为什么企业要帮助发展中国家的女性？可口可乐（Coca-Cola）自有一番道理，但可别指望慈善为怀那一套。

    两年前，这家碳酸饮料巨头宣布了一项宏伟的目标：到2020年要让500万贫困女性获得稳定的收入。同时，该公司还计划在2020年前为100多个国家的女性提供培训。

    领导这项计划的是夏洛特•欧迪斯，可口可乐提升女性经济能力全球总监——这是她真实的职位名称，但欧迪斯并不是一名不切实际的慈善家。她曾经是可口可乐英国业务的负责人，也曾担任过欧洲传讯负责人。她的主要工作是帮助可口可乐迈向另一个远大的目标：到2020年将收入翻番。可口可乐的逻辑是，投资于女性能够提升一个地区的经济，同时相应增加当地的购买力，这是一条已经得到实践验证的途径。

    “没有可持续的社区，就不可能做好生意，”欧迪斯说。可口可乐的培训计划包括在印度的旅行空调大巴Parivartan中提供研讨会，女性在家门口就有机会参加培训。该公司也在巴西提供金融研讨会，在南非为店主提供太阳能板，以便延长营业时间，保持饮料冰爽。欧迪斯表示，她希望将重点放在帮助女性获得稳定收入上能够比传统的慈善活动取得更长久的影响。她说：“归根结底，如果单纯只是给钱，是无法持久的。”

    10月初，欧迪斯参加了在加州拉古那尼克举办的《财富》杂志（Fortune）最具影响力女性峰会，与《财富》杂志高级特约编辑妮娜•伊斯顿和女权活动家爱丽斯•纳尔逊进行了探讨。 在会上，这两位女性都认为，公司为女性提供支持是有现实的理由。首先，有充足的证据证明社区得益于女性的成功。麻省理工学院（MIT）经济学家埃斯特•达弗罗的研究表明，如果女性赚了钱，她们相比男性更可能把钱花在食物上，而男性更喜欢用在吸烟喝酒上。女性将90%的收入投入家庭，而男性仅为30%至40%。

    这一数据也适用于更广泛的领域。世界银行（The World Bank）指出，消除对女性工作者的歧视将使得一些国家的生产率提高25%。高盛（Goldman Sachs）的一份报告估计如果在劳动场所对女性一视同仁，将使美国GDP增长9%。研究人员估计在马耳他等国家，在劳动市场实现性别平等将使GDP增长高达40%。

    拉里•萨默斯（算不上知名的女权主义者）在担任世界银行首席经济学家时说过：“投资女孩教育很可能是发展中世界回报率最高的投资。”

    但可口可乐也应当进行这样的投资吗？在有些圈子里，企业社会责任(CSR)正在受到抨击，往好了说是公关策略，往坏了说是对政府行动的扰乱或阻碍。即便如此，要求企业承担更多社会责任的呼声越来越高。随着全球经济增长的联系进一步紧密，企业在海外的影响甚至堪比外交官。与此同时，对政府机构的信赖却出现了下降。

    可口可乐在实施这项支持女性的计划时较为谨慎。该公司于两年前启动了这一计划，预计到2012年底将帮助约30.5万名女性实现经济独立——基本与目标保持一致。计划最初在4个国家推出，如今已扩展到12个国家。这是个很大的进步，特别是考虑到欧迪斯的下属只有两个人，外加她的助理。但是，可口可乐如果要实现100多个国家和500万女性的宏伟目标，仍有很长的路要走。

    初看上去，可口可乐的初期投资似乎不大。该公司拒绝透露在这项计划上付出了多少。但欧迪斯表示，只有两名下属（没有设立单独的部门），它本身就是一项资产。该项目获得了包括可口可乐首席执行官穆泰康在内的高管支持，他经常在公开场合宣传这一项目。欧迪斯在谈到这一使命时说：“除非把这个观点深深地刻在（高管）脑海里，否则真的难以实现。”

    Why should businesses help women in developing countries? Coca-Cola (KO) thinks it has a few good reasons, but don't expect anything too syrupy sweet.

    Two years ago, the soda conglomerate announced a big goal -- get 5 million underprivileged women a stable income by the year 2020. It has plans to train women in more than 100 countries by the end of the decade.

    Leading the charge is Charlotte Oades, the company's global director for women's economic empowerment -- that's her real title, but Oades isn't just a do-gooder. She was previously head of Coke's Great Britain business and was the communications chief for Europe. Her main job is to help Coke work toward another big goal, doubling its revenue by 2020. The company's logic is that investments in women are a proven way of boosting a region's economy and, in turn, increasing its buying power.

    "Unless you have a sustainable community, you can't have a business," Oades says. Coke's training programs include workshops in the "Parivartan," a traveling air-conditioned bus in India that can reach women in different areas without making them travel to attend. The company also does financial workshops in Brazil and provides solar paneling to store owners in South Africa who are looking to stay open longer and keep beverages cool. Oades says she hopes that the focus on giving women a shot at earning a stable income will have a longer lasting impact than traditional philanthropy. "At the end of the day, if you're just writing a check, that's not sustainable," she says.

    Oades spoke with Fortune senior editor-at-large Nina Easton and women's rights activist Alyse Nelson at Fortune's Most Powerful Women summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif. in early October. There, both women argued that there's a practical reason for companies to support women. For starters, there's ample evidence that communities benefit from women's success. When women earn money, they're more likely than men to spend it on food, while men are more likely to spend it on alcohol and tobacco, according to research by MIT economist Esther Duflo. Women will reinvest 90% of their income into the family, versus 30% to 40% for men.

    The data also apply on a broader scale. The World Bank has said that ending discrimination against female workers would increase productivity by 25% in some countries. A Goldman Sachs report estimated that equal female representation in the workplace would boost GDP by 9% in the United States. In countries such as Malta, researchers have estimated the GDP gains from gender equality in the labor market could be as high as 40%.

    Larry Summers (not exactly a noted feminist) put it this way when he was chief economist at the World Bank: "Investment in girls' education may well be the highest-return investment available in the developing world."

    But should Coke be the one making that investment? Corporate social responsibility has come under fire in some circles for being a PR tactic at best and, at worst, a distraction or deterrent from government action. Increasingly, though, there has been a call for companies to do more. As the world's economies grow more interconnected, corporations overseas can have as great an influence as diplomats. At the same time, faith in public institutions has ebbed.

    Coke has taken a careful approach with its campaign for women. It started the initiative two years ago, and expects to have helped some 305,000 women become economically independent by the end of 2012 – about on track with its target. The program first launched in four countries, and is in 12 today. That's big progress especially considering Oades's staff consists of only two other people, plus her assistant. However, there's still a long way to go to get to the more than 100 countries and 5 million women it hopes to reach.

    At first blush, it seems like Coke's initial investment is modest. The company declined to say how much it has spent on the effort. But Oades says that having just two staffers, rather than her own division, has been an asset. The project has support from senior executives, including CEO Muhtar Kent, who often gives it lip service in public appearances. "Unless you embed it [within the senior ranks]," Oades says of the mission, "it doesn't really get done."