Companies walk the talk, plus lift spirits

SMU Associate Professor of Marketing (Education) Seshan Ramaswami said: "Employees, partners, suppliers, even clients and customers are all happier to associate and do business with a corporation with a human face, where there is at least some tangible, overt effort at making a direct contribution to society." He added that most companies do not do corporate responsibility activity quietly; there is some expectation of the public relations benefit in creating a warmer image of the firm. He was commenting on the increasing number of companies taking a more proactive approach to volunteerism.