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By Emma Thomasson
January 27, 2012 10:42 AM EST
Under-fire businessmen are falling over themselves in Davos to show how sharing and caring they really are as they try to repair the tarnished image of the privileged "1 percent" but their detractors remain unconvinced.
"CEOs have a bigger job than ever because they both have to perform for their shareholders and perform for the world at large," said Mark Penn, chief executive of public relations firm Burson-Marsteller who advises top executives and politicians.
"For the clients I work with today, every one of them understands that companies have to be socially responsible ... This has gone from something that a lot of companies dismissed to recognised table stakes for every company."
Senior managers at the World Economic Forum (WEF) are debating what they can do to help address recent social unrest fuelled by the economic crisis as indebted governments cut spending and raise taxes to try to balance their budgets.
"There is a big push from this generation to go beyond profit," Liesel Pritzker Simmons, heiress to the Hyatt hotel fortune, said at a lunch event in Davos hosted by Swiss bank Credit Suisse to discuss trends in philanthropy.
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"It's not just that it is the flavour of the month or that it's cool. After experiencing the recent crisis at a relatively young age, I don't have confidence in traditional capital markets," said Pritzger, who helps run an educational charity.
JPMorgan Chase & Co
A study released this week by the Edelman public relations firm showed that trust in chief executives fell 12 points to 38 percent, its biggest drop in nine years, although confidence in government officials was even lower on only 29 percent.
"Business is now better placed than government to lead the way out of the trust crisis," said Richard Edelman. "But the balance must change so that business is seen both as a force for good and an engine for profit."
FORCE FOR GOOD?
Among the companies putting their money where their mouth is in Davos is Dutch food and chemicals group DSM
"With almost one billion people going to bed hungry every night, it is more important than ever before that we leverage private sector expertise to provide vulnerable populations with the right food," said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran.
Philanthropist-in-chief Bill Gates pledged a further $750 million to the troubled global AIDS fund on Thursday.
But Occupy protesters camping in igloos in Davos, who were turned back on Friday when they tried to enter the forum conference centre, are not convinced.
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