Opinion: Are Company CEOs Equipped to Fight Social Problems?

A Forbes contributor questions whether corporate CEOs have the skills and the inclination to take on issues like global warming, poverty, and human rights.

Business journalist Andrew Cave questions the conclusions of a new book by Alice Korngold, a social-responsibility consultant, which states that companies are better suited to fixing social problems than governments or nonprofits. In A Better World, Inc: How Companies Profit by Solving Global Problems Where Governments Cannot, Ms. Korngold points out efforts by Dow Chemical, Nike, Hewlett-Packard, AstraZeneca, and others to alleviate some of the world’s pressing issues.

But a study by the executive-search firm Heidrick & Struggles found European companies lacking in what it considers qualities of good governance, such as diversity of thought, strategic alignment and execution, and leadership talent.

Mr. Cave writes: “How can a board demonstrate diversity of thought when only 17 percent of European board directors are women, the average age of board members is 58, and only 30 percent of members are non-nationals to the company?”