Et si je vous disais que ces belles paroles n'émanent pas d'un contestataire utopiste de l'économie de marché? Ces jugements et conseils catégoriques, vous avez pu les lire dans une interview publiée par le quotidien économique français "Les Echos". Celui qui les énoncent, Ian Davis, est le directeur général de McKinsey. Il est donc à la tête de 7.500 consultants, installés dans 54 pays, travaillant pour les grandes et même les très grandes entreprises. C'est ce conseiller suprême qui prévient que désormais il est "vital pour l'entreprise de s'engager socialement". Vital: rien de moins. On n'en est plus aux "bonnes oeuvres" qui font sourire les mauvaises âmes. On est en plein dans la stratégie gagnante. Engagez-vous, rengagez-vous dans la Responsabilité Sociale et Environnementale: il y va de l'avenir de votre entreprise. C'est McKinsey qui vous le dit!

If I were to tell you…

If I were to tell you that company directors « are so obsessed with their duty to shareholders that they do not care about public opinion anymore », you would tell me that I have not understood how modern capitalism works at all and that I should look at the reality of the financial world. If I were to tell you: for a company « the primary goal is to earn money, but it must not be the only one », you would answer that having heard this a thousand times you wonder if the one who says this knows about multinationals. If I were to tell you that “companies should be more strongly committed to social responsibility and let it be known”, you would certainly agree with me but think – perhaps- that I should lose some illusions.

And if I were to tell you that these beautiful words do not come from a utopian challenger to market economy? You might have read this categorical judgment and advice, in an interview published by the French economic daily « Les Echos ». Their author, Ian Davis, is The General Manager of McKInsey. He therefore manages 7.500 consultants in 54 countries, working for large and even very large companies. It is this supreme consultant that warns us that from now on it is « vital for a company to be socially committed ». Vital: nothing less. We are not talking about “charitable work” that makes the not so charitable smile. We are talking about the winning strategy. Get involved in Social and Environmental Responsibility: It is the future of your company. McKinsey himself tells you so!