Had the Saints not engaged in corporate social responsibility, they likely would have abdicated a significant proportion of their market base.
Another example of corporate social responsibility is the recent campaign by Coca Cola to save polar bears, which are an endangered species. The polar bear effectively represents the mascot for the Coke brand, and so Coke has a (manufactured) affiliation with the species. By financially assisting the global effort to save polar bears, Coca Cola acts as corporate philanthropists while at the same time garnering positive publicity for their efforts. In this regard, good ethics are again equated with productive business (Burton, Goldsby, 2010).
Alternately, companies that disregard corporate social responsibility experience substantial corporate loss. For example, the Miami Marlins baseball team convinced the city of Miami to publicly fund their stadium, under the premise that they would spend ample amounts of money to field a competitive baseball team. After their stadium was funded the team spent...
The Marlins are now faced with a fan base that is hostile towards them, which will result in lower profits for the foreseeable future. Consequently, the team's poor ethics correspond with poor business profits.
Ethical practices in business are complex, as there are always businesses that engage in questionable ethics while reaping robust profits. However, sound business strategy ultimately mandates that businesses should exhibit more morally just ethics, including corporate social responsibility, in order to both benefit society and increase business profits.
References
Burton, K., Goldsby, M.G. (2010). The moral floor: A philosophical examination of the connection between ethics and business. Journal of Business Ethics, 91(1), 145-154.
Carroll, a.B., Shabana, K.M. (2010). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research, and practice. International Journal of Management Reviews, 2(1), 85-105.
