKinsey on Finance editor Dennis Swinford, Ms. Bonini describes her research and explains how a financial evaluation offers investors a clearer, more complete picture of a company’s overall performance and helps the company to prioritize its programs and to ameliorate deep-seated social and environmental challenges. Copyright 2009 McKinsey&Company. All rights reserved.