Would IP be more financially successful if it were not so focused on social responsibility? Explain. What image comes to mind when you hear the words industrial corporation? Pollution-belching smoke stacks? Strip-mined landscapes? Chemicals seeping into water supplies? Now think about the words environmental steward. What comes to mind? Although that label might not seem compatible, the truth is that changes in regulations, combined with pressure from environmental and consumer groups, have forced most industrial companies to become more socially responsible. But at least one company has had social responsibility as a core value since it started business more than 110 years ago. That company is International Paper (IP). Today, it is considered by many to be the most socially responsible company in the world.