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BUSINESS RESPECT
The free email newsletter on Corporate Social Responsibility
The current edition: In this issue, we review a new toolkit for marketers on CSR.
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Arguments against CSR and some answers
Definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility
Discussion
The Global Reporting Initiative - is it fit for purpose?
Translations
Companies in the News
Case studies of managing a crisis
Odwalla
Johnson & Johnson
and Tylenol
Exxon Valdez
Snow Brand Milk
Products
Emerging Issues
Drugs companies and AIDS
When to quit a bad country
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) articles by Mallen Baker
| Storming the marketing bastille Business Respect, 22 Jun 2008 Here's one thing that marketers and investors have in common. I heard tell today of one company whose CEO began to tell a group of mainstream investors, in the middle of their quarterly meeting, "and now I would like to tell you something about what we are doing in terms of our corporate social responsibility." The investors interrupted him with a curt "Not interested thank you". |
| How to make friends and influence customers Business Respect, 10 Jun 2008 We all know that a company is responsible for the safety of its product – and for making sure it sells such products in an honest, non-exploitative way. But five years ago, nobody would have suggested that the company was responsible in any way for influencing consumer behaviour for the better. But that is now beginning to emerge as a theme in what might be described as responsible marketing. |
| The marketing that dare not speak its name Business Respect, 16 May 2008 In 2002 Sony Ericsson paid actors to pose as tourists, who would ask passers-by to take their photograph with the company's new camera phone. Whilst doing so, the actors would rave about how great the phone was, without disclosing their affiliation. It was just one of the more blatant examples of what has come to be called 'stealth marketing'. |
| Playing games with the Olympic sponsors Business Respect, 11 May 2008 Unpopular though it may be, I feel compelled to pitch a defence on behalf of the corporate sponsors of the 2008 Olympics. The battering they have taken has been very little to do with corporate social responsibility, and it's time the debate moved on. |
| Getting to small companies through the supply chain Business Respect, 27 Apr 2008 When it comes to corporate social responsibility, one of the biggest challenges remains how to influence the practice of the millions of small to medium sized firms (SMEs). These companies don't go much on the corporate geek-speak of CSR. Many of them struggle to survive on a daily basis. But any multinational corporation knows that its reputation may be on the line if one of its SME suppliers fouls up big time - it is something that now has to be managed. |
| Cutting out the fat Business Respect, 13 Apr 2008 We live in a fat society - and food companies are beginning to accept that although they do not bear sole responsibility for the fact, they have to respond to the issue. Now a new study has compared the responses by ten of the biggest food producers to sort out the leaders from the laggards. |
| Will banks ever treat customers fairly? Business Respect, 31 Mar 2008 I am a great believer of the notion that if you serve customers well, your business will thrive. And yet most people that are customers of the financial services continue to complain about not being well served - and at the same time those providing such services are more profitable than some of the high profile flashpoints for social responsibility debates such as retail - so what's going on? |
| Getting the guilt out of sustainability Business Respect, 16 Mar 2008 As a society, we know pretty well how to sell things to people - not just stuff, but ideas, behaviours, you name it. And all of our learning in this area tells us one thing overall - making people feel guilty generally does not do the business when it comes to promoting behaviour change. |
| In search of tomorrow's citizen and consumer Business Respect, 2 Mar 2008 Any marketer knows that his or her first duty is to understand the customer. Right? But the customer is not just a consumer. The customer is a citizen, and owns a whole bunch of confusing and conflicting impulses. How on earth can you get to grips with this - and particularly get to grips with how life for your business is going to change in the future? |
| When the competent become the enemy of the good Business Respect, 17 Feb 2008 The challenge - our rapidly changing world is creating the need for businesses to make a step change in how they do business. The systems companies use to manage their social responsibility are maturing, and this is seen as a good thing that will help them to address the challenge. But what if that's wrong? What if those systems are becoming the enemy of change, not the mechanism for it? |
| Reduced harm tobacco - is it just smoke and mirrors? Business Respect, 3 Feb 2008 The debate on socially responsible tobacco has not moved on much in the last six years since BAT produced its first CSR report. At that time, I wrote that the real test was on product harm reduction - and that remains the message today. What progress have we seen in whether the promise of reduced harm products is any closer? |
| Innovation for sustainability - can we meet the challenge? Business Respect, 20 Jan 2008 The business environment is changing dramatically. Climate change and poverty have become market shapers that will not disappear with economic hard times. Adaption and innovation is the successful business response to such changes, so how far can corporate sustainability become a feature of innovation within business? |
| Predicting a Riot - Looking five years forward and back Business Respect, 6 Jan 2008 Now is the season for predictions for the coming year. However, single year predictions are for wimps - most are simple extrapolations of existing trends which arrive at fairly predictable results. Back in 2001, I made some predictions for the next five years - how well did these stack up against the reality, and what might the next five years hold for the world of corporate social responsibility? |
| 2007: A review of the year Business Respect, 23 Dec 2007 A lot happened in the world of Corporate Social Responsibility during 2007. Did the year really represent a 'tipping point' as some have suggested? Have all the arguments been won? Or is there still a long way to go? |
| Crying over spilt milk Business Respect, 9 Dec 2007 There is no greater myth in corporate social responsibility than the idea that there is always an obvious right thing to do, which will bring reputational and business benefits. And there is no better illustration of this fact than the way that UK supermarkets have been comprehensively stuffed over the recent milk price-fixing row. |
| The unnecessary suicide of the organic food movement Business Respect, 28 Oct 2007 The UK's Soil Association has announced that it will remove its organic certification from any foods which have been transported by air freight except for those whose production meets Fairtrade requirements. The move has created huge controversy, and with justification. |
| Climate change: A frontier made of cement and steel Business Respect, 14 Oct 2007 So, to the delight of some and the irritation of others, Al Gore has been given the joint honour of the nobel peace prize, alongside the IPCC. Both have had a huge part to play in raising awareness. Awareness, however, is the easy part. |
| So what is the state of responsible business in the world today? Business Respect, 30 Sep 2007 You've heard the hype, and the theory. But where is corporate social responsibility really strongest across the world, and which companies are really doing what? New analysis published by research firm EIRIS goes some way towards answering the question. |
| Child labour in India – A moral red line set in stone Ethical Corporation, 1 Sep 2007 More and more people want their attractive gardens to be an oasis of peace for their children to play and grow up in. |
| The invisible problem Business Respect, 8 Jul 2007 At first glance, you may not even see them, or notice them. But how you do business may do them desperate damage, or give them a lifeline. They are your vulnerable customers. |
| How to keep your honour if not your job Ethical Corporation, 1 Jun 2007 The contrast could hardly be greater. Paul Wolfowitz has become embroiled in scandal around his private life and its impact on his business and, at the time of writing, is hanging on. Once he was in trouble, all those about him have queued up to stick the knife in. John Browne has become embroiled in scandal around his private life and its impact on his business and resigned. Those that know him have been quick to defend him. |
| Private equity - Agents or destroyers of responsible business? Business Respect, 13 May 2007 It has entered the popular consciousness in some areas of debate around corporate responsibility that there is a new breed of powerful barbarian at the gates. Good, socially responsible companies are being taken over by private equity vultures and stripped of assets and any semblance of values for short term gain. But the debate is now being joined with some vigour in defence of private equity actors. |
| Buying into carbon reduction Business Respect, 18 Mar 2007 In the UK, the Carbon Trust has launched a new approach to raising awareness and giving consumers information - carbon product labelling. The approach is to be trialled with Walkers crisps, several Boots cosmetics and Innocent smoothies via their website. With Tesco having separately committed to carbon labelling for a wide range of its products, it seems like this is the way of the future. |
| Weighing the value of trust Business Respect, 25 Feb 2007 If one could show that achieving a great reputation for corporate social responsibility would automatically mean a higher share price and greater sales success, you would have your business case signed, sealed with a pretty pink bow, and delivered. It doesn't, however, happen like that. Instead it comes down to a more complex relationship of trust with the customer. |
| Running out of road Business Respect, 11 Feb 2007 Every now and then an industry is faced with the challenge to adapt and change at a scale and speed that demands imagination and commitment. Sadly, the response by many representatives of the motor industry to the news that the EU is to raise fuel efficiency standards suggests that industry is still in denial about the changes required. |
| The Marketplace Responsibility Principles - shifting the focus to how you make your money Business Respect, 3 Dec 2006 On December 1st, Business in the Community launched the Marketplace Responsibility Principles. This is the first framework that describes what leading businesses should aspire to in terms of responsibility in the ways that they make their money. |
| Holding your company in trust Business Respect, 8 Oct 2006 In an ideal world, you would be able to show that the growing interest in the social and environmental performance of business had resulted in a direct sales benefit for good behaviour. In spite of the growing number of successful ethical niche products, this is not something that can currently be done - but there is one important correlation and it comes down to trust. |
| Creating the climate for change Business Respect, 17 Sep 2006 It's been out for a while in the US, but in the UK we have just had a first pre-screen viewing of Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth'. It has been a timely reminder of how much the issue of climate change continues to dominate a key aspect of the agenda for corporate social responsibility. |
| Is there REALLY a fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid? Business Respect, 3 Sep 2006 The seminal work by CK Prahalad, arguing the crucial role of multi-national corporations in alleviating poverty by treating the poor as consumers, has been one of the most influential tracts in recent years. Now, a vigorous attack has been mounted on its underlying assumptions and conclusions. |
| So what's the business case for corporate social responsibility? Business Respect, 13 Aug 2006 One of the most asked questions within the literature on corporate social responsibility is: what is the business case for CSR? The fact that it is so often asked makes it all the more remarkable that it is so often so badly answered. |
| A tool for the companies facing the worst dilemmas in the world Business Respect, 30 Jul 2006 There are business opportunities all over the world. But some bring higher risks than others. How does a company best navigate dilemmas in countries where governments are unwilling or unable to fulfil their responsibilities in relation to some fairly basic, accepted norms? In an attempt to answer this question, the OECD has produced a tool for multinational enterprises operating in what it describes as 'weak governance zones'. |
| Corporate personality - does it help companies to play fair? Business Respect, 16 Jul 2006 Microsoft has had a tough couple of weeks in Europe, being fined by the European Commission for not playing fair with its competitors. At the same time, PepsiCo has been bathing in the warm glow of approval after it spurned the offer to benefit from industrial espionage at Coca-Cola. So what does it really mean, to operate within a culture of fair competition? |
| The crucial role of business in saving the planet Business Respect, 2 Jul 2006 For decades, the science of sustainability has been obvious to anyone that cared to take an interest. The bit that requires courage and leadership - the politics and the economics of sustainability - has been a lot further behind. We know what we have to do, the question is how and what role does business have to play. |
| At last - an Accountabiity Charter for NGOs Business Respect, 18 Jun 2006 Over four years ago, I wrote an article calling for some sort of charter for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) - a suggestion that provoked some controversy at the time, but which proved merely an early expression of a theme that many others have taken up. Now, a group of respected international NGOs have produced just such a document. |
| Forest Stewardship Council - Facing a Crisis of Confidence? Business Respect, 4 Jun 2006 One of the longest established and best respected initiatives on business and sustainable development is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The growth over the last decade of FSC certified timber has been one of the positive signs about how collaborative standards can be set and change business practice. Now, a critical report of practice in Uruguay has attacked FSC accreditation of plantations there as covering up socially and environmentally unsustainable practice. |
| The big supermarkets - now competing on price, quality ... and trust Business Respect, 21 May 2006 One of the latest cinematic blasts at business has just been released - Wal-Mart, the high cost of low prices - soon after the company unveiled its new focus on social responsibility. At the same time, the UK's dominant player Tesco has been attacked by the leader of the opposition in the UK Parliament in the same week as announcing a ten point 'Tesco in the Community' programme covering a range of significant CSR issues. |
| Scratching a niche Business Respect, 28 Apr 2006 There has been a furious reaction to the shock news that HSBC is to take over the UK's Co-operative Bank in its attempt to reach a new ethical market segment. |
| In search of responsible market leadership Business Respect, 23 Apr 2006 Corporate social responsibility remains a disputed term, but increasingly it is now defined by how businesses make money, not just by how they give some of it away. What we have lacked to date has been any kind of framework to map out what the objectives of responsibility in the marketplace should be. |
| Measuring corporate social impact - art or science? Business Respect, 7 Apr 2006 For years, people wanting to measure and report real performance in corporate social responsibility have been frustrated over one area in particular - the apparent impossibility in making any kind of real objective measurement of the company's social impact. Now, a new tool claims to solve this problem - the Social Footprint. |
| The first 100 days in the life of the responsible CEO Ethical Corporation, 1 Apr 2006 A recent report looked at what are the pressures on a new Marketing Director to achieve in the first hundred days. It got me to thinking what the equivalent advice for the new CEO would be in terms of the corporate responsibility agenda. |
| In search of the business case for responsible tax Business Respect, 16 Mar 2006 How companies engage in tax planning has become one of the emerging issues in corporate social responsibility. Certainly the heat around the debate has risen in recent months, with NGOs, regulators, the media, investors and businesses engaging in heated debate. |
| Mapping out the way ahead for business and human rights Business Respect, 12 Mar 2006 John Ruggie, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations, has produced his interim report. |
| The Global Reporting Initiative - Leap forward or last gasp? Ethical Corporation, 9 Mar 2006 It was about four years ago that I first wrote an article focusing on the substance behind the Global Reporting Initiative. Whilst welcoming the mission of the GRI, and acknowledging the wide-ranging approval that had been granted to its multistakeholder approach, I felt that the quality of the actual indicator framework was poor. A great process that produces a duff product is not a great process at all. |
| Exxon ponders the challenge of Chad Business Respect, 8 Mar 2006 ExxonMobil is a company that is probably used to the feeling that whatever it does, it can never win in the eyes of its many critics. It is used to difficult and controversial choices. It faces on of its most difficult ones now in Chad. |
| Google's growing pains Business Respect, 11 Feb 2006 According to Reuters, Yahoo has now provided evidence that has jailed a second Chinese dissident writer. Allegedly, Yahoo's co-operation with the Chinese police led to the arrest in 2003 of Li Zhi, who was sentenced to eight years in prison after trying to join the China Democracy Party. |
| Don’t buy this product! Ethical Corporation, 1 Feb 2006 A recent UN Environment Program report poses the question: “Can a company incite customers to consume less?” Despite first appearances, it is not such a stupid question. We know that it would take around three planets worth of resources to sustain the current world population at the level of the average European lifestyle – and around five planets worth to match the US dream. |
| If Roche sneezes, the Pharmaceutical Industry catches a cold Business Respect, 30 Oct 2005 Some years after the pharmaceutical industry first shot itself squarely in the foot when it tried to sue the South African government, the issue of patents for essential drugs is once again centre stage. This time it is predominantly flu drug Tamiflu maker Roche that has to resolve the dilemmas at the heart of the industry. |
| Can companies that make products that kill be socially responsible? Business Respect, 18 Sep 2005 Killing people is wrong. That's one of the earliest principles established by any civilised society. So how can a company be considered socially responsible if its products - used as instructed - result in loss of human life? |
| CSR Reporting faces its next challenge Business Respect, 29 Jul 2005 There is some discussion that a number of the people in the leading companies - the pioneers, the CSR enthusiasts, the committed - are getting pretty fed up of being on the hamster wheel of churning out annual CSR reports. They spend most of their time collecting data, and not coming up with new ways to improve business practice. Revolt is in the air. |
| Corporate lobbying - Rising up the CSR Agenda Business Respect, 7 Jul 2005 Anyone with an eye towards where are the emerging issues in corporate social responsibility will have registered the question of corporate lobbying of governments. Indeed, it wasn't that long ago that we last dealt with the question here. Since then things have continued to move significantly. |
| Standards of Corporate Responsibiity Business Respect, 15 Jun 2005 The International Standards Organisation has just completed a summit meeting in Korea on the future development of the proposed Corporate Social Responsibility standard ISO 26000. At the same time China has announced a new responsibility standard for the textiles and garments industry. Surely such standards represent progress. I wonder. |
| Corporate Social Responsibility in Kazakhstan – a reflection Business Respect, 16 May 2005 How far as the movement for CSR penetrated into the consciousness and activity of companies based in Kazakhstan? A conference for business practitioners focusing primarily on community involvement that took place in Almaty reviewed some of the evidence. |
| Profitable poverty alleviation creates a ‘new frontier’ for corporate responsibility Business Respect, 12 Dec 2004 Last week, the Financial Times carried a story about how GrupoNueva aims to target the world’s poor as a potential market by aiming to design and sell affordable wood and water pipeline products to this vast segment of the world’s population. The company, it said, was aiming to show how profitability and corporate responsibility can go hand in hand. |
| Corporate Social Responsibility moves centre stage Business Respect, 20 Oct 2004 The question of the role of business in society has received a high profile in recent months with a couple of films that have sought to shine a critical spotlight on what many see has the dominant institution of our times. |
| Is CSR a movement for change that is underachieving? Business Respect, 22 Aug 2004 The corporate responsibility movement is hitting against real limits because of the distance of most initiatives from core business. In the face of the Millennium Development Goals, CSR is providing precious little in the way of a substantial business contribution towards tackling some of the most significant development issues facing human kind. |
| What's in an award? Business Respect, 19 Jul 2004 The annual Business in the Community awards, which took place on July 6th, saw the usual crop of examples of best practice from a range of areas relating to responsible business practice and community involvement. It was however the first time a CSR award made it onto the front page of the Financial Times, with the choice of Marks & Spencer as BITC's Company of the Year just as the takeover battle for the company was reaching fever pitch. |
| Getting fat on a diet of righteous indignation Business Respect, 13 Jun 2004 Over the last month, particularly in the UK but elsewhere as well, a great deal of nonsense has been written about corporate social responsibility and obesity. It has been a debate that has shown many of the commentators at their worst. |
| Finding the formula for responsible small companies Business Respect, 23 May 2004 One of the common arguments arising from the Corporate Social Responsibility movement - particularly in the developed economies - is that CSR is just as important for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as it is for the big boys. I wonder why. |
| Oil on troubled waters Business Respect, 18 Apr 2004 How much are companies responsible for the actions of governments in the countries where they do business? Often it comes down to the degree of collusion required. Companies may argue with some justice that their presence helps to improve the situation. In other cases, the revenues they generate can be clearly seen to go towards unfortunate ends. |
| Behind the Mask: How Christian Aid got it wrong on corporate responsibility Ethical Corporation, 23 Feb 2004 I am about to be mean to an organisation whose work I generally respect. But Christian Aid’s “Behind the Mask: The Real Face of CSR” has got my goat. |
| Responsibility without control Business Respect, 22 Feb 2004 How much can a company be held responsible when its customers voluntarily misuse products which, used properly, are benign or beneficial? It may sound like an arcane question, relevant only to a few problem industry companies. But it is at the heart, for instance, of the recent controversy over food companies and obesity, and many others crises that no-one saw coming until too late. |
| The Media and Social Responsibility Business Respect, 1 Feb 2004 The Hutton Report has placed the harshest possible spotlight on the social responsibility of media companies - a light that in the first instance has not been greatly flattering to the BBC. But what here is the real challenge of corporate social responsibility for media companies? |
| The next five years of CSR - some progress Business Respect, 11 Jan 2004 In our first new year edition of Business Respect, two years ago, we made a number - nine no less - of predictions about what would happen in the world of corporate social responsibility over the coming five years. Two years in, and in the spirit of accountability, let's see how we're doing. |
| Corporate Social Responsibility in 2003 - A review of the year Business Respect, 21 Dec 2003 2003 has been a fascinating year for those of us involved in the movement for corporate social responsibility. There have been scandals and setbacks, controversy and debate, paragons of good practice, and innovation in tools to manage and benchmark progress. It seems that none of the energy or momentum for improvement has diminished. And yet there is a gradual growing maturity in how CSR is described and put into practice. |
| Korea explores the beauty of corporate community investment Business Respect, 30 Nov 2003 Corporate Social Responsibility in South Korea remains predominantly defined by philanthropy. The focus of the International Symposium held by the Beautiful Foundation, the fast emerging leading not-for-profit organisation in Seoul, certainly reinforced this. |
| The accountability of NGOs Business Respect, 16 Nov 2003 Burson Marsteller, the major public relations firm, this week released a real 'dog-bites-man' story. Apparently, the majority of campaigning Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) who focus on issues around corporate accountability are sceptical of what companies put into their reports. That this should make the news at all just shows how easy it can be to turn surveys into headlines. |
| Buying into social responsibility Business Respect, 2 Nov 2003 The importance of how companies manage social responsibility across the whole of their production process - including that part owned by their suppliers - has been stressed for some years now. Nevertheless, it remains the area where current practice remains pretty poor. |
| The inherent value of jobs Business Respect, 19 Oct 2003 In the last few days, HSBC has announced that it is to move 4,000 jobs from the UK to a more competitive location - ie. in the developing world. The move has caused outrage amongst the trade unions, who have been quoted as saying that the company's claims to corporate social responsibility could effectively now be discarded. Is that right? |
| Managing your indirect responsibility for free choice Ethical Corporation, 1 Oct 2003 The truth is, I need to lose a little weight. Some restraint on the old food intake is called for, and a return to the days when I expended considerable effort in the gym replacing fat with muscle. Of course, I could always sue instead. No doubt those occasional veggie burgers at London’s Liverpool Street station while waiting for a train have piled the pounds on. And the fish and chip shop in the next village has a lot to answer for. How was I to know such food didn’t constitute a healthy, balanced diet? |
| Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia - a tale of two conferences Business Respect, 23 Sep 2003 During the last week, we have seen the Asian Forum on CSR in Bangkok, and the Ethical Corporation Asia Conference in Singapore. You could not have had two more different events had one of them taken place on the moon. |
| In the market for business responsibility Business Respect, 7 Sep 2003 How companies show social responsibility in the marketplace is the key challenge that will come to define the success or failure of CSR over the coming years. When journalists note in passing, as some have certainly done recently, the 'triviality' of much of what passes as CSR, they are usually reflecting the relative novelty with which the movement is getting to grips with issues around core products and services. |
| Raising the heat on business over human rights Business Respect, 17 Aug 2003 On August 13th, the UN Sub-commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights launched its document bringing together the range of codes and guidelines to which business should adhere - the 'Draft Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises'. On the one hand, the document covers some well trod ground. On the other, some business organisations have reacted with concern that this is the beginning of the slide towards compulsion on some rather difficult areas. |
| Doing it small Ethical Corporation, 1 Aug 2003 Some of the most inspiring examples of socially responsible business for me have been small companies. |
| Redefining CSR as a process that starts at the heart of the company Business Respect, 27 Jul 2003 Mark Goyder has laid down a challenge to the movement for corporate social responsibility in "Redefining CSR", produced by the UK's Centre for Tomorrow's Company. Widely reported on publication as an attack on the "box-ticking" approach of some advocates, it is in fact a much more valuable review of the difference between companies who take the message into the heart of the company and those who simply comply with today's expectations whilst leaving the core untouched. |
| Looking for business solutions on CSR reporting Business Respect, 13 Jul 2003 The recent Business in the Community annual conference saw the beginning of a fascinating exploration of how companies deal with their marketplace issues, as well as the launch of a whole new series of best practice case studies associated with the BITC awards. |
| Are the drugs companies just addicted to pain? Ethical Corporation, 1 Jul 2003 According to a recent report by the CoreRatings agency, the global pharmaceuticals industry faces real danger to its entire business model as a result of health crises in the developing world. Interestingly, it is GlaxoSmithKline, the main focus for the protestors in this area, that is considered to have done the most to address the potential risks. GSK must be ruefully noting that the benefits of such forward-thinking seem to have been slow to appear. |
| Corporate Community Investment in Japan Business Respect, 22 Jun 2003 According to a recent report, commissioned by Cable and Wireless, there is an urgent need for a revolution in how Japanese companies approach corporate community investment in response to rapid social change and the relatively late rise of the non-profit sector. |
| Bringing corporate lobbying into the light Business Respect, 1 Jun 2003 The phrase 'the business of business is business' - familiar to the point of mundanity as it is - is believed both by sceptics of corporate social responsibility and some of those CSR champions whose principal focus remains the business case. Nowhere is it held to have more relevance than when it comes to a question of the role of companies in the formation of public policy. |
| Corporate accountability or public vengeance? Ethical Corporation, 1 Jun 2003 To every complex problem there is an answer that is simple, elegant, intuitive, and wrong. I believe that companies should be held accountable for the damage that they do. In principle, most people would agree. But when you get into the detail, the line between accountability and liability is a difficult one to draw. |
| Managing CSR in the workplace Business Respect, 18 May 2003 One of the last bastions of resistance to CSR programmes within corporates often seems to be the HR department. Given the significant range of issues owned here, that can be a real disadvantage. What are the corporate social responsibility issues that need to be managed in the workplace? |
| Executive remuneration and Corporate Social Responsibility Business Respect, 4 May 2003 It seems that there has been something of a minor revolution in what shareholders are prepared to accept from business management. In particular, the protests about perceived excessive levels of executive remuneration have swept the recent round of AGMs like the corporate equivalent of SARS. |
| GlaxoSmithKline - Seeking a cure for public mistrust Business Respect, 20 Apr 2003 There is a real dilemma facing a company like GlaxoSmithKline. On the one hand, the company makes demonstrably socially desirable goods - medicines. The company's products save and enhance lives. How absurdly easy, then, for the company to unite around a mission to improve the quality of life, and to fire up some of the best talent in the world to make a profit in this cause. |
| A standard to build trust in company social reporting Business Respect, 6 Apr 2003 Accountability has released the AA1000 Assurance Standard in an attempt to put some degree of quality and rigour onto the growing process of social reporting. The question is how well does it succeed? |
| Wal-Mart - From folk hero to corporate monster Business Respect, 23 Mar 2003 Few companies attract as much emotion as Wal-Mart. In a short time it has become the biggest and the most successful of its kind, striding across the world as a feared giant, the symbol of all that epitomises the uncaring corporation. |
| Companies struggle with the difficulties of human rights Business Respect, 23 Feb 2003 Companies genuinely, and with the best will in the world, struggle with how they can incorporate human rights principles into their practice around the world. They struggle particularly with how they can measure their performance in this area. |
| Is this the First Ever Corporate Social/Environmental Report? Business Respect, 9 Feb 2003 If pushed, most practitioners within the field of corporate social responsibility will tell you that the first proper social report by a company was the first report of the Body Shop. That most remarkable of companies had, in the mid-nineties, set the standard that others would seek to follow. They would be wrong. |
| Westpac - A Case Study in Socially Responsible Banking Business Respect, 9 Feb 2003 The Australian banking sector has had an unmitigated hammering from politicians and public opinion alike for their failings in social responsibility. All the more remarkable, then, that the top scoring company in the recent Reputation Index compiled by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age should have been a bank. Not so surprising when you look into the detail of how Westpac does business. |
| What do the CEOs know about CSR? Business Respect, 26 Jan 2003 We usually report the headline results in brief of the various surveys that give snapshots of changing attitudes to corporate social responsibility. However, with some of the world's most powerful CEOs gathered together at Davos, now seemed like a good time to review the changing attitudes of this particular group. |
| The next five years of CSR - some progress Business Respect, 29 Dec 2002 This time last year, we made a number of predictions about what would happen in the world of corporate social responsibility over the coming five years. It may not be five years later just yet - but it's worth nevertheless fearlessly casting an eye back on each of these to see whether trends since that time suggest the predictions will ultimately hold up or not. |
| 2002 - A Year in Corporate Social Responsibility Business Respect, 15 Dec 2002 2002 was a year that inherited a good many rumbles from the previous year. The full implications of the corporate governance debacles of Enron and Worldcom were still working their way through the system, but awareness was high that all the rules had changed. The only thing people didn't know was just how far, or how quickly, things would go. |
| A tale of two definitions - the European Campaign for CSR Business Respect, 1 Dec 2002 "It Simply Works Better - Campaign Report on European CSR Excellence 2002 - 2003". Report from the European Business Campaign on CSR. |
| But is there a social case for CSR? Business Respect, 17 Nov 2002 The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) celebrated the launch of the 'Walking the Talk' book giving an up to date exposition of the business case for corporate social responsibility with a debate - an event bringing together the most eloquent sceptics to face two of the book's authors for a no-holds barred contest. |
| A standard for goodness Business Respect, 3 Nov 2002 The International Standards Organisation (ISO) is moving slowly ever closer towards the decision to create an ISO standard for Corporate Social Responsibility. For some people, this will represent a coming of age amongst the movement - the development of a standard that can achieve the mainstream respectability of an ISO 14001. For others, it will be the kiss of death. |
| Environmental and Social Accountability Report - Musgrave Group 2002 Business Respect, 19 Oct 2002 Musgrave Group, which was founded in 1876 and is Ireland's largest food and grocery distributor, has produced its first CSR report - building from its first environmental report last year. The company believes that this is the first such report from a business based in the Republic of Ireland, and they may well be right. |
| Do we expect business to save the world? Business Respect, 4 Oct 2002 The definition of the responsibilities of business has evolved rapidly over the last twenty or thirty years. Initially, the expectation was that businesses would obey the law and follow basic ethical standards of behaviour. Other than that, it was pretty much anything goes. |
| The interesting demise of the legend of Jack Welch Business Respect, 22 Sep 2002 In the very first issue of this newsletter, I wrote a piece pondering the fact that - although we remain convinced that social responsibility is a symbol of true leadership - the two consistently "most highly respected" business leaders in the US were Bill Gates and Jack Welch. Neither had established much of a reputation for caring about their wider impact on society, and yet their reputations seemed iron clad. |
| The Global Reporting Initiative - Raising the Bar too high? Business Respect, 8 Sep 2002 The Global Reporting Initiative has released the latest version of its guidelines, drawing on the discussion draft of some months ago. It is published against a backdrop of some resistance to the framework from companies who see it as setting the bar unrealistically high. The draft introduced the move towards a larger number of core indicators, which companies seeking to report in accordance with the GRI are obliged to follow. |
| Looking for a more mature definition of post-Enron CSR Business Respect, 25 Aug 2002 In the wake of recent events, one of the most frustrating outcomes has been a certain amount of handwringing on the part of the CSR movement, as well as criticism from elsewhere, based on the presumption that CSR should have been able to highlight Enron and the rest as bad companies. |
| AngloGold - Towards Sustainability. A social investment report 2001 / 2002 Business Respect, 25 Aug 2002 "In describing our approach and some of our achievements, we do not imply that we do not still face very substantial challenges in all of these areas or that we have done enough. On the contrary, the existence of the strategies and plans in this report indicates the extent to which the Board and management of AngloGold acknowledge the difficulty and complexity of the task ahead of us." Russell Edey, Chairman |
| South African Breweries - Corporate Accountability Report 2002 Business Respect, 11 Aug 2002 "In the complex, fast-changing global economy of today, well run, responsible business can be a tremendous force for good." Graham Mackay, Chief Executive, SABmiller |
| Beyond Philanthropy - Pharmaceuticals challenged to go further Business Respect, 28 Jul 2002 Oxfam, Save the Children and VSO have released a new report that seeks to set out the terms of reference for pharmaceutical companies grappling with the issues around corporate social responsibility. |
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INSTANT CSR VOTING! |
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