The co-authors provide a blueprint for on-the-ground managers of multinational corporations to create sustainable profits and reduce country risk by helping alleviate poverty.
Hiding in plain sight amidst a clear and convincing articulation of the business case for multinational corporations (MNCs) to advance poverty alleviation is, oddly enough, a diatribe against corporate social responsibility (CSR). Craig Wilson and Peter Wilson, the (unrelated) co-authors of Make Poverty Business ( Greenleaf 2006), attack CSR from the right (the business of business is business) and from the left--kind of. In essence, they say if true poverty alleviation is the ultimate goal, then a business initiative integrated into core operations that generates sustainable profits is a better solution than a CSR add-on that may be more intended to enhance reputation or appease stakeholders.
Hard to argue against, but many in the CSR community would say that the former solution--the integration of social (and/or environmental) considerations into core business operations-- is true CSR. Hollow public relations does sometimes masquerade as CSR and that sorely needs to be criticized. But the question arises, is the anti-CSR tirade necessary in a book on business's role in poverty alleviation?
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