tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40041878291720863632024-03-13T15:22:15.559-07:00Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ArticlesCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) articles by Justmeans Editorials on Justmeans.com.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-39485666557592608262010-10-08T03:11:00.000-07:002010-10-08T03:12:52.605-07:00CSR Weekly Articles Updates: Justmeans<a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3363/3276094005_a399529691.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3363/3276094005_a399529691.jpg" width="200" /></a><b>In defense of CSR</b> - <i>Akhila Vijayaraghavan<br />
</i><br />
Today I read something painfully ignorant in BrandLine, The Hindu Business Line's supplementary. The column by Harish Bijoor that is usually spot on and informative was a sad let down. Mr. Bijoor reckons that CSR is nothing more than branding and even those who "deny it soutly will admit it some day or the other."<br />
<br />
Bijoor goes on to say, "CSR helps organizations achieve a soft image for themselves." Many companies will beg to differ from this statement because we are seeing companies who are adopting the principles of CSR and retaining their 'hard' business edge and in many cases doing better for it. He elaborates by saying that a company that produce a traditionally unsustainable product "indulges in CSR to escape the guilt-trip the corporate organization finds itself on."<br />
<br />
<i><b>Post continues:</b></i> <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/In-defense-of-CSR/33777.html">http://www.justmeans.com/In-defense-of-CSR/33777.html</a><br />
<b><br />
CSR and Product Stewardship</b> - <i>Mary Sue Schmaltz</i><br />
<br />
It has long been a CSR principle that entities which profit along a product chain retain responsibility for the life-cycle impacts of their products and packaging materials. The U.S., however, has lagged behind in the institution of a federally mandated Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law also known as Product Stewardship.<br />
<br />
At their meeting in June 2010 held in Oklahoma City, the Environment Committee of the US Conference of Mayors put forward a resolution supporting both state and federal EPR legislation. Since the greater cost of waste and recycling end up being paid for by municipalities, the committee asserted that this cost burden is effectively a subsidy for producers. According to the Electronics Takeback Commission, e-waste recycling legislation has been passed in 23 states and is being introduced in several more. Earlier this year, the electronics industry filed a lawsuit against New York City's e-waste recycling law, but it was dismissed after the New York State Legislature passed a statewide e-waste law.<br />
<i><b><br />
Post continues:</b></i> <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-Product-Stewardship/33817.html">http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-Product-Stewardship/33817.html</a><br />
<br />
<b>CSR and Conflict Minerals</b> - <i>Mary Sue Schmaltz</i><br />
<br />
Supply chains and local working conditions are vitally important issues in CSR. Conflict minerals are an especially problematic area, as sourcing of raw materials can sometimes be difficult to discern. Soon, however, it will be mandatory for U.S. companies to adhere to new regulations geared towards creating transparency in the use of conflict minerals. Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act entrusts the SEC with establishing a regulatory framework as of April of 2011, which will require public companies to issue reports and be audited on their use of conflict minerals. In light of the complexity inherent in ascertaining which mining operations are controlled by rebels, USAID and the State Department have been directed to map out the constantly shifting conflict territories and guide companies in this process.<br />
<br />
The viciousness of the civil war provoked by the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone in the 1990's, brought global awareness to the issue of conflict diamonds. It became glaringly evident that the appetite of western consumers for diamonds was financing these and other violent insurgencies in Angola, Liberia, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the Republic of Congo. All of these countries are now part of the Kimberely Process which was instituted after much deliberation in 2003, under the auspices of the United Nations. In order to filter out conflict diamonds from the legitimate diamond trade, the process entails the acquisition of validated government certificates for both rough and polished diamonds and requires that they be transported in tamper proof containers. As a result of this certification process, almost 99% percent of traded diamonds are now considered to be conflict-free.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Post continues:</b></i> <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-Conflict-Minerals/33814.html">http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-Conflict-Minerals/33814.html</a><br />
<br />
<b>CSR - the devil's in the detail</b> - <i>Sarah Brown</i><br />
<br />
Marks and Spencer - the iconic British retailer and pioneer of so many successful CSR initiatives, has come up with another thoughtful idea. They have announced a way of making their clothing labels more sustainable. From next year they will be made from recycled polyester.<br />
<br />
It is this level of attention to detail which is so impressive in this initiative, as in many of M&S's CSR ideas.<br />
<br />
Care labels on clothing may seem small and insignificant, but as M&S has pointed out, when you multiply one label by 300 million (the amount which will be produced from the new materials) its impact is obvious.<br />
<br />
The labels (which represent around two-thirds of all those produced for M&S) will be produced from around 200 million recycled plastic drinks bottles. These will replace labels made of 'virgin' polyester, which requires oil for its production.<br />
<br />
The fact that the new labels will mean less need for fossil fuel based plastics, gives this CSR practice credibility.<br />
<br />
Making clothing out of recycled plastic (which has long been the case with fleece jackets and is coming into vogue for football shirts) is not always the most sustainable option. This is because it is always better to opt for 'closed-loop' recycling. That is, turning the used product back into the same thing - a plastic bottle back into a plastic bottle, for example. This uses far less energy and is consequently better for the environment. You can easily, for example, make a football shirt out of cotton. If it is organically grown and fairly traded then cotton is a sustainable material. There is actually no need to make a football shirt out of plastic bottles.<br />
<i><b><br />
Post continues:</b></i> <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-devil-s-in-detail/33729.html">http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-devil-s-in-detail/33729.html</a>Justmeanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09836521335625260861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-79706296994510855632010-05-05T02:19:00.000-07:002010-05-05T02:22:14.595-07:00Mining Problems<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxn-_m-pMMS8rXdqmAYWLAdFi4Ksx3UEmedG3nr_Lla-dCCz8oCMRJXWnOdrCZdaCin_a9Vx3iV2zPL6g95m_YHHdNPER8rfhudnl3jjatb1LwH6wiBOcXSJkydkc7FWrTjRQoJMLN2Ss/s1600/mining+problem.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 03px 00px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxn-_m-pMMS8rXdqmAYWLAdFi4Ksx3UEmedG3nr_Lla-dCCz8oCMRJXWnOdrCZdaCin_a9Vx3iV2zPL6g95m_YHHdNPER8rfhudnl3jjatb1LwH6wiBOcXSJkydkc7FWrTjRQoJMLN2Ss/s320/mining+problem.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467713733118335026" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">April of 2010 will always be remembered as a sad time for the mining industry. Only five days into this month, the news media was scoured with articles about the terrible explosion that claimed the lives of 29 people. Follow up reports continue to pour in, each revealing egregious oversights on the part of Massey Energy. It is horrible to think that such a tragedy could --- and should--- have been prevented.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Should investors in Massey Energy have known better than to keep their money tied up in such a problematic investment? In fact, investors are often shielded from the information they need to make responsible decisions. Over the course of one week this month, I published a series of articles that hopefully provided some perspective on standards for this industry. In fact, multi-stakeholder groups have provided significant input to guide and shape the industry.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Hopefully this guidance is starting to be heeded.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Unfortunately, not every company feels that it needs to be a leader in corporate responsibility, which is the real problem.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">You will notice that Massey Energy is not included on any of the lists of mining companies affiliated with initiatives for reforming the mining industry (see “Responsible Mining Industry Initiatives”, published on the Justmeans CSR editorial page on April 21</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">st</span></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">). No big surprise, but a good reminder that corporate commitments to ethical standards are far from pervasive at this point in time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Photo credit: </span></span><a href="http://www.infomindeva.ro/revistaminelor/images/poze_revista/subteran.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">infomindeva</span></span></a></i></span></p>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-48928993034707269932010-05-04T09:02:00.000-07:002010-05-04T09:06:55.847-07:00CSR Hero: Jeffrey Hollender “Tax Me More!”<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxvrEMbk-TRIzn1E3zo2YGBJ28jMq6uYS9KjSTKCD6iLZgk3y-logyVc5q-Gm2Aoh8CYWfgooRj8MB7cSB7ELnaTA-Duktg3WQmdStJE6sZyiums-yuahPQxJbxgKP0Kda3v-ZipwLx0P/s1600/counting+money.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 03px 00px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 151px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxvrEMbk-TRIzn1E3zo2YGBJ28jMq6uYS9KjSTKCD6iLZgk3y-logyVc5q-Gm2Aoh8CYWfgooRj8MB7cSB7ELnaTA-Duktg3WQmdStJE6sZyiums-yuahPQxJbxgKP0Kda3v-ZipwLx0P/s320/counting+money.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467446471413787714" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Although reluctant to award </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Can-Seventh-Generation-s-CSR-lessons-influence-mainstream/10864.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Jeffrey Hollender</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> any </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-Heroes-Gary-Hirshberg-of-Stonyfield-Farm/12086.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">more credit</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> than he already receives in droves, his most recent initiative is charming. Hollender teamed with other millionaires and have been organized by a group called United for a Fair </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/-Inspired-Economy/393.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Economy</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> to advocate for higher taxes on the wealthy- taxes that they would be subject to pay. The group is especially persuasive in requests to Congress to repeal the Bush era tax cuts for Americans making more than $250,000, since they are Americans making more than $250,000. The move signals an awareness of corporate social responsibility growing in wealthy Americans, in and outside the office.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Prior to this time, c-level management has been almost certainly anti-tax, and has lobbied accordingly, and aggressively to keep </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/-No-representation-without-taxation-vice-versa/12772.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">taxes</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> down. This new movement is completely unique. Apparently Hollender isn’t the only one who minds raising taxes… according to the Washington Post quoting United for a Fair Economy executive director Brian Miller, almost 65% of Americans making over $250,000 a year would not oppose higher taxes on themselves.</span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Whether moved by guilt over inherited wealth or being born into entitlement, or by some other compulsion, the millionaires’ request for more taxes does point to a fundamental inequity in American tax law. Though called “progressive”, the tax code costs those making less a larger proportion of their income. For example, people making $40,000/year will feel the impact of $3000 in taxes more acutely than someone making $2 million year who is taxed $30000 (not to imply these are their tax rates; both are probably paying at least double what I suggested).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Secondly, unearned income such as capital gains enjoys a much lower tax rate than wages do. In this way, working people pay more, and investors pay less, perpetuating the logical trend that the investment-class will grow wealth at a faster rate than the working-class will. This, combined with the fact that every basis point of tax costs the non-millionaire more, literally and figuratively, creates a system that is unfair on its face. The idea behind this tax type of tax treatment was to incentivize investment; whether investment really needs incentives more than workers need to be able to keep more of their paycheck is a question worth revisiting. Would </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Lessons-from-Wall-Street-Was-Gordon-Gecko-Right-All-Along/288.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Wall St.</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> break down under a higher capital gains tax? Where can I place bets for absolutely not?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">CSR does not end with the workday. While it’s great to see companies increasingly adopting CSR strategies, policies, and changes business processes- strike that- while it’s awesome to see companies adopting more CSR strategy, it is even better to see </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/-Undercover-boss-Highlights-CSR-on-TV/10851.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">management internalize the CSR</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> principles in their daily lives. Corporate social responsibility is greatly influenced by CEO </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Wrong-about-leadership/5574.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">leadership</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> and personal fortitude; company ethics and culture are administered from the top. Thus when c-level management can reform personal priorities for the public interest, it becomes much more likely that they will align their professional lives with CSR as well.</span></span></p>Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-82824288675830889772010-05-04T08:52:00.000-07:002010-05-04T08:56:53.466-07:00Website review: Eurocommerce’s CSR bridge<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvNU9IJ72LdDodoNpgQDiavQ2d-1_yG2ivzdf2pIiIbQ3a5eF40gU0kI9TvS__byPxGBzMnlfARMvxkNBUpZwn2lKvu_17yeGAKilBGIHGFJVghCQzX9OWKCr_mpHkj7VX-GQwG_YEKKe/s1600/1275397_12558686.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 03px 00px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvNU9IJ72LdDodoNpgQDiavQ2d-1_yG2ivzdf2pIiIbQ3a5eF40gU0kI9TvS__byPxGBzMnlfARMvxkNBUpZwn2lKvu_17yeGAKilBGIHGFJVghCQzX9OWKCr_mpHkj7VX-GQwG_YEKKe/s320/1275397_12558686.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467444340409304002" /></a><p class="MsoNormal">EuroCommerce, a trade association for European businesses, has launched a platform for <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Frontier-CSR/7925.html">European</a> companies to gather virtually, learn <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/What-is-Carbon-Cap-Trade-In-Europe-In-US-Part-1/9738.html">best CSR practices</a>, and advance the state of CSR. The effort is designed to further <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Where-s-Smoot-An-Upset-Victory-for-Global-Cooperation-Reduces-Financial-Risk/10990.html">connect</a> companies to their stakeholders, critics and thought leaders to advance CSR in <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Inspiration-from-Rothbury-UK/638.html">Europe</a>. And, most importantly, the website is to showcase successful CSR activity in an effort to preempt regulation that makes CSR activity mandatory.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This website does serve more than an innocuous, <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/70-of-Consumers-willing-pay-more-for-CSR/12007.html">CSR</a> promoting purpose; it was made to show European regulators how good businesses are at regulating themselves, and to inform them of the scope of initiatives voluntarily in place. Indeed, a EuroCommission press release calls on EU legislators to “safeguard voluntary nature of CSR initiatives”. So, the website is political –to keep legislators from forcing businesses into compliance- but that’s fine. A recent study showed that risk officers most fear the risk posed by the regulatory environment; CSR plays an important role in staving off regulation, to the extent that it can.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The EuroCommission’s website notes that it wants to show “tangible results” of the success of <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Have-a-CSR-date-night/12084.html">CSR</a> initiatives in Europe. This website seems to be the first effort to do so. Unfortunately, it also cites the EuroCommissions’ most recent achievements as being in 2006, suggesting that European <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-Hero-Campaign-for-a-Commercial-Free-Childhood/13321.html">CSR</a> is not as lively as the EuroCommission would like its website’s visitors to believe.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Nonetheless, the website is potentially an excellent repository for CSR data and information. It’s not there yet- but the framework indicates that it could be. The site offers brief case studies in <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-Heroes-Gary-Hirshberg-of-Stonyfield-Farm/12086.html">CSR</a> strategy, white papers and research, and pages that appear to be created by companies. These sections need to be bulked up and enhanced to include multinational players. Although the site purports to facilitate communication between firms and their stakeholders, there is not chat or forum functionality yet. So- how are they to communicate?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">EuroCommission’s intention with the website is clear, and the strategy is generally admirable, but the execution is incomplete. The website would benefit from more information about <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Privacy-CSR-Facebook-Fails-Users-Once-Again/13760.html">CSR</a>, as well as more deeper case briefs- real proof that CSR is working in Europe. A means of creating profiles would also help the EuroCommision site to actually become a hub for CSR information and collaboration, as would adding chat functions. In short- it will take functionality enhancement to get turn the EuroCommission CSR website into the CSR thought-emporium it aspires to be. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Author: <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/newsfeed/AmeliaTimbers">Amelia Timbers</a></p>Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-1465533475272716472010-05-04T08:24:00.000-07:002010-05-04T08:48:45.174-07:00Anti CSR: Oh Goldman; Sweet, Goldman<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDgI7HbAHin9a3_hjei_f8i_WfSUXqDJQxJyocrruJZxAI9C3O8Jq2tDnFEi1XR9ixOStwn0shmJ11jkOZ7SusPHASOy1gd72H5fFLovjCiAT3uUNjm6sT1UcliAc0XR-O58vXCRuZMqC/s1600/590976_64107836.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 04px 00px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDgI7HbAHin9a3_hjei_f8i_WfSUXqDJQxJyocrruJZxAI9C3O8Jq2tDnFEi1XR9ixOStwn0shmJ11jkOZ7SusPHASOy1gd72H5fFLovjCiAT3uUNjm6sT1UcliAc0XR-O58vXCRuZMqC/s320/590976_64107836.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467442184975288674" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">How can we escape discussing Goldman Sachs’ </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/SEC-v-Goldman-Who-Wins-Why-Part-1/13233.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">swift share price collapse</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> this week in the context of CSR? The </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/SEC-v-Goldman-Who-Wins-Why-Part-2/13263.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">federal civil claim</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> plus a potential criminal claim indicate the beginning of the pain for Goldman; European governments are reportedly considering similar legal action, </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Battle-of-Superpowers-Google-vs-China/7580.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">China</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> has taken a stance against them, and they will face private actions. GoldmanSachs joins </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Is-Toyota-steering-American-health-care-industry-wrong-way/9916.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Toyota</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, Enron, WR Grace, 2005 GlaxoSmithKline, Merrill Lynch to some extent, Worldcom, Pfizer, Monsanto and other companies whose reprehensible actions landed them in the corporate social responsibility hall of infamy. We have something to learn from these firms.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Americans, even in the lat twenty five years, have seen these patterns play out enough times to be familiar with them. Fraud and cover-ups come in recognizable cycles:</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Big growth of a promising, innovative company. Ivy league management, lots of press.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Steady business for a period of time.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Bigger growth! Records break, more press, more money.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Grumblings from consumer protection groups.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">An initial scandal, well managed, diffused, tucked away.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Followed by a disastarous scandal that affects and harms many.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Government rebuke, congressional hearings, apologies, tears, etc.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Regulation.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Business adapts and evolves; new company, big growth…</span></span></li></ul><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The companies that end up involved in national and international fraud scandals typically share similar traits: unchecked focus on short-term gain, a complete disregard for whom they may harm, and leadership that nurtures both qualities. Most importantly, all companies involved in major fraud in the last 100 years failed their </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Being-Your-Own-Business-Owner/6668.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">customers</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. In a chicken-egg problem, do fraudulent companies stop serving customers because they are fraudulent, or is it this failure of core business that leads to the fraud? Had any of these companies continued to delivering on their mission statements and provide valuable products that benefited their customers lives, they would never have gotten into the positions they are in.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/FDA-Aims-Protect-Consumer-Health-With-Label-Warnings/10326.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Consumer harm</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> is always paired with companies that disregarded their own customers. Sometimes, this disregard is precipitated by great success; when companies have vast cash reserves, there is less hunger to please the customer, the entrepreneurial spirit dies. Successful businesses come to see their customers as inputs, receivables, tools. The dehumanizing effect growth has on customers when companies grow rapidly is well understood; this is why people typically expect a drop in quality once a firm goes national, when bands sign with a major label, etc. However, if firms could just focus on the customer, be obsessed with the </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/-Happy-New-Year-but-what-is-happiness/6375.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">customer’s happiness</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> despite their size, they would already be well on their way to social responsibility.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Profit is alluring; however, business does not exist for profit. Business, as a societal function, exists for people, to benefit people, to meet needs. As soon as a business starts meeting its own needs ahead of its customers’, the fraud, in a small way, begins.</span></span></p><p></p>Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-18944900098068608862010-05-04T08:18:00.000-07:002010-05-04T08:28:15.315-07:00BP to fisherman: clean up our mess<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HHl32md9oqRSE6v6vTvx7h-K4_Z8XoSLVGDtt2Y-DMjdB3H1pvyxddt4DquJsvIa1nzXNrI7Wtalh-xKuOoWs5d368TkQU8_QZzbxDYoW4Je9L9qShtRcPEDKmzYi00pGoF0cOEQlnrH/s1600/464816_73084479.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HHl32md9oqRSE6v6vTvx7h-K4_Z8XoSLVGDtt2Y-DMjdB3H1pvyxddt4DquJsvIa1nzXNrI7Wtalh-xKuOoWs5d368TkQU8_QZzbxDYoW4Je9L9qShtRcPEDKmzYi00pGoF0cOEQlnrH/s320/464816_73084479.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467436904829350354" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Part of the problem with ecosystem collapse is that the markets related to different components of the ecosystem collapse as well. The Gulf Mexico has experienced diminishing fish stocks for decades, and a similarly depressed economy. The economy was further harmed by Katrina, and now will be retarded even further by the decimating effect </span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Root-Causes-of-Gulf-Oil-Spill/13825.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">BP’s oil spill</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"> will have on the region’s remaining fish stocks. Fishermen in the region have been rapidly trying to retrain as crisis management workers to assist BP in cleaning up the very spill that will likely put the fisherman out of business in the area for decades. What’s</span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Unnatural-Disasters/13786.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">BP’s responsibility</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"> when their negligence eliminates the only regional economic activity there is?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">According to the </span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/State-of-Planet-2010-Public-Outrage-What-s-Up-with-Climate-Change-Legislation/11997.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Exxon Valdez precedent</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">, the region will take decades to even partially recover. The Prince Edward Sound has never been the same since the Exxon Valdez ran aground. The salmon stocks have never rebounded and fishermen went bankrupt. The tourism industry, which relied greatly on the pristine environment, was dashed. One report put preliminary damage at $580 million dollars in 1992 dollars; Exxon ultimately paid out only $570 million in punitive damages.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">When a company takes on high risk activity such as producing and transporting oil, social responsibility has not, thus far, not been be much of a consideration. As far as corporate social responsibility has come, tree planting and donations to charity don’t mitigate the big disasters. Few businesses in high risk businesses have successfully implemented CSR initiatives either. BP is a great example; they offer vast greenwashing, but little has positively changed about their oil production business.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">In cases where CSR fails to alter firm behavior, </span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Can-FTC-stop-companies-from-greenwashing/9847.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">laws</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"> must step in. Currently, the U.S. does not have laws strong enough to send the financial signal that would motivate fundamental change in firm business practices. This was made especially true when the Supreme Court reduced the punitive damages in Exxon Valdez from $4.5 billion, which would have sent that message, to a paltry $570 million, which did not. BP is surely relying on this precedent to protect them from the legal fall out of the current spill.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Where firms cannot find a way to motivate themselves to be preemptively </span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Can-Manufacturing-Giant-Alcoa-Be-Socially-Responsible/8885.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">socially responsible,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"> they must be forced to take full responsibility for the entire scope of economic disruption their business operation incurs. Firms whose business practices manage to destroy an entire economy should be obligated to make those economies whole to the best of their ability, even if it compromises the financial integrity of the firm. Each of the gulf fisherman affected by this disaster should be able to relatively easily claim lost wages for at least five years from BP, not be forced to beg for a job from them now that BP has destroyed the economy.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Don’t get me wrong; I love </span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-Hero-Campaign-for-a-Commercial-Free-Childhood/13321.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">CSR</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">. But like other things I love, I also see its limitations. CSR isn’t enough for the big problems; for the GoldmanSachs; for BPs; for the Toyotas. For that, you need laws that unflinchingly harsh consumer protection consequences that force companies to fully cover the harm they cause, and to actually discourage this behavior in the future.</span></p>Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-60008120178252865082010-04-19T01:08:00.000-07:002010-04-19T01:11:47.963-07:00Questioning Green Certification<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGzu2tFVw8YvmfzsNH1mohKZ3ZUhPAbDY076HAA4vmWxy3zghRClzPacSCyEPpKQeZqALg-Cfl8zu0Feg8APmkbHA57dA4mJrsMO0SyelwXS6Wa1im_bjG-2Yti4dcqlsjCmSCD_ocsL45/s1600/Green+Certification.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 03px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 219px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGzu2tFVw8YvmfzsNH1mohKZ3ZUhPAbDY076HAA4vmWxy3zghRClzPacSCyEPpKQeZqALg-Cfl8zu0Feg8APmkbHA57dA4mJrsMO0SyelwXS6Wa1im_bjG-2Yti4dcqlsjCmSCD_ocsL45/s320/Green+Certification.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461758212243736610" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Last Friday, I posted a short piece about </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Energy-Star-A-Black-Eye-for-Green-Certification/12906.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Energy Star, the U.S</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. certification assigned to appliances supposedly demonstrating exemplary eco-efficiency.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As my post explained, a small scandal erupted at the end of March, when the New York Times published an article revealing that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) had managed to secure Energy Star certification for fifteen products that don’t actually exist.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The EPA seems to have spent the month scrambling to put in place a set of checks and balances to prevent against further embarrassment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">One reader of my Energy Star piece commented that she was not surprised by what happened since she has never fully trusted certifications.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">But what is a normal run-of-the-mill consumer trying to do the right thing (while saving money) to do WITHOUT certifications to guide him or her?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Aren’t labels a necessary tool?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">While certifications provide valuable shorthand for people trying to find products that meet certain standards, it is important for consumers to consider what each label ACTUALLY represents.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">For example, if you are in the market for a refrigerator and desire one that saves energy, take the time to do figure out what attributes you are seeking and determine if there are additional ways to come by this information.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As the Energy Star saga illustrates, Consumer Reports is one good source for information, but the internet has many more.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On that note, I would welcome suggestions from readers.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What online resources do you trust for sustainability-related product information and why?</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-34019810198892336732010-04-12T01:15:00.000-07:002010-04-12T01:19:47.455-07:00Branching out<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0baEmMrvfzxC5WVQ7OZG0QHym7oT5LtHkdbWs3FBxH48ehv0QhYrkIeJ2-0QUms_BXNcpa7Vo7KRIpyLbCFpHsNR0CCQnvLrMGspu1Nf7xspl-UgdahBqe-_vMaGP0Lzrm9hFrWCceUmk/s1600/Branching+out.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 03px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 223px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0baEmMrvfzxC5WVQ7OZG0QHym7oT5LtHkdbWs3FBxH48ehv0QhYrkIeJ2-0QUms_BXNcpa7Vo7KRIpyLbCFpHsNR0CCQnvLrMGspu1Nf7xspl-UgdahBqe-_vMaGP0Lzrm9hFrWCceUmk/s320/Branching+out.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459162671902861010" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Now that I have covered all of the major 2010 CSR rankings currently on my radar, I could certainly sit back and wait for the next crop to come out. Newsweek has still to present its 2010 edition, and a number of lists I haven’t yet explored have yet to publish as well (the Covalence and Access to Medicine Index are among those I am looking forward to).</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In the meantime, I have started taking a slightly different approach, comparing basic CSR lists to a variety of other types of rankings.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Doing so offers some interesting insights.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">For example, juxtaposing the Best Places to Work ranking with other CSR rankings offers the insight that a good CSR program may not be as central to satisfying to employees as CSR practitioners like to suggest, since only twenty percent of companies on the list appeared in even one of the CSR rankings I studied.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">By contrast, comparing Fortune Magazine’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” (which, by the way, is disconcertingly heavy on U.S. companies) with the rankings suggests that CSR recognition and general reputation may go hand-in-hand.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Thirty-eight of the fifty companies selected by Fortune made it onto at least one of the five CSR lists I examined, indicating a reasonably strong relationship (N.B. that I am not making any assertions about causality!).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">More to come, and as usual, please pass on your suggestions for additional CSR rankings to explore.</span></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-88974206292261844702010-04-05T04:35:00.000-07:002010-04-05T04:43:51.191-07:00Call for CSR Consumer Insights Data<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcSUG3sB_E9_vYm4qs7oIDZLd3rMXJ7pOybRq2HzG2fRWptw13uRb8_DOOoOuf3LzMwxCtZAW0FYdQmQscuUt4fCqkX3TgsY8oLaIrQPhhyllBcG4Iet03r_egjffpHH86nG4IPAitpeH/s1600/Call+for+CSR+Consumer+Insights+Data.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 03px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcSUG3sB_E9_vYm4qs7oIDZLd3rMXJ7pOybRq2HzG2fRWptw13uRb8_DOOoOuf3LzMwxCtZAW0FYdQmQscuUt4fCqkX3TgsY8oLaIrQPhhyllBcG4Iet03r_egjffpHH86nG4IPAitpeH/s320/Call+for+CSR+Consumer+Insights+Data.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456617371431319314" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In a </span></span><a href="http://goodwork4csr.blogspot.com/2010/04/upcoming-csr-posts.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">recent post</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, I laid out some of the topics I plan to cover in my Justmeans blog this month. I’d like to add one more to the list, and am interested in soliciting your help.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">One of the concerns I have seen while working on this blog is a lack of good consumer insights data. I am currently doing research into different market research databases relevant to this topic and would welcome any information readers can offer on data resources for those interested in this topic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Why is this important? As I hinted in my Justmeans post on the Ethical Sourcing Forum Conference (see “</span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Ninety-Nine-Years-after-Triangle-CSR-in-Factories/11700.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ninety-Nine Years after Triangle: CSR in Factories</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">”, published on the 26</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">th</span></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> of March), one of the big disconnects hindering the advancement of workers’ rights is the fact that companies can’t monetize their efforts in any way.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Guarding against human rights abuses is an important tactic for minimizing reputational risk, but wouldn’t it be great if companies taking superior measures to protect the workers in their supply chains could increase revenues as a result of their good efforts? Unfortunately, the word on the CSR street is that consumers don’t want to hear sad stories when buying products, making it counterproductive for firms to share information about their social compliance work. Is this true? And is there any sort of modified messaging that would counteract this problem?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ah, if only we had data to guide how consumers REALLY receive this kind of CSR information! If you are in a position to share comprehensive data on this subject, please connect with me through the Justmeans website.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Photo credit: </span></span><a href="http://ocw.osaka-u.ac.jp/contents/50/data.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ocw.osaka-u.ac</span></span></a></i></p>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-79029918754908825182010-04-05T04:16:00.000-07:002010-04-05T04:21:19.177-07:00Upcoming CSR posts<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0An41xSxWr_D873rVMpHlm8nM1_6hXjidb3ZnYPNvbFVMPVgaOez3ntoXW2GMB9WPdd5vUf5v1AsXTxLwLwx1Vgv2kg38oSkB6anSAZ0GX9tO5C4BESkUt_BBrdwMrKueDfgn5LGjenlp/s1600/Upcoming+CSR+posts.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 03px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0An41xSxWr_D873rVMpHlm8nM1_6hXjidb3ZnYPNvbFVMPVgaOez3ntoXW2GMB9WPdd5vUf5v1AsXTxLwLwx1Vgv2kg38oSkB6anSAZ0GX9tO5C4BESkUt_BBrdwMrKueDfgn5LGjenlp/s320/Upcoming+CSR+posts.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456611872077513410" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It has been a lot of fun keeping up with your questions!</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In March, my blog on Justmeans covered a wide range of topics, with posts covering sustainability indices, CSR rankings, games companies play in reporting on their greenhouse gas emissions, a conference on ethical sourcing, a new book on CSR, and a database of information that will freak you out.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">If this kind of stuff excites you, stay tuned for April, which should offer a rich array of new topics.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">While I don’t plan out my posts for the month too far in advance, I thought I would offer a preview of two of the key areas I plan to cover in April.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">First, I have received some questions about how the approaches of different CSR rankings and sustainability indices compare to one another, so plan to spend some time delving into methodologies.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Second, some people have asked me questions as of late about standards for measuring greenhouse gas emissions, so expect to do at least one piece on measurement and reporting frameworks.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Finally, on a related note, it seems appropriate to spend some time talking about carbon markets and how they relate to CSR.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What else?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">That’s somewhat up to you, so please send me emails through Justmeans if you have special requests for CSR-related topics you’d like to see me cover in my blog.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-44368774819300918082010-04-05T03:47:00.000-07:002010-04-05T03:50:22.696-07:00Financial reform bill suggest CSR failures<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6TX-ZMeJxTyxFOsMtYi3PoSdqE46OiOV63dw3GFztIds7saqVxolG2fjboh7T94FI7jqC8aOTVOVSxtB6etLhRe8lzZGhSkWOl45OPXyKR8TG1Lw09VcLpTGMNg8Jb5VKDua5jTqH6JL/s1600/Financial+reform+bill+suggest+CSR+failures.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 02px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6TX-ZMeJxTyxFOsMtYi3PoSdqE46OiOV63dw3GFztIds7saqVxolG2fjboh7T94FI7jqC8aOTVOVSxtB6etLhRe8lzZGhSkWOl45OPXyKR8TG1Lw09VcLpTGMNg8Jb5VKDua5jTqH6JL/s320/Financial+reform+bill+suggest+CSR+failures.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456603813870918018" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">If CSR is about self-regulation, then industries that face regulation should view government regulation as a function of their own failure to preempt laws with socially responsible market behavior. After all, if corporations were considering the public interest, if they were acting responsibly, there wouldn’t be a need for consumer protection laws at all. However, there was (and still is) insufficient consideration of corporate responsibility as it relates to financial transactions in financial sector operations. The financial sector must move from “Greed is good” to “Serving customers is good”, and perhaps then to “Acting responsibly towards the economy is good”. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Financial sector must focus on adding value</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The financial sector’s problem began when finance stopped being about providing a product to customers. Instead, finance became about </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Is-Financial-Innovation-Constructive-or-Destructive/10385.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">figuring out ways to make the most</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> money possible as quickly as possible. The </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/A-Manhattan-Project-for-Finance/1206.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">maximum profit goal</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> is only occasionally related to the need to serve customers. In fact, based on the data, customers of active managers may end up losing money when the money manager doesn’t make enough gains to cancel out inflation and the fees they deduct from client funds. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The data also indicates that, on the whole, investors will do just as well by investing in passive funds, like ETFs, that just let money grow with the market naturally. Indeed, statistics show that even top managers only “win” in the market around 50% of the time; that is to say, managers whose investment decisions are 50/50 are prized. Most investors can make financial choices that benefit them 50% of the time; one does not need a financial professional to do that. The value of money managers – to society- is thus debatable.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Financial sector should bear higher fiduciary duties</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Sustainable-Finance-in-Present-Financial-Crisis/4206.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">financial crisis</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> showed that the souring of risky investment choices for firms, often with their own money, had a serious ripple effect of detriment on the entire economy, and on a national and international scale. In this way, participants in the financial sector must realize that they not only bear the burden of adding value to customers’ portfolios, but they also are each playing a role in safeguarding the entire economy. In the same way that a careless foodworker can poison and kill hundreds of people, a careless financier can do as much damage to life savings, retirement, college funds, etc. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Further, disturbances in the economy has a much stronger tendency to continue to ripple- to continue to cause more and more effects. So where a foodworker’s negligence may lead to harm, etc, those deaths won’t (usually) cause more harm. Whereas in the financial sector, one harmful event triggers a chain of harm.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">No lessons learned- firms that caused crises fighting reforms</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Thus although the very financial firms that caused (and profited from) the financial crisis are now fighting reform, there is no alternative when firms so obviously lack the discipline to be socially responsible on their own. One day, perhaps we will have a financial sector that again </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Put-people-at-heart-of-finance/1098.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">serves and facilitates the economy</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> rather than manipulating it.</span></span></p>Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-6020427594266869022010-04-05T03:39:00.000-07:002010-04-05T03:46:41.821-07:00Banks Initiate Green CSR Campaigns<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLZEU7jR0QONXjJNdOrmZ8JQykQcYpFcDzNhzSGR2Ou7hxrpu4Xx9gH-CqHss954Qdw0wx5J2fz3zbyYETAGL_S38xRAdGyynNDaxPbYbVK2DOtBtbwBhaz6yBj6h3Dlz6Aia9LPaoMzmt/s1600/Banks+Initiate+Array+of+Sustainability+Campaigns.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 03px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLZEU7jR0QONXjJNdOrmZ8JQykQcYpFcDzNhzSGR2Ou7hxrpu4Xx9gH-CqHss954Qdw0wx5J2fz3zbyYETAGL_S38xRAdGyynNDaxPbYbVK2DOtBtbwBhaz6yBj6h3Dlz6Aia9LPaoMzmt/s320/Banks+Initiate+Array+of+Sustainability+Campaigns.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456602278118690146" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">No sooner had I reported on </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Wells-Fargo-Deploys-CSR-Multiplier-Effect/11606.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Wells Fargo’s green financing</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> track record than I stumbled over an article in American Banker describing the impressive sustainability activity of four other banks. These inspiring actions show the many ways in which banks of varying asset size can be sustainable and good for society. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Citigroup</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Despite </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Is-Financial-Innovation-Constructive-or-Destructive/10385.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Citi’s</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> ‘on the edge’ status in terms of whether it will fail or not, the bank has been able to do a lot of excellent work in sustainability. Citi’s size allows it to make infrastructure investments in </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/This-Week-s-CSR-Round-Up/3046.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">cleantech</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> in ways smaller banks can’t, as well as to finance larger scale green projects. One area Citi has focused on is “sustainable IT”, where it has made changes to procedure and to equipment to better manage its firm’s enormous energy use.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Citi has worked with the EPA to transition to CPUs that are ultra-energy efficient. They have also changed the company’s email procedure in a program called “Lighten the Load”, which serves to cut down on the volume of email workers spend computer energy managing each day. These initiatives will cut down on Citi’s total carbon output by 3%. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Their IT initiative is only one of a swatch of initiatives you can read about on their website. Others include green building, Haiti recovery, technology recycling and more. Despite the craven behavior of many financial firms, Citi stands out as an ethical firm in an industry that too often rewards amoral behavior.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/BOA-s-mortgage-cuts-not-CSR-but-good-try/11686.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Bank of America</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Looks to Green Energy</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">BOA has pledged $20 billion in investments in sustainability, and they’ve applied it pragmatically, with a focus on efficiency. BOA now runs one Southern California office with fuel cells, following in the footsteps of First Bank of Omaha, which was the first bank to operate off of fuel cells. BOA has also invested heavily in green building. Their green building initiatives have included HVAC upgrades and putting computers to sleep at night, yielding significant energy and cost savings. BOA is off to a good start; with their newfound size and market power, these investments should only be the beginning since they can afford to do so much.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Johnson Financial Group ($6B in assets) has taken very similar steps as BOA, but on a smaller scale. They also adopted the same software that BOA uses to put its computers to sleep (called Nightwatchman) and built a green facility. Like BOA, despite up front investment, Johnson Financial is seeing savings from reduced energy demand.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Third Federal gets creative with tele-business</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Third Federal, a smaller national bank ($750M in assets), has cut down its energy, paper and C02 through reducing the travel of its employees. By instituting new internal policy that embraces broad IT networks, the increasingly popular paperless-billing option and new green building initiatives. Although Third Federal doesn’t have BOA’s cash reserves, they serve to show that banks of all sizes can make common sense changes and investments to reduce their environmental impact.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Overall, it’s just great to hear </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Put-people-at-heart-of-finance/1098.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">positive things about the financial sector</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, and to see that some banks do care about customers beyond their account size. </span></span></p>Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-67664689066850841132010-04-05T03:32:00.000-07:002010-04-05T03:37:51.491-07:00Accenture Provides Roadmap for Consulting CSR<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTp0e548ovpWsH3-tLwOmJwWiPolvIReoG7Rpe66BEMMyL1H_ZomeqI3P43InsOL_bjTVGX-EfTlSebjwPejfO6gyQTcvng_sntUk7Z33NU_I-smgqJxJeGSdfvNemBhPYXJG0u5oWw70/s1600/Accenture+Provides+Roadmap+for+Consulting+CSR.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 03px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTp0e548ovpWsH3-tLwOmJwWiPolvIReoG7Rpe66BEMMyL1H_ZomeqI3P43InsOL_bjTVGX-EfTlSebjwPejfO6gyQTcvng_sntUk7Z33NU_I-smgqJxJeGSdfvNemBhPYXJG0u5oWw70/s320/Accenture+Provides+Roadmap+for+Consulting+CSR.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456600655334484962" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">By advising the world’s most powerful firms in business practices, consultants have great opportunities to use their power for CSR-good. Although many consulting firms have not taken an introspective look at their own businesses’ CSR, Accenture’s 2008-2009 Corporate Citizenship report shows that the consulting industry has many chances to help propagate CSR practices. Their report provides a plethora of examples of ways a consulting firm can be socially responsible and set an example for their clients.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">First steps towards sustainability</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In its </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/-Responsibility-is-Ours/410.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">sustainability</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> report, Accenture evaluates its own business and looks at how its advice influences its clients’ sustainability. Accenture’s own sustainability steps aer in their early stages, and involve a lot of promises about the future. They both reported its carbon footprint, and set targets to meet on carbon reduction. Of course, Accenture’s most important sustainability steps- meeting their targets- lie in the future.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">CSR Strength in Numbers</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Accenture, as is its business model, has surrounded itself with smart people. In 2008, it joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and formed an environmental steering group. Relatedly, it also joined the U.N.’s Business Call to Action. Accenture also committed to the United Nations Global Compact, which describes ten basic principles supporting business’ obligation to protect global human rights. Joining coalitions of larger movements can be useful in encouraging companies to engage with CSR programs, and seems to have been a successful mode for Accenture.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ethical rigor at the forefront</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Accenture appears to be very strict on employee ethics. It is important that a firm with such a trusted role advising other large companies be </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/From-ethics-ecology-in-MBAs/1926.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ethically fastidious</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> themselves.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In 2009, they joined a global Anti-Corruption effort, but they also administer a rigorous compliance regime at the firm level, where most employees complete ethics training. Accenture emphasizes and frequently communicates its ethical code to employees, and fires on the first compliance offense as part of its zero-tolerance policy.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Two unique CSR programs</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Two particularly cool aspects of Accenture’s program stand out. First, they adopted an offical Pro-Bono policy. Pro-bono work is a relatively untapped way that consultants can be socially responsible in measurable ways. Then, perhaps as part of the pro-bono effort, Accenture has launched a program called Skills to Succeed. Skills to Succeed lends out Accenture’s </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/From-Collaboration-Convergence/10200.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">consultants to solve problems</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> in microfinance, abroad, and in underserved communities domestically. Working together, these two programs have enormous power to help solve business problems in the interest of sustainability.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In total, Accenture’s sustainability report describes a large and established consultancy intent on doing good, and taking the first steps on a CSR journey. </span></span></p>Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-36902722055120673262010-03-29T06:02:00.000-07:002010-03-29T06:04:35.654-07:00How Green is Cloud Computing<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_nVxNfbIwTYYTEkdmW5VqvM6xWJxdj4jHVSJ-2T70HVRTLrCIULvLIVVNZOzz8ApeiA-67Xqa6mNT7MOcATFtwlLDz6_fui3t6q4fVyWqfvJTH-msXaARz6AOr7P-AZg_zpEUarFRHss/s1600/cloud.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 07px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_nVxNfbIwTYYTEkdmW5VqvM6xWJxdj4jHVSJ-2T70HVRTLrCIULvLIVVNZOzz8ApeiA-67Xqa6mNT7MOcATFtwlLDz6_fui3t6q4fVyWqfvJTH-msXaARz6AOr7P-AZg_zpEUarFRHss/s320/cloud.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454040744989154722" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">One of technology’s latest catchphrases, “cloud computing” has been generating a lot of buzz lately.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What does it mean to be “in the cloud”?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And can operating “in the cloud” become a new sustainable business practice and a green alternative to other forms of computing?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What is it?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The term “cloud computing” is used to describe a number of different services and technologies.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">At its broadest, the term “in the cloud” can refer to any resource available on the Internet.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">But when IT professionals refer to cloud computing, they often mean software, storage or processing power available virtually, outside of local servers:</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“software as a service,” “platform as a service,” or “infrastructure as a service.”</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Cloud computing, then, can refer to services like Google Apps, Google’s collection of applications like Google Docs and Gmail, where file-sharing and email is handled by Google’s servers rather than by a company’s local machines.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It can also refer to the services offered by companies like Amazon, whereby computing infrastructure – virtual servers – can be created.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It is the latter in particular that might point to a greener future for computing.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">How green is it?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Much has been written about the energy consumed by data center servers, and as more and more users “log on” and utilize these resources, the power used by the world’s computing infrastructure increases at a rapid rate.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The buildings that house data centers are massive, housing thousands of servers that require electricity for both connectivity and for cooling.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Although some data centers themselves have gone green, utilizing efficient forms of air-conditioning and upgrading to more efficient computers for example, “cloud computing” provides another alternative.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">While companies, particularly those involved in e-commerce, rely on their servers being up and running 24-7 and being able to handle heavy traffic loads, most of the time, these computing resources (including redundancy plans that often involve additional backup servers) are under-utilized.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Even with the most energy-efficient processors and cooling plans, this can be incredibly wasteful.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The rise of cloud computing allows for businesses utilize the computing resources they need and pay for what they use.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In other words, it allows them to take advantage of “virtualization.”</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Rather than employing the hardware in data centers, where the servers are always on even when not being fully utilized, virtualization allows “machine instances” to be launched as necessary.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">There is no need for backup servers, staging servers, redundancy plans and the like; server instances are launched in the cloud as necessary.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This is scalable almost instantly, allowing for amazing flexibility with a vastly smaller energy consumption footprint.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Offering a very different metaphor than the unfortunate description of the Internet as “a series of tubes,” cloud computing hopes to provide the next step in computing technology, services, and power.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And as one of its features is “virtualization,” the move away from massive hardware and energy consumption might point to a greener, more sustainable business and computing future.</span></span></p>Audrey Wattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14607258672332027255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-29433108370519306682010-03-29T01:09:00.000-07:002010-03-29T01:16:29.018-07:00CSR Rankings Smackdown<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HpZe4TiWwh3-VXpCBgRObRJUkR6aopIW98rYSB33NQyVrMsc-qlfn3D6MK-6MCnQ9KsQotqaqFmU45WsCIHC45-uFC3E3kT3bUHs48qlhU0UzY0Yc0JbBy1cdGW5Lc9ZRdPu3IAvp9if/s1600/CSR+Rankings+Smackdown.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 07px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HpZe4TiWwh3-VXpCBgRObRJUkR6aopIW98rYSB33NQyVrMsc-qlfn3D6MK-6MCnQ9KsQotqaqFmU45WsCIHC45-uFC3E3kT3bUHs48qlhU0UzY0Yc0JbBy1cdGW5Lc9ZRdPu3IAvp9if/s320/CSR+Rankings+Smackdown.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453966572842906066" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">March has been a busy month for CSR rankings. CRO and Ethisphere both published their latest editions, joining RiskMetrics Group and Corporate Knights in offering their perspectives on the best of 2010.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In my blog on Justmeans, I have posted comparisons of each of these four rankings to the others and plan to continue to research new rankings to bring into the mix.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I encourage those reading my posts to also check out recent articles in the Christian Science Monitor blog (“Are Corporate Social Responsibility Rankings Irresponsible?” by Christine Arena) and Slate (“It’s All Good: Beware of corporate consulting firms offering awards for corporate ethics”, by Will Evans), each raising questions about the integrity of these rankings.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Of interest is how rankings tie into the larger business models of the companies that publish them.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Christian Science Monitor article questions the transparency of the rankings while the Slate piece discusses conflict of interests within the Ethisphere rankings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So are such lists worth discussing at all?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The consensus seems to be that regardless of the credibility of indices, lists are a good foundation for discussion.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">With this in mind, this week, I will be discussing sustainability indices, specifically the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which gets a lot of attention and seems to avoid some of the scrutiny accorded to its brethren rankings.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Stay tuned and please weigh in with your comments and observations.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-35923116963973670882010-03-15T04:14:00.000-07:002010-03-15T04:22:54.069-07:00Call for CSR ranking suggestions<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGAWejgMmHSKjl3IxqDRmKS7NOYtJfbhr6W0NXvz0PBaJkVxmMCk5LfbdihKm7F32mfjRvlsAppARi_y8lWQhpSfO_M9e-v2AStyGkqt71PSoImYJZpyLsOf460jRkeWgcXvC7G8gg_Py/s1600-h/CSR+Ranking.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 07px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 195px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGAWejgMmHSKjl3IxqDRmKS7NOYtJfbhr6W0NXvz0PBaJkVxmMCk5LfbdihKm7F32mfjRvlsAppARi_y8lWQhpSfO_M9e-v2AStyGkqt71PSoImYJZpyLsOf460jRkeWgcXvC7G8gg_Py/s320/CSR+Ranking.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448818027819979122" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It’s been a busy year so far.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Since the beginning of 2010, RiskMetrics Group, Corporate Knights, and CRO have all announced their picks for the top 100 in CSR and sustainability.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I understand that Ethisphere will be coming out with its 2010 edition soon enough, so stay tuned for more fun.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In the meantime, if this is a topic of interest to you, a visit to <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/newsfeed/Madeline-Ravich">my blog on Justmeans</a> should be good food for thought.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">My two recent posts on this subject have focused on the question of how much consensus there is between CSR rankings (the answer: not a lot).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In coming months, I’d like to experiment with comparing these rankings against others relevant to the field and would welcome suggestions on lists worth exploring.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Please email me through the Justmeans website if you have any suggestions.</span></span></p>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-37911923546967138742010-03-15T03:55:00.000-07:002010-03-15T03:59:44.575-07:00How the Oscars Could Be Socially Responsible …<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv86fudMk9PjFUKmgtyJdLc1I_p2x5oeL1X15AJ2rWwDJVADQOX12LrfB51i3VvNN8FO2JnYs7PxEGad1LoJrFdS7lESAkGJNPDRxLQYd6GGWecV0BCwnwEF5txf1LxxYd4Q1wctnakkKf/s1600-h/oscars-2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 07px 07px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 211px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv86fudMk9PjFUKmgtyJdLc1I_p2x5oeL1X15AJ2rWwDJVADQOX12LrfB51i3VvNN8FO2JnYs7PxEGad1LoJrFdS7lESAkGJNPDRxLQYd6GGWecV0BCwnwEF5txf1LxxYd4Q1wctnakkKf/s320/oscars-2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448813124556699074" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Oscars provided a </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/A-Dirty-Hippie-s-Guide-Fashion/3651.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">night of glitz and glamour</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, but not a night of social responsibility. Why doesn’t the nation’s leading award ceremony care about, well, anything?</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Some may say that the Hurt Locker’s big win was a social response, but when it comes to looking for CSR from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Oscars have a long way to go. </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Climate-Change-Lessons-from-James-Cameron-s-Avatar-New-Values-Required/6843.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Oscars seem to have made no efforts to be green</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, to give back locally, etc. And that’s a shame, because the Oscars have high potential to do really cool things with CSR. Like Ghandi’s famous quote “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” below are things CSR that the Oscars COULD do:</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Transparency</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Oscars are known for being ostentatious, expensive affair. However, transparency about how much it costs in terms of money, energy, and other consumptive metrics may bring constructive criticism to the issue. </span></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Kids and Acting</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Most successful brands in CSR do things that are a natural extension of their core business. To this end, The Oscars have a lot to contribute towards providing resources for the acting hopes and dreams of kids, especially those that would not otherwise have the resources for such activities. They could give away some of the oh-so-precious seats to kids, hold acting camps around the time of the show, sponsor kids in art school. Pro-sports do a good job demonstrating CSR opportunities related to big, annual events. </span></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Be Green</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Everything else is going green, and the Oscars could follow. From reducing the energy suck of the lighting to using recycled metals in the statues, the Oscars has green options that is not currently doing anything about. While The Oscars is an event that tends to sell itself, it may be even more impactful if it touted its social responsibility.</span></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Choose an annual cause</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Another cool way the Oscars could improve their CSR is to champion one cause annually. </span></span></i><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/If-CSR-reports-were-celebrities/1510.html"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The members of the Academy</span></span></i></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> could vote for a cause, like they vote for best picture, and a portion of ticket sales or Academy dues could go towards it. The cause could be the one the Best Picture director chooses, or it could be that the Best Picture director must donate to a cause of choice if they win. For example, what if every winner last night also had a charity attached to them, so that the Oscars turned into a benefit? What if the charity influenced Academy votes? Or, the Academy could market an annually chosen organization in tandem with the Oscars, drawing attention to it. </span></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There are such exciting CSR opportunities for the Oscars to leverage… one hopes that one day they will.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></o:p></p>Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-51726477016642249182010-03-03T05:57:00.000-08:002010-03-03T06:06:58.620-08:00Is the Tea Party actually the CSR Party?<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtcQ9AiY1qspGwgha05H4OpzSnre47xvvvDFHIG8WW-nROs0Orch_YCedFca2GF8tIFyRu22mabqMQt44zyizM8T-5A0WcxxuhgEkBFkyLd8CmFLZyHSLOwTJ_rWvM_3z9gQZ-Zd7Rx3Yk/s1600-h/tea+party+pic.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 05px 05px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 287px;padding-right:11px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtcQ9AiY1qspGwgha05H4OpzSnre47xvvvDFHIG8WW-nROs0Orch_YCedFca2GF8tIFyRu22mabqMQt44zyizM8T-5A0WcxxuhgEkBFkyLd8CmFLZyHSLOwTJ_rWvM_3z9gQZ-Zd7Rx3Yk/s320/tea+party+pic.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444406802842155762" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Tea Party’s popularity has been interpreted in a variety of ways, but we should consider one more- the tea party as </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/A-Corporate-Conundrum/2464.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">a call for corporate restraint</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. In this way, the Tea Party and the CSR movement share important principles, perhaps more than you’d expect.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>Desire for governmental reform</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>:</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> The Tea Party looks for large scale government downsizing and reform. The need for CSR results from a lack of effective regulation of corporations. There is common ground- the desire for </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">more effective</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> laws and regulation, rather than just </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">more</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> laws and regulation. CSR is important because the government fails to adequately protect the public from corporate harm, which the Tea Party seems to agree with.</span></span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Against government control</span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Tea Party members are obsessed with personal liberty; in this way, they join corporations. Oftentimes corporations create CSR programs to preempt, and hopefully stave off, government regulation. CSR, when acting as self regulation, is a necessary requirement to safely scale back government regulation of industry.</span></span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Anger over corporate bailouts</span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> The tea party is incensed over the </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/-bailout-salary-cap-social-business/636.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">2008-9 bailouts of the financial and automotive sectors</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. None of these bailouts would have been necessary had effective, </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Defusing-corporate-time-bomb/1416.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">comprehensive CSR programs been in place</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. CSR regimes would have discouraged the recklessness in the financial sector as a betrayal of stakeholder (and shareholders), and may have stemmed the overinvestment in environmentally harmful vehicles like the Hummer that later became a cash vacuum for GM.</span></span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Anger over lost jobs and health care</span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> The Tea Party has formed partly as an outlet for intense </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Developing-jobs-in-development/571.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">public frustration over the recession’s casualties: jobs</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, and healthcare obtained through jobs. Sustainable businesses are those that consider success on social issues as competitively important as net income, one of which is worker well being. Businesses with strong CSR cut jobs as a last resort, after streamlining every other aspect of business possible, including C-level pay. The transparency that accompanies CSR standards also helps to ensure that jobs that are cut have to be.</span></span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Grassroots action</span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> The Tea Party has been resounding </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/-Ninth-Ward-s-School-at-Blair-Grocery-Leads-Grassroots-Revolution-in-Child-Nutrition/3764.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">demonstration of the success of grassroots action</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. In this way, they have a lot to hope for through CSR, in which corporations engage in discourse and solution building with grassroots organizations.</span></span></li></ul><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Obviously, the Tea Party and CSR diverge in key areas. The Tea Party thinks that </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/On-Economics-Climate-Change/1149.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">climate change</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is a conspiracy; most corporations with CSR programs are working to reduce their contribution to climate change. The Tea Party represents a wing of the most conservative of conservatives, the CSR movement in has grown from liberal activists with business acumen. Yet there are so many important points of overlap that hopefully a siloh-busting leader can unify Tea Party members and CSR advocates for maximum enhancement of the public good.</span></span></p>Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-60255486322107099222010-03-03T05:52:00.000-08:002010-03-03T05:56:30.299-08:00Is WalMart green if its supply chain is?<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizaCTobE1TVwxWd0DoHGiUWSySg_QmXCK4FbeGXMoS2G89ykfSxp-9oFlga1PLfq89p8sJjIGi6TiqouD8wwslNF_oUj8cA2cUzmaz7_wPsOR4ryCmJcK4OpvD0KPCV8qvEdNyqUp2RTE/s1600-h/walmart+pic.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 05px 05px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizaCTobE1TVwxWd0DoHGiUWSySg_QmXCK4FbeGXMoS2G89ykfSxp-9oFlga1PLfq89p8sJjIGi6TiqouD8wwslNF_oUj8cA2cUzmaz7_wPsOR4ryCmJcK4OpvD0KPCV8qvEdNyqUp2RTE/s320/walmart+pic.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444405673407494914" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">WalMart recently revealed a campaign – on Treehugger.com no less – </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Walmart-s-Sustainability-Strategy/9078.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">to cut 20 million tons of GHGs from its supply chain</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. In fact, WalMart has been a sustainability leader for about five years; it one of the largest sellers of organic produce in the U.S. and has made both its fleet and stores more energy efficient. Now Walmart </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Shining-a-Spotlight-on-Supply-Chain-Leading-retailers-set-a-new-standard-for-transparency/3355.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">is leaning on its supply chain</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> to get green by focusing on sourcing sustainable products. Can WalMart count the </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Fair-Trade-Cocoa-Supply-Chains/1480.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">sustainability of its supply chain</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> towards its own accomplishments? Sure. WalMart keeps some suppliers alive- it supports an entire network of commerce (too big too fail?). WalMart is a fantastic example of how critical marketpower can be in affecting rapid change, and of how creative a company can be in implementing CSR measures. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">WalMart has an impressive sustainability record. One day in 2005, WalMart just decided to get environmental. Maybe it was the constant </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/-Mouse-That-Roared-at-Wal-Mart-Capitalists-as-Conservationists-Revisited/1378.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">barrage of negative press</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> about its tendency to kill local competition, </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Wal-Mart-supports-costly-US-healthcare-reform/3198.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">or bad press around its labor practices</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. While those stories haven’t really waned, WalMart has exploded with environmental activity, which partly because of its size and marketpower, is ultra effective.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Now WalMart is applying its business model -buy so much of something that suppliers will agree to an ultralow price- to its sustainability practices. Few WalMart suppliers can afford to give up the volume of business WalMart offers, no matter what WalMart demands of them. Many suppliers wouldn’t even exist, let alone have a motive to buy green, except for WalMart’s commercial pressure. This is how WalMart gets the prices it does, and this is how they will accomplish the GHG goal they announced last week.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">WalMart’s CSR is delightful not because it is a perfect company; there are plenty of WalMart critics. It’s because WalMart has thought its CSR, and particularly its sustainability initiatives, through in minute detail. It takes gains where it can, and thinks creatively; for example, it redesigned packaging so that more skus can be efficiently packed into trucks, saving trips. It has discovered how to use its core competency as a business to address social problems where it makes the most sense. The extension of business efficiency applied to social problems is the most productive form CSR can take. This may be why Walmart still gets criticized for labor minimalism; raising pay would hurt its business model. Where WalMart’s green initiatives are have a distinctly WalMart flavor- high volume, </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Go-Green-with-Eco-Labels-Forest-Stewardship-Council/8481.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">supply chain emphasis</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In the same way it makes sense for AT&T to have donated cell phones in Haiti, or for Johnson and Johnson to do so much work around sanitation, a natural first step in CSR is for companies to capitalize on preexisting strengths for the public good. Companies can often be extremely effective, like Walmart, by applying the strength of its core competencies toward a new purpose: doing good. </span></span></p>Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-66573882493733871762010-03-03T04:10:00.000-08:002010-03-03T04:17:04.682-08:00CSR around the World<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtaAQk2ztsKQeFwRhH9UiGZfUG1KGQB_zGPzbKnAeNYt8lfu0SiGD9sV-lwmdcLEOESjJrq2B_dWyprR0hma2ZaG_MkMmscPIWRkSfRXorFPS2Fqra-_H6rBkPZFNiz_5-0NVVZA8XuWgG/s1600-h/CSR+around+the+World.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 05px 05px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtaAQk2ztsKQeFwRhH9UiGZfUG1KGQB_zGPzbKnAeNYt8lfu0SiGD9sV-lwmdcLEOESjJrq2B_dWyprR0hma2ZaG_MkMmscPIWRkSfRXorFPS2Fqra-_H6rBkPZFNiz_5-0NVVZA8XuWgG/s320/CSR+around+the+World.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444380387523092786" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><p class="MsoNormal">One of the most satisfying aspects of blogging is when a post generates good conversation. This was the case with my February 3rd “Frontier CSR” post on Justmeans, which focused on the state of corporate social responsibility in Central and Eastern Europe. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I particularly enjoyed a comments by Marisha S., who shared the following observation:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>“CSR is evolving in CEE, the Caucasus and in Russia. The pace of acceptance is fueled due to the inate 'social conciousness' that is part of the busines landscape inherited from the past. Consider that during the Soviet period, state enterprises in Eastern bloc and CCCP were responsible for most of the social care of their employees. Employees could access to medical care, holiday homes, food from farms falling within the network. From the late 1980s when the first COOPs appeared, to the early 1990s when the first small enterprises emerged, well-being of employees was a key factor in business models.”</i></p><p class="MsoNormal">The writer of this comment makes a valuable point about the unique flavor that CSR takes on in different parts of the world. Indeed, I wish that every post would result in such interesting comments from readers.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Today I posted a short piece on how economics have solved many of the problems in Chinese factories that CSR practitioners and vendor compliance officers have struggled for years to address. I only hope that it will generate similar insight from any readers who have experience trying to address labor issues in Chinese factories. </p></span><p></p></span><p></p></span><p></p>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-86500457023285713262010-03-03T04:00:00.000-08:002010-03-03T04:09:59.743-08:00Luxurious CSR<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilH5pxVCRZa0I4B_CmXLPOjVdSUjx6k9h5_Eg68gYUpEKv9720HsKT6awB_dt-EWzeoa3oAKSKIjfBBiQTHvXGtfjfb-OcWJIuSXwrCrg_Nj9IfLsXUQcPXw0vum7ijl8IV_VRF9QWkfW3/s1600-h/Luxurious+CSR.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 05px 05px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilH5pxVCRZa0I4B_CmXLPOjVdSUjx6k9h5_Eg68gYUpEKv9720HsKT6awB_dt-EWzeoa3oAKSKIjfBBiQTHvXGtfjfb-OcWJIuSXwrCrg_Nj9IfLsXUQcPXw0vum7ijl8IV_VRF9QWkfW3/s320/Luxurious+CSR.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444378279904804914" /></a><div>One ongoing theme I have covered in my blog on Justmeans is the role of <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-in-Fashion-Industry/7974.html">CSR in fashion</a> and luxury goods. In the piece that initiated the series, I wrote about my discovery that <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/-Sustainability-Department/7199.html">luxury department stores</a> are--- at least publicly--- doing close to nothing in the way of CSR and sustainability. Apparently, there is a consensus among these stores that the responsibility for social and environmental issues rests primarily with the suppliers. </div><div><br /></div><div>In short, these stores have the luxury of being fickle, if necessary distancing themselves with any brand too deeply entrenched in controversy. Not surprisingly, luxury brands themselves seem to take CSR more seriously than their buyers. Reputation-wise, each individual brand has a lot of eggs in one basket, so when controversy hits, it hits them hard. </div><div><br /></div><div>But CSR and sustainability don’t have to be entirely about managing the risk of controversy. Sustainable products can be a good thing. In theory, consumers should be willing to shell out more for a responsible product. The data says so. Right?</div><div><br /></div><div>Wrong. In fact, I have not yet stumbled across substantive data to support this claim. It makes some sense that consumers are willing to spend a bit more on lightbulbs or windows that will save them money over a reasonably short time horizon. Unfortunately, at least in the case of the luxury apparel industry, few garments are likely to save customers money. This is why we see relatively few sustainable brands being marketed by major department stores.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I end this post with a call to action. If you have good data on demand for luxury goods, please send it to me or include it in a comment on one of my Justmeans posts on the subject. Good information on this topic has the potential to shape how wealthier consumers interface with sustainability issues. </div>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-17978332134749751102010-03-03T00:51:00.000-08:002010-03-03T00:58:46.771-08:00CSR Rankings<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRsR5MSatd3qxIPBpfUeyVOSHXX1UEjRh5Nzk8qXovXQJAN1PydxJkxUhgIMPKibJvRQnU3E_Zp57I22M5T0yKLBFAtiFYhDWEPXzw87wkllUoqCcLREFNj-EegM793eDm1m5-Sf8aQ-vv/s1600-h/CSR+Ranking.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRsR5MSatd3qxIPBpfUeyVOSHXX1UEjRh5Nzk8qXovXQJAN1PydxJkxUhgIMPKibJvRQnU3E_Zp57I22M5T0yKLBFAtiFYhDWEPXzw87wkllUoqCcLREFNj-EegM793eDm1m5-Sf8aQ-vv/s320/CSR+Ranking.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444328023617723874" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It’s been interesting to note that </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/A-CSR-Rankings-Riddle/9664.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">CSR rankings</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> have been among the most popular topics I have touched upon in my blog on </span></span><a href="http://www.justmeans.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Justmeans</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. My two posts on CSR rankings seem to be the most tweeted topics I have covered, and I have received some interesting feedback from Justmeans community members about the differences between methodologies.</span></span></p> <p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If you stumble on one of my posts about the subject, I’d encourage you to jump into the conversation and also to let me know if there are other rankings that you’d like to see me cover. So far, I have examined the CRO Best Corporate Citizens, Ethisphere Institute’s Most Ethical Companies, Newsweek Green Rankings, and Corporate Knights Global 100, with RiskMetrics Group’s Global ESG 100 soon to follow. It would be interesting to hear feedback about any lists I haven’t mentioned yet, particularly those developed by organizations based outside of the U.S.</span></span><p></p> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Also, stay tuned for the answer to the riddle I posed in my most recent post. My research revealed that there is only one single company that makes all five lists I have examined so far. Stay tuned to the Justmeans CSR page to find out what it is.</span></span><p></p>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-36162123113662690052010-02-15T10:30:00.000-08:002010-02-15T10:33:17.073-08:00Moms Champion Their Own Socially Responsible Products<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" <img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiK4x12xnthC_joT2FwUzvURhnEguSh8GMegd9VrG8SuN88fR4a7O9FT7_JotEzUQJBRBtol_i20MuusdKMuPHjsGoY45e-W9S-PHgVsh5RT3J2LRMnNMm-uyHRhHmlaAK6_R17-bc5jam/s320/momdaughter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438539859973436418" border="0" /></a>As if there aren’t enough challenges to being a mother, contending with agribusiness for high quality, nutritional, tasty food can be a war of its own. As the controversy over obesity swirls on, recently spotlighted by Jamie Oliver’s TED win, some moms have turned their own solutions for ensuring their families’ nutrition into million dollar food companies. The Wall Street Journal highlighted some of these stories in its article “The Mothers of Invention” by Dale Buss. <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><i style="">Blue Water: Healthy, Organic Snack Foods<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal">The market has seen an influx of snack and food products created by moms that wanted socially sustainable, healthy, tasty snacks for their kids, but couldn’t find them commercially available. For example, there are a variety of organic, frozen baby foods now available that did not exist a few years ago, thanks to a new generation of social conscious shoppers- women who struggled to find healthy, non-GMO, organic baby food for their growing children. In this way, CSR is built into the business; the women founding these companies are fulfilling personal demands for sustainable food when the preexisting market failed to.</p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><i style="">Professional Expertise To Meet Their Own Needs<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal">Many of the ladies spotlighted in the WSJ article are not new to business. In this way, the article is an endorsement of equal rights as much as it is about food. One of the benefits of women’s expansion in the workforce and slow climb up corporate ladders, is that women increasingly see themselves as entrepreneurs. So when the mother/ marketing exec, or mother/ finance exec, or mother/ product development manager faces a challenge in her daily life, the “business opportunity” lightbulb goes off. </p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal">The women launching these businesses are also equipped with serious connections. According to the WSJ Gigi Lee Chang, founder of Plum Organics, came from a family in Chinese manufacturing. Shazi Visram, founder of Nurture Inc. and Happybaby, teamed with Stoneyfield Farms and a famous pediatrician. Tastybaby is co-owned by a member of the Swanson-family frozen food clan, and Denise Devine of Froose Brands is a former Campbell executive. By leveraging their careers, these women are able to both head their own companies and maintain a work-life balance nonexistent in the corporate world, solving a second latent need.</p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><i style="">Parents Agents for Protecting Kid’s Futures<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p style="font-family: times new roman;" class="MsoNormal">In some ways, parents are the most obvious agents for socially responsible ventures. Social responsibility is significantly about making an investment in the future, and the future belongs to their children. Outside of the children themselves, parent interests are strongly aligned with a healthy, nontoxic, sustainable world.<o:p>
<br /></o:p></p> Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-26626304293268171042010-02-09T04:29:00.000-08:002010-02-09T04:44:05.266-08:00CSR: A Primer for Skeptics and LOST Fans<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2ZO0C9Ex8RPIlF8J6OIqYpsHU0ZhTGA_bWCK7mUpuY7h4KUT_P6ZguSfM3K7mUM9LesZF4vHEp39t6IG1JeQ296vJ9Z-w9GJ3L6NvWAL7bNjC6-W-GTZATAo89bTSA_U5VWOdBaNrhHh/s320/3845195801_870d68f206.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436222195926047602" border="0" /></a><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link style="font-family: times new roman;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSANDEE%7E1.PRA%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link style="font-family: times new roman;" rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSANDEE%7E1.PRA%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link style="font-family: times new roman;" rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSANDEE%7E1.PRA%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> <w:cachedcolbalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont val="Cambria Math"> <m:brkbin val="before"> <m:brkbinsub val="--"> <m:smallfrac val="off"> <m:dispdef/> <m:lmargin val="0"> <m:rmargin val="0"> <m:defjc val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent val="1440"> <m:intlim val="subSup"> <m:narylim val="undOvr"> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" defunhidewhenused="true" defsemihidden="true" defqformat="false" defpriority="99" latentstylecount="267"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="0" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Normal"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="heading 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 7"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 8"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 9"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 7"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 8"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 9"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="35" qformat="true" name="caption"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="10" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="1" name="Default Paragraph Font"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="11" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtitle"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="22" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Strong"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="20" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="59" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Table Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Placeholder Text"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="1" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="No Spacing"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Revision"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="34" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="List Paragraph"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="29" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Quote"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="30" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Quote"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="19" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="21" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="31" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="32" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">CSR does not only mean Customer Service Representative. To a wide variety of politicians, nonprofits and corporations, CSR means “corporate social responsibility”. This term, alien to many, represents an even more foreign idea: that corporations owe something to society that they must take responsibility for.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /><span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style="">“Amelia, I don’t care. I didn’t even really read the paragraph you just wrote. I just skipped to the quote here. Are you going to watch the LOST finale?”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;">
<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Probably. LOST is an interesting show. To summarize the incredibly complicated plot for people protected from US media, LOST is a program that documents a plane crash on a tropical island. Borrowing heavily from <u>Lord of the Flies</u> by William Golding, LOST is a dramatic recounting the survivors’ lives on the mysterious island, using a point of view that rotates by episode. The island magically fuses a variety of ecosystems to maximize the number of predators that can threaten the survivors. Plus, survivors face previously unknown monsters, hostile natives and a shadowy corporate puppet master behind the whole thing.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The part of LOST that indicates the importance of CSR is the corporate puppet master- the Hanso Foundation. This foundation is the financing organization behind the Dharma Initiative, an academic project that attempted to create a utopian society on the island where the plane crash occurs years later. Just as the Dharma Initiative made poor choices for the world that effect later generations on the island, CSR is the movement to encourage corporations to operate their businesses in ways that do not incur harm to later generations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /><span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style="">“Hmm. Ok; but the Hanso Foundation was designed to help the world. The website says so.”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;">
<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">The problem with the Hanso Foundation, and the starting point for any CSR campaign, is that Hanso did not disclose anything they did. Consumers are supposed to trust their good intentions despite evidence to the contrary. Indeed, the secrecy and uncertainty surrounding the Hanso Foundation and the Dharma Initiative stokes much of the show’s drama. In real life, consumers do not want this drama. In real life corporate secrecy harms the ‘perfect information’ economic theory relies on to derive meaning from consumer choices. When consumers do not have perfect, or even good, or even any information, they are purchasing based on price and marketing only. Price and marketing do not inform consumers of the affect a company and its products have on the world. Consumers may change their buying preferences if they had better information about how companies and products affect the world.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style="">“So if Hanso disclosed information about their organization, what then?”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;">
<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">If<span style=""> </span>Hanso disclosed its data, it would be at the beginning of the transformation into a foundation that is socially responsible. Hanso’s disclosure would help consumers better choose whether to buy the products that make it rich and powerful. Consumers could create laws, as governments, to protect themselves if they felt that Hanso’s hydrogen bomb experiments posed too much risk. Hanso would not be able to make decisions for people without their permission, but may be able to make products that better fit consumer needs. Disclosure would mean that Hanso would have to change their organization to consider other people that are affected by it. This idea is sometimes called Stakeholder Theory.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style="">“But what would happen to LOST if Hanso didn’t cause all this destruction?”
<br /></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;">
<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Based on Season 6 it seems possible that there is a version of the world where, if Hanso had rigorous CSR policies, no one would have ever been stranded on the island and no hydrogen bomb would ever go off. So basically… CSR can save the world.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">
<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style="">“So CSR can save the world and it starts with disclosure?”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;">
<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style=""><o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">That’s right. At its most basic level, CSR is the corporate recognition that business practices have measurable effects on stakeholders that the corporation is responsible for. </span></p> Amelia Timbershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17893112406234438188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4004187829172086363.post-57882093811920406182010-02-04T06:31:00.000-08:002010-02-04T06:43:05.034-08:00Good Company Update<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUrauhBmq1Gvn0goMNUMRKWMTQlD_hKlhsbSZ7OL6p8njYf9eL6cGArz62Ujq9U5sB4h0YZ3tSEG3aZRIL1NzsagSmkyRcHeKkp9w-t43cB2lX7b-n_rM6-pVAgHgWHonG1-KvI6l4t8l/s1600-h/Good+Companies.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUrauhBmq1Gvn0goMNUMRKWMTQlD_hKlhsbSZ7OL6p8njYf9eL6cGArz62Ujq9U5sB4h0YZ3tSEG3aZRIL1NzsagSmkyRcHeKkp9w-t43cB2lX7b-n_rM6-pVAgHgWHonG1-KvI6l4t8l/s320/Good+Companies.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434398118498717282" border="0" /></a>If you haven’t visited the Justmeans CSR editorial page yet, please do! January was a busy month. Over the past few of weeks, I introduced the <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/New-Corporate-Social-Responsibility-Series-Launched/6564.html">Good Company series</a>, published posts on <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-Haiti/7546.html">CSR in Haiti</a> and the <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/Sustainability-News-SEC-s-Climate-Change-Announcement/7607.html">SEC’s new climate change announcement</a>, and explored the state of sustainability programs in <a href="http://www.justmeans.com/CSR-in-Lap-of-Luxury/7974.html">luxury department stores</a> (hint: they don’t exist!). Please visit and comment. I would welcome your thoughts on anything discussed so far.<br /><br />For those of you wondering what’s next for Good Company, stay tuned. I will be conducting a series of interviews in the next week or two with sustainability officers from two companies on the list I published a couple of weeks ago. I look forward to sharing my findings with you.<br /><br />Finally, a call to action for readers of the blog. Please be sure not only to comment whenever possible but to give me feedback about what Fortune 500 companies you’d like to see me cover in the series. I want to make sure that my CSR posts respond to your needs and interests.<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div>Madeline Ravichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02226024482124576858noreply@blogger.com0