And so began a speech by John Paluszek, College of Communication visiting professional-in-residence, about businesses' struggle to consider both the bottom line and the greater good.,”

"A bird and a fish may fall in love, but they will have a tough time finding a place to live."

And so began a speech by John Paluszek, College of Communication visiting professional-in-residence, about businesses' struggle to consider both the bottom line and the greater good.

Paluszek delivered his lecture, entitled "Corporate Social Responsibility – Here and Around the World," Monday night to an audience of about 90 people.

Paluszek made it clear that corporate social responsibility is not charity. With elements such as human rights, working conditions, diversity and community relations, Paluszek described the model as a "delicate balance of fulfilling a fiduciary responsibility to the owners of the enterprise while improving external segments of society."

Though this relationship has been strained in the past, Paluszek said it is becoming widely accepted and even expected, with Fortune magazine running an article about the 25 "Most Admired Companies" and their efforts to improve corporate responsibility.

"It is increasingly becoming good business to take on these other responsibilities," he said.

But Paluszek also said taking on social problems is a daunting task, with a huge gap existing between the rich and poor in the world. According to statistics Paluszek provided, GDP per capita in the least developed countries is $298, while the world average is $5,174.

Additionally, while $900 billion is spent throughout the world on weapons, only $56 billion is spent on development assistance to the poor. In the U.S., 0.01 percent of GDP is spent on foreign aid.

"There is a real imbalance in the world," Paluszek said. "If you and I are going to be the difference, there's a lot of work to be done."

Paluszek also said the key to implementing change is cooperation.

"It must be a matter of partnerships of corporations with governments and non-government organizations around the world," he said.

While Paluszek acknowledged there are back drafts to corporate social responsibility, such as layoffs and cuts in benefits and pensions, they are also creating a social business community in which profits are secondary to social activism.

Audience members said they enjoyed Paluszek's speech.

Siew Ann Tai, a junior in the College of Communication and native of Malaysia, said the Power Point slides dealing with the United Nations' work with interdependence in the world were especially interesting.

"That's really what we're working toward, and one day I hope to see that happening," she said of the U.N. Millennium Goals that are in the process of mitigating inequalities between developed and developing countries.

Linda Menck, professional-in-residence in the advertising and public relations department, also said the lecture was motivational and informational.

"This topic needs to be included in all of our classes," Menck said. She said corporate responsibility could be covered in a class of its own, but also a variety of courses, such as design.

This semester, Paluszek is teaching a course at Marquette dealing with public relations and corporate social responsibility issues. Paluszek is also a senior counsel at Ketchum specializing in reputation management and corporate responsibility.

According to James Pokrywczynski, chair of the advertising and public relations department, Paluszek has lectured about corporate social responsibility on four continents and will travel to Africa this year to discuss the issue.

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