Corporate and Responsible

Green Apple: facing increased scrutiny

2009-01-06T09:48:00.004-05:00

You might be like me in believing that Apple's new Macbook is the greenest laptop out there. This is what the commercial implies anyway. Or, you might even think Apple is the greenest company ever, according to a recent survey. Not exactly, competition and environmentalist say. They perceive Apple's Macbook ad as a misleading marketing ploy and argue that Apple's environmental record lags behind the industry's green leaders such as Dell and Hewlett Packard.

So what exactly is wrong with saying you are the greenest of them all? Presumably, Apple's ad aimed to increase its sales among eco-conscious consumers and restore its slumping share price. Why not use a little green marketing to achieve this objective? The problem is that once you claim to be the greenest you'd better be ready to prove that in face of increasing scrutiny. For instace, as a result of the ad and the scrutiny that followed, we now know that Asustek laptops are, in fact, the greenest of all. And that Apple is behind its competition in reducing greenhouse gas emissions or using clean energy.

Overall, more green competition is good, particularly for us, consumers. I wish many other companies and industries would reach a similar level of concern for environmental impact.

Better vs. bigger: a sustainability lesson from private companies

2009-01-01T16:00:00.011-05:00

I found the book Small Giants by Bo Burglingham insightful and inspiring. It is about successful companies that chose to remain privately owned and faithful to their mission and values. If you have a hard time identifying such a company - they are rarely in the news - the book familizarizes you with 10 such small American giants, including two in the New York area, CitiStorage Inc. in Brooklyn and Union Square Hospitality Group in Manhattan.

What makes this companies great? Burlingham identifies several factors, which, in combination, generate a certain distinctive mojo. Despite great pressure to grow fast (brought about by success), the founders/owners opted for gradual growth, thus retaining control, freedom and creativity in all actions. Each of these companies is deeply rooted in and shaped by its community. A small giant cultivates intimate relationships with customers and suppliers, and builds exceptionally humane workplaces. And all these companies are led by leaders deeply passionate about the business.

How socially responsible are these companies? Because of their organic ties to their communities, they are creative and extremely effective in their CSR approaches. Because they are free of external stakeholder pressure to maximize returns, they don't exploit the marketing potential of their social investments and don't talk much about them. They do it because 'it feels right and brings tremendous satisfaction'. Even Milton Friedman rests his case regarding social involvement of privately owned companies. Since so many of us are seriously questioning the sustainability of the mainstream model of doing business, maybe we could look for inspiration in the small giant model.

Do you know any "small giant" in your area? Please share you experience and what you think makes it different from others!

Happy Sustainable New Year!

2008-12-31T14:47:00.004-05:00

Despite the abundancy of gloomy predictions for CSR for 2009, I believe that CSR and sustainability will continue to evolve and gather more supporters. There are at least 3 reasons to be optimistic about the future of CSR:

1. A new era, Sustainability 2.0, is fast on its way;

2. The number of companies willing to initiate sustainability programs is increasing as is the demand for Chief Sustainability Officers (CFO);

3. There is someone out there willing to give you $5k for your outstanding idea of how to improve our world.

Happy Holidays to you and your families!

About irresponsible investing and bad management theories

2008-12-29T11:24:00.007-05:00

While on Christmas break, I read some good pieces on topics that have significant bearing on CSR and its future, which I'd like to share with you.

About irresponsible investing practiced by foundations

1. Shaky Foundation and Bernard Madoff on Marc Gunther's blog.

2. Wall Street fraud leaves charities reeling in International Herald Tribune.

About the huge role business schools have played in shaping today's poor business thinking and management practices

1. Bad management theories are destroying good management practices by Sumantra Ghoshal.

2. In theory there is no difference between theory and practice by Mallen Baker.

How businesses can make us better consumers

2008-12-18T15:05:00.012-05:00

World Business Council for Sustainable Development released an interesting report on how businesses can help us consume sustainably. Wait, aren't we already great, green, demanding consumers? Do we need help from businesses? Oh, yes! And not only from companies, but also from governments and civil society!

One of the main findings of the report is that although willing to live sustainably more than ever before, we usually fall short to do so mostly because we are: 1)ignorant, 2) selfish, 3) cheap and 4) subject to the "I will if you will" mentality. This sounds like a big problem. And it is, particularly as you learn about global consumption trends and their impacts. But this situation also presents an opportunity for sustainability-aspiring businesses.

Forward-thinking businesses could and should help us and future generations by: 1) producing high-quality & affordable sustainable products & services; 2) making them easily available and 3) leveraging our increasing reliance in purchasing decisions on our social networks and online communities. Sounds like a win-win situation to me. What do you think?

CSR career advice from Michael Hastings

2008-12-17T10:59:00.005-05:00

Did you get inspired by the achievements of the ethical leaders of 2008? Do you want to work for a responsible company that is walking the talk? Do you want to get the opportunity to make your contribution to improving your communities?

Then you will probably appreciate this video piece from Michael Hastings, global head of Citizenship and Diversity at KPMG, a global network of audit firms, operating in over 140 countries with over 100,000 professional staff. It is also one of the world's best companies to work for. As Hastings puts it well,

"CSR is the opportunity for every individual working for an organization to be a positive contributor to the needs of the community around them, the needs of community in the nation, the needs of the community in the wider world."

So here we are. CSR is not anymore only about companies making the right choices. CSR is increasingly becoming also about individuals choosing the companies that are committed to make the right choices.

Congratulations to ethical leaders of 2008

2008-12-16T14:46:00.011-05:00

The Ethical Corporation published the 10 top ethical leaders of 2008 and includes the following personalities and their great achievements:

1. Barack Obama, US President-elect, for making the perfect start to addressing the world’s biggest challenges in 2009

2. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and philanthropist, for outlining the opportunity side of responsible business with his vision for creative capitalism.

3. Richard Lambert, director-general, Confederation of British Industry, for proactive business leadership in setting the UK climate change agenda.

4. Donald MacDonald, chairman, UN Principles for Responsible Investment, for leading the UNPRI through the most significant year of its history.

5. Jessica Sansom, sustainability manager, innocent drinks, for turning the innocent founders’ commitment to sustainability into tangible results in the supply chain.

6. Howard Pearce, head of environmental finance and pension fund management, UK Environment Agency, for proving that asset owners can call their fund managers to account on ethics – provided they are committed enough.

7. Chris Wille, chief of sustainable agriculture, Rainforest Alliance, for helping to take ethical food and drink into the mainstream market.

8. Patrick Alley, director, Global Witness, for well-chosen campaigns on corporate complicity in human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

9. John Ruggie, UN special representative for business and human rights, for getting the business and human rights agenda back on track.

10. James Hansen, climatologist and head of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, for outspoken and informed criticism of government and business inaction on climate change.

So, if you are wondering what you can do to make this world a better place, there is a great deal to be learned from and inspired by these distinguished personalities.

Can seven CEOs stop climate change?

2008-12-15T22:31:00.008-05:00

The news is that IBM, Tesco and Dell score highest on their climate-change strategies in their respective industries. With Mallen Baker's reflections on the significance of perception indices in my mind, I'm not going to get too excited about that. Instead, I'm looking at a less cheerful fact in the Ceres' press-release :

... the report found that many other companies are still largely ignoring climate change, especially at the board and CEO level. For example, only 11 of the 63 companies have their boards receive climate-specific updates from management, only seven of the CEOs among these firms have taken leadership roles on climate change initiatives and none of the companies have linked C-suite executive compensation directly to climate-related performance.

So it looks like the trend of thinking & acting green - heartfully embraced by majority of Generation X & Y-ers - is not that appealing to the majority of companies' executives. Yet, if there is any hope for avoiding an environmental crisis, it stems from the assumption that a critical mass of companies, that is their boards and CEOs, will commit unilaterally to act environmentally responsibly and sustainably. Until then, it's only 7 out of 63.

Is recycling becoming a luxury?

2008-12-12T22:04:00.009-05:00

It looks like the recycling industry is suffering in this economic downturn like everyone else. Here is a short video about increasing recycling prices. That's bad news for some of us who feel good and green by having the opportunity to recycle.

But it doesn't have to be so gloomy everywhere. Recyclebank is in business and manages to reward recycling enthusiasts, too.

Green buiding is the smart way forward

2008-12-11T10:34:00.008-05:00

I went to USGBC NY Chapter's Annual Party last night because my new friend, Melani, the ecobroker, suggested it would be worth-while. And she was right. As most events in NYC, this one was a mixture of good things: good-looking people, diverse professionals, stylish venue, excellent wine and plenty of great food.

Beside acting as the event's photographer, I talked to a couple of USBBC members about their business and the green aspect of it:

1. European companies - such as Trespa- have turned green much earlier than their American counterparts. Therefore, in their US operations, they are well ahead with life-cycle analysis, waste management strategies and green construction technologies.

2. Design firms - such as Thornton Tomasetti - are leading the movement toward green real estate by producing structural designs with consideration for reduced heating & air-conditioning costs and greener construction materials. Although the demand for new buildings has sharply dropped lately, there is much potential for green upgrade of existing buildings.

3. The reality that global "environmental and economic problems are here to stay" has settled in with the real estate and construction industry in US. "Going green" is perceived as the only smart way to continue. And this is good news.

Should human rights regulations for companies be mandatory?

2008-12-10T08:56:00.007-05:00

Today the global community celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Businesses, along with governments, share the responsibility to protect and ensure fundamental human rights. Although the existing regulations are voluntary, many multinationals have been held accountable - particularly over the last decade - for committing or tolerating human rights abuses. As a result, about 230 companies have instituted internal human rights policies.

And because having such policies does not automatically exclude human rights abuses around the world, the debate is now centered on whether to make existing regulations mandatory for companies. In a commentary for Corporate Watchdog Radio, Arvind Ganesan of Human Rights Watch argues that regulation of corporate human rights practices can expedite resolution of important problems in this area worldwide.

As we’ve learned from the ongoing real estate and financial crises, industry self-regulation doesn’t always work. Especially when companies go abroad to do business in some of the world’s most repressive or unstable places. That is why we need governments to regulate the companies that are headquartered in places like the US or the EU to make sure that there are rules in place so companies must respect human rights at home and abroad.

What do you think? Would this be a viable solution to curbing human rights abuses by companies?

Below are a couple of materials on this subject:

1. Working for Scrooge: 5 Worst Companies for the Right to Associate" by International Labor Rights Forum
2. 2009 Shop with Conscious Consumer Guide by SweatFree Communities, for those of us who'd rather buy clothes from companies that comply with international fair labor standards.

Sustainability and how businesses do it

2008-12-09T16:26:00.002-05:00

This is a trailer to a great video - Architecture to Zucchini - about how businesses around the world think and act sustainably.

Can you produce cigarettes and be responsible, too?

2008-12-08T17:43:00.009-05:00

The debate on what is decent for tobacco companies to get involved in beside cigarette production and sale continues. In the center of the debate is the World Health Organization' Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. 160 signatory governments have committed to curb promotion of smoking through advertising and protect health policies from tobacco companies' influence. According to this article in The Economist, recently health officials from these countries convened in South Africa and concluded that

"there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the tobacco industry and the cause of public health." Moreover, "anything that could make tobacco firms look like decent citizens, doing their bit for public service, ought to be avoided."

This is a pretty tough conclusion. What does this mean for the CSR strategies of tobacco companies? This might be one reason why their CSR activities are so far from their core operations. On one hand, if your core product kills people of all ages, can you ever hope to be given credit and recognition for any other type of socially responsible activity? On the other hand, once you are allowed a legal existence and operation, shouldn't you also be allowed to display a more humane face? I still don't know. What about you? What is your take on this?

How companies can save the world

2008-12-07T19:38:00.006-05:00

An excellent piece from Wayne Wisser, CSR professor and writer, about how CSR might eventually evolve into a much more collaborative and far-reaching effort.

However, this optimistic scenario would better start happening soon and fast. By virtue of their urgency, our environmental problems might take us all by suprise much soner than we expect, very much like the current economic recession, suggests Mallen Baker, CSR expert and blogger.

I agree with Baker's conclusions. Moreover, I think that global corporations - the corporate citizens - have the power, resources and responsibility to lead the cooperation with world governments to avoid hard-to-imagine environmental, economic and social consequences.

Sustainability Leaders: Bob Willard

2008-12-06T10:31:00.006-05:00

The new series "Corporate Sustainability Leaders" is dedicated to leading experts who are doing a great job at educating corporate executives and spreading the word about the importance and benefits of becoming a more responsible corporate citizen.

Today this series features Bob Willard from Canada. His site, Sustainability Advantage is a great resource for the business case for sustainability. I find this video of 2007 still very persuasive. And if you know where I can get video or audio materials featuring other sustainability experts, please drop me a line!

How green are construction and real estate sectors?

2008-12-05T15:49:00.010-05:00

Today I went to the Corporate Showcase and Recruiting Fair organized by the US Green Building Council NY Chapter and its branch for young professionals Emerging Green Builders. I was mostly interested in learning about the green side of companies in the energy, construction and real estate industries. What part of their operations incorporate green aspects? From my brief conversations with company representatives, this is what I managed to find out:

1. Engeneering companies such as AKF Engineers and ARUP produce sustainable engeneering designs that can save a lot of money in utility costs.

2. Design and consulting firms like Cook+Fox & Terrapin work closely with construction companies like to design green buildings, while companies like Power Concepts consult residential buildings on smart ways to decrease their utility costs by implementing energy efficient technologies.

3. My favorite at this showcase event was the Swedish construction company Skanska because it appears to be only construction firm active in US that is ISO 14001-certified (an important environmental standard). It is also a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, member of UN Global Compact, member of the World Economic Forum Partnering Against Corruption Initiative, the only construction company among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations and, in 2007, was # 1 in the Top Green Contractor and the Sustainable Contractor of the year in UK. Impressive!

Better blogging and sustainability resources

2008-12-04T14:23:00.006-05:00

After getting some hints from Chris Brogan on making a blog more interesting, I went looking for relevant video material on sustainability issues. One specific project - Earthsayers.tv - made my search easy. Although I first learned about this project from the Inspired Protagonist, reading about it again on Creating Sustainable Value made me explore it in depth.

So I found the Naturally Successful on YouTube, a video about a new type of enterpreneurship, the evolutionary, the green, the environmentally and socially sustainable type of business. The general idea: opportunities are limitless for a value-driven business. I was also pleased to see and listen to Mark Albion, Founder of Net Impact, a great organizition that I've recently joined!

Green businesses and CSR 2.0

2008-12-02T11:49:00.000-05:00

In my effort to grasp the exact and relative meanings of CSR in New York City, I attended a networking and social event organized by the NYC Green Business Networking Meetup. But let me start at the beginning. Meetup is an online tool that enables people to create, maintain and expand groups around shared interests for the purpose of advancing a cause, networking and socializing within that area. I think Meetup is a great resource and many people around the world are already using it. Actually, I liked it so much that I created the first ever The New York Corporate Social Responsibility Meetup Group (see the logo & link on the right).

So what does CSR have to do with green business? From as much as I learned at this meetup last night, the new, innovative and green (= environmentally sustainable) way of doing business has every chance of becoming the mainstream way of doing business in the near future. The main message of the guest speaker, Steven Salsberg of the Salsberg Group, was that today's businessmen should stay tuned to the needs and priorities of the new, most numerous generation - Generation Y. And it turns out that environment is what this generation most cares about. Therefore, more and more businesses in such industries like hospitality, catering, food retail, construction are starting to understand the significance both in turns of environmental impact and their profits. Sustainability considerations are gradually integrated into the main product of these businesses which either re-become profitable or increase they profit margins. There is demand for greener products, it is growing fast and enterpreneurs are making the most out of emerging opportunities.

The practice of green business reminded me of Wayne Wisser's - CEO of CSR International - concept of CSR 2.O. Here he lists the main features of CSR 2.0. In my view, green business incorporates at least several of these characteristics, and namely: innovative partnerships, new-wave social entrepreneurship, a change in scale from few and big to many and small and a change in application from single and exclusive to multiple and shared. Therefore, green businesses might eventually come to shape and influence the practice of corporate responsibility.

More government: companies are asking for it

2008-11-26T13:49:00.000-05:00

I arrived in the US around the same time that the three giant American automakers - Ford, General Motors and Chrysler - asked US Congress for a bail out, which is basically a loan to cover operational costs now that they risking bankrupcy. The New York Times provides a detailed account of problems associated with automakers' dire situation. Probably encouraged by the legislators' generosity towards Wall Street financial institutions and banks, the Big Three figured it was a good idea and the right time to knock on the Congress' door. Politically, the automaking industry & its problems are very important here in US as it provides jobs for millions of workers either directly or through supply chains. Although the Congress is not yet satisfied with the companies' management's presentations, it is seriously considering a $25 billion aid package.

What are the big-picture-implications of such developments? Crate and Matten in their post Bail-out - Who's next?suggest that

'{...}with the bailout of the banking industry and potentially others we might witness a watershed in contemporary capitalism: a return of the government as a key player in business' so that eventually '{...}we as citizens, represented by democratic governments, regain control of a corporate world which for too long has put shareholder’s and manager’s interests ahead of many legitimate interests of wider society.'

This is indeed an interesting and refreshing perspective that is hardly vehiculated here in the liberal USA. Although the automakers' bail-out plan will most likely pass, it will have the stigma of a "necessary evil." But maybe it does not really have to be so... After all, in every problem there is an opportunity.

Getting started: finding mission-driven organizations

2008-11-21T16:29:00.000-05:00

A couple of months before moving to New York City I researched relevant national and local CSR resources. As a result, one organization, Net Impact, was among the first I came across. It is "a global network of leaders who are changing the world through business." This membership-based organization boasts over 10,000 members and has chapters all over the world and headquarters in San Francisco, USA. So I'm happy to report that I became a member of this network, a status that entitles me to participate and contribute to this organization's many and various resources, programs and initiatives.

I have to admit that the organization's website is impressive and the brief online interaction I've had with its staffers was nice. As a result, I feel determined to get involved with the New York Professional Chapter which provides a number of accessible and straightforward ways to do just that. In addition to such a brilliant presence in the Internet, Net Impact encourages its members to join its Facebook and LinkedIn groups thus effectively leveraging several social media resources at once. After exploring its website, my guess is that Net Impact is quite successful at achieving its task of "educating, equipping and inspiring its members to make a tangible difference through business." I think that the site itself is an excellent model of community building and engagement that could inspire companies interested in becoming more responsible citizens.

Exploring CSR in New York City

2008-11-20T17:15:00.000-05:00

If you happened to wonder why I hadn’t posted lately, it is because, after successfully completing the 2008 CSR Moldova Conference, my chairmanship of the Amcham Moldova CSR Committee and job at Eurasia Foundation, I’ve said goodbye to Moldova, relocated to New York City and married.

And New York is a totally different story. While the City is a familiar place for me – I went to graduate school here (Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy ) - it still feels like a new and unknown place. Particularly from the CSR-related perspective. Not that the Wall Street lacks media coverage or is ignored by the blogger community. In that sense, New York has been in the center of attention for weeks and weeks. Also, New York hosts at least a branch, if not the headquarters, of every important multinational corporation in the world. Nevertheless, I'm rather interested in the local, genuinely urban dimension of CSR, and I'm intent on starting to explore it right away.

Luckily for me and other CSR professionals, there are several great social media resources available that can help achieve this goal such as LinkedIn, MeetUp and Facebook. This is what I'll write about on my blog in the following months. If you have ideas/suggestions/resources that can help me in my endeavor, please don't hesitate to contact me!

CSR Moldova conference: to be continued

2008-11-01T15:04:00.000-04:00

The 2nd edition of the local CSR conference took place in Chisinau on Friday, October 31. Its title, “Government and Business for Better Social Responsibility”, reflects the main theme of the event. Multinationals such as MOLDCELL (local company of Fintur), UNION FENOSA, AVON Cosmetics, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris, regional companies such as BDR Associates, Rompetrol, BRD Groupe Societe Generale and local companies such as SunCommunications and Millenium Group participated with presentations.

Below are my key observations on this conference:

1. The attendance at the beginning part of the conference was excellent. We even had to bring in additional chairs.

2. However, almost half of these people vanished after the first 5-minute organizational break. Those who left were mostly the media. They came, took the press releases, took some shots of the Speaker of the Parliament and US Ambassador, and rushed to the next event on their agenda. This happened despite the perceived opinion that Moldovan media understand very little as to what CSR is all about.

3. The highlight of the first session was the presentation by Jean-Dominique Rugiero of Daxam Sustainability Services from Sweden. He talked about what governments can do to encourage and promote CSR. It turns out, by becoming responsible, efficient and accountable, the government – frequently the largest local employer in many countries – sets an important model for companies who are then compelled to behave likewise. The highlight of the second session was the presentation made by Flavia Kraus of Business in the Community from UK. This business association was created by the British businesses some decades ago with the main purpose of contributing effectively to the betterment of their communities. Over time, they’ve developed high-quality CSR know-how which is now exported abroad. Hopefully, Moldovan business will have an opportunity to benefit from that knowledge as well.

4. The AmCham CSR Awards were presented by myself (ex-Chair of the CSR Committee) and Cristina Pereteatcu of BAT (new Chair) to the following companies: Philantropy Award – Rompetrol Moldova (Junior Achievement Project), Partnership Award – SunCommunications (Greenhouse Project) and RED UNION FENOSA (Solidarity Day), SME Award – AVON Cosmetics (Breast Cancer Campaign). The general CSR Award went to MOLDCELL. For next year, it would be a good idea to include an award for the most responsible local company.

5. The special session designed for media was nicely performed except there was intimidating few media representatives. The reasons for these could be: 1) we don’t care about CSR; 2) we are too busy surviving as media in the first place; 3) we can’t be bothered on a Friday afternoon.

6. Finally, a few suggestions on the organization of the CSR conference in the future. In my view, having four organizations – AmCham, Eurasia Foundation, UN Global Compact and UNDP – be in charge of organizing the CSR conference is a bit too many. If the CSR Moldova conference is to become a sustainable event, one organization should assume leadership and take charge while facilitating smooth cooperation with the other stakeholders. The organizers should strive to improve the conference each year and to this end, certain lessons should be learned and current shortcomings eliminated in the future editions. Unfortunately, throughout the organization process, last year edition’s issues and challenges had not been appropriately addressed; therefore they kept emerging this year as well.

Overall, however, the 2008 CSR Moldova conference was a success, and I’d like to congratulate all organizers, partners, speakers and participants for helping CSR make a step further in this country!

CSR Awards in Moldova: community focused

2008-10-17T05:36:00.000-04:00

CSR awards are one of many ways to aknowledge and recognize CSR-related work undertaken by companies. Also, such awards are a good way to promote CSR concepts and widely used in the world by various corporate and governmental entities as well as business associations. Here and here and here are just a few examples. To join in this international trend, Amcham Moldova decided to develop its own CSR Awards to achieve the above objectives. So, this year at the upcoming CSR Conference the first winners of the CSR Awards will be announced and I'll post their names here.

As the deadline for the submission of applications is behind, we have five companies participating with seven projects. The companies are: Rompetrol Moldova, Avon Cosmetics Moldova, Sun Communications, RED UNION FENOSA and MOLDCELL.

According to companies' own assessment, the participating projects are almost all community projects. Assuming that these companies are most actively engaged in CSR activities in Moldova, we could derive some general conclusions regarding the level of development of CSR in Moldova. Specifically, CSR is understood and practiced as something - frequently unrelated to the company's core activity - directed towards and benefiting the 'socially vulnerable' groups (women, orphaned children, elderly)without any attempt to measure ROI. Moreover, such projects are not even regarded as an investment per se. Therefore, CSR in Moldova is currently at the philantropy stage of its development.

CSR conferences in the region

2008-10-11T03:12:00.002-04:00

October is the month of conferences, including in the CSR area. An important regional CSR event, The Central and Eastern Europe Corporate Responsibility Summit, is taking place this week in Prague (13-14 October) and next week the CSR’08 “Living the Green” will happen in Bucharest (20-21 October). On 31st of October, Chisinau will host the 2nd edition of the International CSR Conference “Government and Business for Better Social Responsibility” co-organized by Amcham Moldova, Eurasia Foundation and UN Global Compact.

In comparison with the above-mentioned regional CSR initiatives which focus on the different aspects of the CSR case for business such as triple bottom line, social and environmental reporting, CSR strategy, stakeholder engagement, reputation and brand management, the 2008 CSR Conference in Moldova is at an earlier stage. The agenda of the conference stresses the importance of an effective dialogue among all stakeholders: the public & private sectors, civil society and mass media. The business community here feels strongly that the Moldovan government does not encourage CSR to the extent it should and could. Some of the specific challenges are: 1) mass-media is penalized for publicizing CSR initiatives; 2) the fiscal system discourages philanthropy; 3) the non-transparent governmental ‘fundraising’ practices discourage the Moldovan businesses to embrace a more evolved and sustainable type of CSR.

The level of CSR development among the business community in Moldova does not yet allow discussion of integrate-CSR-into-your-core-business results such as new competitive advantage, improved financial performance, enhanced brand image and reputation, increased quality workforce retention and more effective risk management. However, the goal of this conference is to enable the Moldovan business community to join in the rapidly-evolving global CSR movement, and realize that CSR is not about a bunch of charity and philanthropy projects anymore. Rather, to quote Wayne Visser, the founder and CEO of CSR International, it is “something that has more to do with the impacts of companies’ core operations on people and the planet.”

Why the Wall Street should save itself

2008-10-02T10:31:00.000-04:00

Last night I had a 'catch-up' meeting with Dumitru, a friend, blogger and expert in international affairs at Petit Cafe, a brand new lounge bar I discovered recently in Chisinau. Since we both share a policy background, we started debating the financial crisis underway in the US. Is the federal government 'bail out' plan good or bad policy? Dumitru was arguing that the 'bail out' plan was the right - actually, the only viable - thing to do because the consequences of not 'saving' the Wall Street would be unimaginably disastruous for the US and the rest of the world.

I do not think the US government’s plan is so great. Although Dumitru’s and other analysts’ economic and political pro-arguments sounded very compelling, I felt they were not completely appropriate for this kind of situation. As I was looking for arguments to support my “gut feeling”, I came across Mallen Baker’s column in The Ethical Corporation magazine, entitled “Financial ethics: Learning from chaos after a collapse of trust”. While the crisis is indisputably serious, it is clear that it has been generated by completely irresponsible companies & groups of individuals.

It has been created by companies that began to believe in a form of business where trust and integrity were naive, fringe concepts that played no part in the process of wealth creation. And yet, the whole edifice came crashing down when trust disappeared overnight, when the banks didn't believe each other and refused to do business together.

So this discussion brings us straight to the debate about corporate responsibility. Regardless of sector or industry, companies tend to amass great amounts of resources and power that influences lives of millions of people. Responsible businesses use such influence with maximum positive impact and minimum costs. Irresponsible companies that specialize in ‘making money of thin air’, ‘playing the system while they can’ and ‘creating nothing of real value’ should be finally held accountable rather than bailed out. It is too bad that the costs and pain of learning this lesson of ‘shared madness’ will be spread out so broadly.