tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88142957809683335932012-02-01T19:03:17.735-05:00Lucia Candu's blog on corporate responsibility, sustainability, corporate citizenship and ethical businessLuciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.comBlogger1251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-52745346311398681422010-06-13T12:16:00.004-04:002010-06-13T12:30:40.744-04:00

New York Corporate Social Responsibility Group cordially invites you to attend June CSR Social. Green Products & Consumers: Is the Conventional Wisdom Right?This talk will explore conventional wisdom about the market for green products and highlight what’s supported by marketing research data and what’s not, including ideas such as:- Mainstream consumers usually don’t buy green products because

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-82242595910023052192010-04-13T22:30:00.000-04:002010-04-13T22:32:51.151-04:00

New York Corporate Social Responsibility Group cordially invites you to attend April CSR Social. Corporate Responsibility in a Globalized WorldIncreasingly companies are being held accountable for misconduct overseas in courts located where they are incorporated, rather than where the conduct took place. Although business around the world is increasingly connected, stark differences exist between

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-32337326309262491072010-04-13T14:57:00.003-04:002010-04-13T15:15:33.438-04:00

This break-out session focused on the concept of Naked Civics, which strips away the angry noise that surrounds how we talk about the most important issues facing us today. It’s a new way of thinking that allows us to drive success through designed integration of activities with the elements that make communities more prosperous.Nate Garvis, Target Corporation’s dynamic and witty strategic

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-3087871286497466372010-04-12T11:42:00.008-04:002010-04-12T17:16:48.679-04:00

The Beyond Reporting break-out session of the BCCC Conference focused, as the title suggests, on the corporate social report which has become a routine task of the CSR departments. Companies recognize these reports as an essential management tool to communicate and track key performance indicators. Analysts use these reports to evaluate how the environmental, social and governance dimensions are

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-44521350274204760552010-04-12T11:39:00.003-04:002010-04-12T12:05:43.595-04:00

This is the name of the BCCCC Conference session I'm attending. Two companies - eBay and MAC Cosmetics are showcasing their innovative corporate social ventures. ebay presented its innovative World of Good and MAC Cosmetics - its MAC AIDS Fund. Amy Skeeters-Behrens, head of eBay's Global Citizenship Marketing, considers World of Good a successful entreprise created by eBay's intrapreneurs. The

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-87493055690990912622010-04-11T16:36:00.004-04:002010-04-11T16:56:44.299-04:00

I just arrived in Boston and will be staying at the Intercontinental Hotel where the 2.5-day International Corporate Citizenship Conference is about to start. I'll be blogging live, tweeting (@luciacandu #bcccc_conf) and writing about the interesting discussions and speeches that are planned in the agenda. I'll focus more closely on two breakout sessions: Beyond Reporting David Wood, Director of

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-64532226968313367992010-04-08T14:55:00.006-04:002010-04-08T18:22:07.506-04:00

I finally got my hands on the "The Responsibility Revolution: How the Next Generation of Business Will Win" by Jeffrey Hollander and Bill Breen after reading great reviews here and here. I've been looking for the next good book on corporate responsibility - corporate consciousness - and I found it. The book acknowledges the rapid evolution CSR from the fringes of business activity to the very

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-65023039457935224222010-03-30T16:03:00.009-04:002010-03-30T21:35:29.938-04:00

Last week, I attended the Global Twestival 2010 in New York. Twestival Global is an innovative social-media-driven campaign that raises awareness and collects funding for social causes. The first Twestival Global took place in February 2009 and was held in 202 cities in the world. It involved 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors and fundraised more than $250,000. These funds were managed by

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-82447120810792050172010-03-26T09:41:00.004-04:002010-03-26T10:20:12.574-04:00

This is a guest post by Laura Domnescu, member and co-organizer at the New York Corporate Social Responsibility Group.March CSR Social was another successful event in the series of monthly gatherings organized by the NY CSR Group. This time, the cozy back room of the Vig Bar hosted a group of about 35 CSR professionals and enthusiasts who got together to exchange ideas and hear Adam Greene, Vice

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-68175650593860612762010-03-25T10:47:00.000-04:002010-03-25T09:53:29.843-04:00

At the Doing Well by Doing Good corporate citizenship conference, Jeffrey Hollender, Chief Inspired Protagonist, Co-Founder and Executive Chairperson of Seventh Generation, a natural household cleaning products company, made an inspirational speech about the ‘new’ company. I asked him to summarize the main traits of such a company: "Seventh Generation has been in business for 22 years so the

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-53704429987582526872010-03-20T15:41:00.015-04:002010-03-23T11:22:30.079-04:00

At the Doing Well by Doing Good corporate citizenship conference I talked with Dominique Conseil, President of Aveda, a natural beauty products company. Dominique described Aveda's sustainable business model and the challenges that came along:"Sustainability is in Aveda’s DNA. Since its creation in 1978, Aveda has pursued an innovative and sustainable vision: to create safer products for beauty

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-76326896090549289782010-03-17T08:52:00.000-04:002010-03-17T08:52:37.640-04:00

The New York Corporate Social Responsibility Group cordially invites you to attend the March CSR Social Corporate Responsibility and International Supply Chains WHEN: Monday, March 22, 6:30 pm WHERE: The Vig Bar - Backroom 12 Spring Street corner of Elisabeth New York, NY SCHEDULE: 6:30 - 7:00 Open Networking 7:00 - 7:15 Presentation by Adam Greene, Vice President for Labor Affairs and Corporate

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-76624581265711279422010-03-16T09:17:00.050-04:002010-03-23T12:11:20.810-04:00

The 2nd day starts off with a conversation with Steve Case, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Revolution and Co-Founder of America Online, and Jean Case, Chief Executive Officer of Case Foundation:Steve: "Philanthropy is more integrated into the core of a company today. They are fighting for talent." Jean: "The world will be better when Philanthropy is not defined by the rich writing checks

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-65089075829886509942010-03-15T15:05:00.032-04:002010-03-15T21:04:07.912-04:00

I'm tweeting from event - follow me @luciacandu and blogging live here. Matthew Bishop, US Business Editor, New York Bureau Chief, The Economist is presenting his new book, The Road from Ruin and introducing the first speaker, Jeffrey b. Swartz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Timberland.Jeffrey b. Swartz: "The belief that 'you can do more with less' has generated a lot innovation." On

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-29444933452207674142010-03-11T15:56:00.008-05:002010-03-11T16:35:07.189-05:00

The Economist is organizing its annual CSR conference next week in New York: Corporate Citizenship 2010 Doing Well by Doing Good . As one of the top CSR blogs according to a Fast Company ranking, Corporate and Responsible Blog received press credentials for this event. I attended last year's conference and covered it here and here and am now looking forward to next week's event. In addition to

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-57157574024307593932010-03-04T10:10:00.014-05:002010-03-04T12:57:57.587-05:00

The February CSR Social - part of a series of monthly events organized by The New York Corporate Social Responsibility Group - gathered quite a crowd at the Vig Bar in New York. The New York CSR community was eager to hear Christine Bader, former Manager of Policy Development for BP, now an Advisor to the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for business and human rights.

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-80494261036096011992010-02-13T10:40:00.005-05:002010-02-13T11:12:17.371-05:00

The New York Corporate Social Responsibility Group cordially invites you to attend the February CSR Social Business and Human Rights WHEN: Monday, February 22, 6:30 pm WHERE: The VIG Bar - Backroom 12 Spring St corner of Elisabeth New York, NY SCHEDULE: 6:30 - 7:00 Open Networking 7:00 - 7:15 Presentation by Christine Bader, Advisor to the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-18918592584104909312010-01-12T21:43:00.008-05:002010-01-26T14:13:10.253-05:00

The New York Corporate Social Responsibility Group cordially invites you to attend the January CSR Social The Changing Role of the CSR Professional WHEN: Wednesday, January 27, 6:30 pm WHERE: Honey Bar & Lounge - Backroom 243 W 14th St bet 7th & 8th Ave New York, NY 10001 (212) 620-0222 SCHEDULE: 6:30 - 7:00 Open Networking 7:00 - 7:15 Presentation by Kevin Martinez, Corporate Citizenship Expert

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-19446623102531518352009-12-09T20:10:00.009-05:002009-12-09T22:51:39.949-05:00

All eyes and ears are tuned for the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in Copenhagen (December 7-18). Many small and large organizations are undertaking actions to encourage, support, and persuade their countries' representatives to make important decision and right commitments. The type and number of side events is impressive! The FUTURE CITY Exhibition is one such event. New

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-2233567559272550702009-11-05T13:29:00.009-05:002009-11-05T13:51:43.704-05:00

I just read the latest blog by Mallen Baker, a UK-based CSR expert, Is the human race dumb enough to deserve extinction? and wanted to share it with you. I subscribe to his straight-to-the-point response to existing criticism directed toward Al Gore, former American Vice-President, who has taken on the cause of climate change. I couldn't have said it better. I've just watched footage on the BBC

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-62971860719927696102009-10-21T09:52:00.009-04:002009-10-21T10:51:49.655-04:00

The New York Corporate Social Responsibility Meetup got together for the October CSR Social last night, October 20. The theme of this increasingly popular monthly event in New York - Social Enterprise - A New Way Forward - was inspired by Ryan Fix, a New York-based social entrepreneur.Ryan described his path towards social entrepreneurship and the result of his efforts, PURE, a unique

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-38322004112235884242009-10-16T10:47:00.005-04:002009-10-16T11:04:36.682-04:00

People continue buying lots of bottled water. Worth billions of dollars annually. It turns out - as this video shows - mostly because they LIKE to believe it's better. In reality, it's the tap water that is much better for you. It costs lest, is stricter regulated and more sustainable.

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-45486406810894249382009-09-28T21:25:00.006-04:002009-09-29T20:57:51.013-04:00

One way companies can score high in the sustainability department is by minding their waste. For instance, sustainable waste management is a major category in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design(LEED) - a set of green building standards that many companies strive to achieve. So it's good news when an innovative waste management company is there to support such efforts. The

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-38873990042611903632009-09-23T15:23:00.008-04:002009-09-23T17:00:39.974-04:00

The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and the Hitachi Foundation launched their 4th biennial Corporate Citizenship in the US Survey All findings are interesting, but I'll highlight these: The majority (54%) of executives surveyed said corporate citizenship is even more important in a recession.As many 52% said they offer sustainable products/services and 72% said they are reducing

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-80621254708699065592009-09-21T11:00:00.009-04:002009-09-21T12:22:56.022-04:00

As governments are preparing for the upcoming world conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which will start on December 7, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, lots of people are looking forward to and have high expectations of this event. In New York City, Oxfam's Human Countdown: Climate Wake Up Call kicks off the NYC Climate Change week. Check out the schedule

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-48288542878957518002009-09-12T19:16:00.008-04:002009-09-12T20:39:50.610-04:00

We in America take clean water for granted. We have heard of the water quality and access problems in remote developing countries, and are grateful we don't have to worry about such problems. It turns out, we have to. The New York Times initiated an investigation into pollution of American waters and revealed worrisome trends, such as that in the last five years alone, chemical factories,

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-25317697685370071772009-07-27T10:54:00.017-04:002009-07-27T15:13:16.067-04:00

I've been doing some research on a rhyming pair of abbreviations - CSR and PR - and came across a number of interesting reports produced by Edelman, an international PR firm that is known for its excellence in promoting CSR and sustainability. A 2006 report talks about CSR in the blogosphere and contains some interesting facts, which the bloggers in this field are keenly aware about. For instance

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-48553125990986187282009-07-13T13:07:00.013-04:002009-07-15T15:34:46.032-04:00

As I was walking to the 54th Pier on the Hudson River for a Big Band Swing event, I had to stop myself from collecting lemonade plastic cups from the Target High Line Street Festival. After all, those corn-made compostable cups were the focus of my attention during three-hour volunteering with the CENYC Office of Recycling Outreach and Education (OROE) earlier that day. The idea was to make this

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-52472504615756900502009-06-19T14:39:00.014-04:002009-06-19T19:21:37.410-04:00

I grew up in a country where over half the the population was farming. As a city kid, I tolled along with my parents – university professor and pharmacist – on a patch of land 30 km outside the city plowing potatoes, watering tomatoes, picking strawberries and hauling home bags of cucumbers on public buses. We ate fresh fruit and vegetable in the season and home-canned preserves off-season. We

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-82354839906184591882009-06-13T22:00:00.009-04:002009-06-15T12:29:43.449-04:00

Having watched the Food, Inc. movie, I suggest you do, too. The movie is about the big problems in the American food industry. They stem from three major phenomena: companies' obsessive chase of efficiency and profit, government’s repeated failure to enforce food safety, and consumers’ ignorant preference for cheap unhealthy food. The result is that most Americans are eating engineered – rather

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-48408665355944176882009-06-08T18:33:00.015-04:002009-06-08T19:26:37.888-04:00

I first learned about the green restaurant movement in New York when I attended a networking event for sustainability-minded people organized by econventions at Caffe Notte, an environmentally-conscious community wine bar. I recently talked with Steven Salsberg, owner of the bar and charismatic advocate of this movement, about progress and challenges in the process of ‘greening’ the food &

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-81335308951208542752009-06-07T21:19:00.012-04:002009-06-07T22:18:39.748-04:00

Sincere thanks to Steven Salsberg, a NYC-based sustainability-conscious entrepreneur and influential change-agent, for bringing to my attention the New York City premiere of a very important movie, Food, Inc that took place last week at the Times Center in Manhattan and was followed by a panel discussion featuring Eric Schlosser, one of the movie's producers, and author of Fast Food Nation and

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-44646098457921263102009-05-21T09:53:00.005-04:002009-05-21T21:29:09.371-04:00

Early this week, the growing New York Corporate Social Responsibility Group got together for another montly meetup - May CSR Social at our favorite Honey Bar and Lounge in Chelsea. In addition to being the only regular informal after-work place to network with other corporate social responsibility and sustainability professionals in the City, the New York CSR Meetup offers an increasingly

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-35361583696724458172009-05-20T09:49:00.001-04:002009-05-20T09:51:58.588-04:00

Happy to share with you an article I wrote for the Green Edge Collaborative NYC's first Leaflet. The article is about a great non-profit that is successfully promoting bike culture and sustainability in New York City. The spring is back in the New York City and so are the bikers! You will find them all along the Hudson River Greenway, an amazing bike route that stretches from Battery Park all the

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-48364904565459055192009-05-19T12:21:00.004-04:002009-05-19T19:44:01.103-04:00

I enjoy biking a lot. So imagine my satisfaction when I learned that May was the official Bike Month in New York City. That means a great variety of biking activities organized throughout the five boroughs. Last Thursday, May 14, was the National Bike to Work Day.This WABC Bike to Work video features the main groups promoting the bike culture in New York, and they are doing a great job in

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-67633278959755785932009-05-11T15:42:00.002-04:002009-05-11T20:14:51.763-04:00

An interesting CSR event happened in New York City on Monday, May 11. The Clinton Global Initiative together with The Economist convened the meeting Global Challenges, Corporate Solutions: Creating Value for Business and Society, the aim of which was to discuss ways to help the world’s leading companies identify profitable and sustainable approaches to the world’s most urgent social and

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-72659876083660910842009-05-04T18:38:00.016-04:002009-05-04T20:26:29.126-04:00

At an event I attended a couple of weeks ago, I took note of what Richard Edelman said regarding the importance of effective, multi-pronged communication in today’s marketplace. Because effective communication is a big part of corporate social responsibility and because Edelman is one of the world’s leading independent PR firms, I asked Richard Edelman, President & CEO, to offer us his view on

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-42243758412676868892009-04-29T12:28:00.010-04:002009-04-29T14:15:30.047-04:00

Last night the New York CSR Meetup got together for another of its regular monthly meetings - April CSR Social. We met at Honey, a lounge bar with interesting history, great fondues and own sustainability plans in Chelsea/West Village.Because of interesting trends in corporate sustainability area, we chose to discuss the progress and, particularly, the challenges companies face in their efforts

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-59999239818556923962009-04-23T17:49:00.010-04:002009-04-23T20:04:14.159-04:00

I've been long wondering what the social responsibility of tobacco companies should be. On one hand, it is counterproductive to discourage their CSR efforts in areas such as health, education, disaster relief or community development. On the other hand, applauding these efforts in the context of their main product - cigarettes - is, softly speaking, morally inappropriate. So what could tobacco

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-63304274257364582002009-04-22T21:20:00.006-04:002009-04-22T22:00:00.614-04:00

I did not do much today to celebrate the Earth Day. Actually, my printer completely ignored the significance of today and wasted some paper while I was multi-tasking. I'll make up for today on Saturday when I will be volunteering with the Council of the Environment of New York City helping kids learn about solar ovens. I am, however, very much interested in what others have been up to today.

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-50466813353342101262009-04-18T10:21:00.009-04:002009-04-18T14:10:47.171-04:00

Two distinguished personalities made inspiring keynote speeches at yesterday's event: President Bill Clinton and Professor Muhammad Yunus. Prof. Yunus also provided a hint about ways to address Moldova's problems. This blog features Prof. Yunus' speech which focused on his vision on eradicating poverty in the world. He believes that the current financial system is inherently flawed because it

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-23610927135475318372009-04-17T12:18:00.022-04:002009-05-04T10:58:47.404-04:00

The 2nd panel of the Forum has just finished and while the participants are preparing to listen to Muhammad Yunus' keynote speech, I'll be in the Press Room and give you the scoop from the Doing Well, Doing Good: New Corporate Paradigm panel. For those of you who want to listen to Mr. Yunus' speech that is about to start in about 20 minutes, you can do so by connecting to the event's live feed

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-35910153888528849402009-04-15T20:33:00.016-04:002009-04-15T21:49:01.292-04:00

I'm looking forward to attending the second annual Georgetown Global Forum "Profit, Policy and Philanthropy - The Keys to Global Development" that will take place on Friday, April 17 in New York City. It is sponsored by Georgetown University in partnership with Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical company committed to addressing global health challenges such as diabetes and multidrug-resistant

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-91700231579909050592009-04-13T16:43:00.010-04:002009-04-13T17:04:22.560-04:00

Our series of interviews with CSR professionals in American companies continues. This time my attention was drawn toward a global company in the extractive industry, Hess Corporation.Paula Luff, Hess Corporation's Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and I talked about the beginnings of corporate responsibility, the way the company’s internal processes and relationships with stakeholders

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-2860108806411956982009-04-09T10:16:00.010-04:002009-04-09T11:23:35.822-04:00

Most of you have probably heard of the recent political unrest caused by the results of parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova - the country where I am from. Check here and here and here for updates on the situation. The biggest lesson from Moldova is that poverty, economic stagnation, state corruption and lack of development opportunities for its growing generations can undermine any

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-59382886079929451082009-04-04T18:33:00.008-04:002009-04-06T16:44:36.180-04:00

Americans like to volunteer. In 2007 that amounted to 8.1 billion hours of service worth approximately $158 billion. And there are many resources available to satisfy this enthusiasm. For New Yorkers there is VolunteerNYC that makes searching for volunteering opportunities much easier. The week of April 19-25, 2009 was designated as the National Volunteer Week themed "Celebrating People in Action

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-72402086012589906352009-04-01T09:00:00.000-04:002009-04-01T09:00:33.452-04:00

First, the April Fool's Day/Wasting Energy Day videos: Second, I think there are still too many people out there with the same wasteful attitude. James Kanter of New York Times' Green Inc. blog wondered whether wasting energy was uncivilized. My answer is an absolute yes. I read through the comments and noticed that people still tend to link their ability to pay to a right to over consume. I

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-67435705059085331462009-03-30T21:23:00.010-04:002009-04-01T14:25:48.928-04:00

What do you think of a company that manufactures solar panels? Do you think it is as green as it can get? The MIT engineers conducted a research of current manufacturing processes and found them many times more energy-intesive than traditional one. The increase of material/energy intensity use has been primarily a consequence of the introduction of new manufacturing processes, rather than changes

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-68131775955449517612009-03-26T18:21:00.008-04:002009-03-28T15:49:39.518-04:00

Although I intended to post this live from the Summit, my laptop refused to cooperate for some mysterious reason. So, with a little delay, here are my main observations from the Summit:1. Logistic-wise: superior organization, perfect time management and a brilliant interactive survey technology (which allowed participants to answer questions in 10 seconds and aggregated all answers in 1 second)2.

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-49225591419642022772009-03-26T09:31:00.000-04:002009-03-26T18:21:13.962-04:00

Today I'm attending The Economist's 2009 Sustainability Summit taking place at W Hotel in Midtown in New York City. The topic of this year's summit is Global Warming and Its Implications for Corporate Strategy No topic could be more urgent particularly if we have only 5,000days left to change the catastrophic outcomes of global warming. Everybody seems to agree that sustainability is critical to

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-26066483809632043862009-03-25T20:26:00.011-04:002009-03-25T21:31:20.647-04:00

Aside from a temporary separation from my laptop due to a terminal problem with the power supply cable (a frequent issue with Acer, I learned), this has been an interesting week in terms of events. 1. Yesterday we had an excellent CSR Social with CSR professionals and activists in New York. We discussed and exchanged views about the greenwashing phenomenon so widely spread around us. The idea is

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-92214084589357643732009-03-20T10:23:00.011-04:002009-03-20T10:59:20.715-04:00

The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship (BCCCC) has initiated a film festival which aims to highlight the different ways companies tell their corporate citizenship story. According to BCCCC, such short videos - obviously products of communications teams - have been increasingly linked to improving a company's reputation, positive branding and ultimately the bottom line.“Since so much

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-8269616556465208062009-03-18T19:32:00.016-04:002009-03-18T21:07:36.601-04:00

I met Cecily Joseph, Director of Corporate Responsibility of Symantec at the UNIFEM/UN Global Compact event. She generously responded to my questions about Symantec's corporate responsibility efforts and I'm happy to share this with you. What are the reasons Symantec decided to engage in corporate responsibility efforts? What are Symantec’s CR drivers? We see the threads of corporate

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-57869285994430900972009-03-17T10:46:00.011-04:002009-03-18T12:50:23.864-04:00

Great CSR news from over the Atlantic:Mallen Baker, a UK-based writer, commentator, strategic advisor on corporate social responsibility and chief executive of Business Respect has recently launched a new website for this CSR e-newsletter that I've been receiving regularly in my inbox and have greatly enjoyed reading. Business Respect is one of those resources that offer just the right amount of

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-59841609081234241322009-03-16T11:04:00.007-04:002009-03-16T15:07:21.357-04:00

Water is increasingly becoming the new - blue - gold. Water has always been scarce in many parts of the world. It is well-known that every sixth person in the world lacks access to clean drinking water. charity: water organized a photo exhibition at Chelsea Market in New York and proposes to give 100 schools in developing nations safe drinking water in 2009.Water is high on the international

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-28092167684877912802009-03-15T19:44:00.004-04:002009-03-15T20:01:03.461-04:00

This an interesting video interview with Jay Dietrich, program manager of climate stewardship at IBM. The way to get more businesses to achieve sustainability goals is to show them the business value overtime. According to Jay, most businesses can easily achieve 5-10% reduction of energy use by doing small improvements against the baseline assessment.

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-76699608794677934772009-03-10T13:25:00.012-04:002009-03-13T13:50:32.283-04:00

To continue on the workplace diversity subject, I'd like to tell you about an outstanding CSR program carried out by Gap Inc. It's called Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement or P.A.C.E. This program was born out of Gap's recognition of the central role women play in the company's global workforce as well as in their communities. Rightly so. Women represent 70% of Gap's workforce and over

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-43351712408657014582009-03-08T14:24:00.006-04:002009-03-10T10:27:56.921-04:00

Today we celebrate the International Women's Day. On this occasion I'd like to refer to an event I attended on Thursday, March 5 in New York City. "Advancing Women in the Global Marketplace" was co-organized by UNIFEM and UN Global Compact which put the gender (and not only) diversity in an interesting perspective. The event was subject to Chatham house rule, so I can't give any quotes, although

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-34069776699329680262009-03-06T11:55:00.007-05:002009-03-06T12:25:02.969-05:00

Below are several pictures from the CRO Magazine press conference:

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-493551641734445822009-03-06T11:20:00.001-05:002009-03-06T11:38:54.404-05:00

The 2009 100 Best Corporate Citizens List® will be featured in the January/February issue of CRO Magazine. It will also contain interviews and profiles of the new Board of Governors of the CRO Association, the Corporate Responsibility industry’s association-of-record with over 150 major corporate members. Going forward, the List Methodology Committee of the CRO Association will manage the

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-3555027347016409452009-03-06T11:08:00.004-05:002009-03-06T11:59:06.730-05:00

Question from Computer World: What are the reasons for the upper move of IBM since 2008?Stan Litow, IBM: "There are a number of performance metrics we've improved since last year such as in kind contributions in innovative technology available to people in need and employee volunteering."Question by Elliot Clark, CRO: If you look at the List, you find that these companies outperformed the Fortune

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-14350445939605907852009-03-06T10:46:00.003-05:002009-03-06T12:27:18.658-05:00

Jay Whitehead has just announced the much-anticipated 100 Best Corporate Citizens 2009.The top five companies in the List are: 1 Bristol Myers-Squibb2 General Mills3 IBM4 Merck 5 HPWhile this year’s most-respected corporate responsibility ranking features many repeat appearances by perennial leaders, 2009’s top-ten companies on the List include four dramatic comeback stories from past corporate

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-47401684898907467812009-03-06T10:41:00.000-05:002009-03-06T10:41:20.597-05:00

In answer to those who ask “does corporate responsibility matter in an age where many companies are fighting for their lives?” CRO Magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens List® answers a resounding “yes.” Why such a List? Three reasons. First, CRO’s 10th annual 100 Best List (compiled by IW Financial and edited by CRO) is completely based on publicly available information. That means the list’s

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-40481352766795932012009-03-06T10:34:00.004-05:002009-03-06T12:29:05.046-05:00

So here we are today at the Penn Club in New York City in anticipation of finding out which companies made the CRO Magazine's 2009 100 Best Corporate Citizens List®. The list will be announced by Jay Whitehead, CRO Magazine Publisher, at the press conference which is about to start.Over 25 corporate responsibility executives from 100 Best Corporate Citizens List® firms have gathered here. Before

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-72472731981762899082009-03-05T11:00:00.002-05:002009-03-05T18:46:48.931-05:00

Stay tuned for an exciting event that will take place tomorrow in New York City! The Corporate Responsibility Officer CRO Magazine will announce its 10th annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List®. The 2009 100 Best Corporate Citizens List® will be officially announced in a press conference tomorrow, Friday March 6, 2009 at 10:30 am EST in New York City. I have the honor to be the exclusive live

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-34700529717015395182009-03-04T09:00:00.008-05:002009-03-04T15:13:29.677-05:00

A while ago, I invited you to contribute to my interview with Georg Kell, Executive Director of UN Global Compact, that took place on February 25, 2009 in New York City. Many thanks to everyone for great questions. Mr. Kell and I had an interesting discussion and I'm happy to share with you the most inspiring highlights. 1. On CSR definitionIn simple words, our definition of sustainability

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-65786196234997733082009-03-03T10:17:00.010-05:002009-03-03T11:31:35.045-05:00

I came across a great speach on healthy food by Mark Bittman, author of the New York Times food column The Minimalist.I'm observing an interesting trend: people who care about good and healthy food also care about how that food - and their eating habits - affects our planet. And I can't agree more with Mark that it's time "we stop growing animals industrially and eating them thoughtlessly."

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-63085596842900210062009-03-01T19:29:00.005-05:002009-03-01T20:52:40.279-05:00

Do you read CSR reports? I do, but not as many and as in depth as Elaine Cohen. If you are looking for a company's CSR report, go to CorporateRegister.com which features reports of over 5,000 companies. If you are also interested in a concise and to-the-point expert opinion on that report, look in the Expert Review section. A couple of months ago, my interest was sparked by LexisNexis.

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-23568163125406607322009-02-23T17:12:00.008-05:002009-02-23T18:17:19.660-05:00

There is an ongoing interesting debate regarding the place of philantropy in the CSR arena, which I'd like to share some hightlights and ask your opinion. First, Wayne Wisser talked about the way Philantrocapitalism endangers CSR:... the idea that social justice, environmental sustainability, human rights and ethical transparency should be left to the whims of a few super-rich individuals is not

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-19054065232890094922009-02-19T12:54:00.010-05:002009-02-19T13:15:12.593-05:00

Brand name companies are held responsible for the operations in their supply chain worldwide, even if the supplier factories are independently owned, local economic entities subject to the national legislation of the country of operation. As a result, Wall-Mart, Gap, Nike and most other multinationals have developed sophisticated supply management systems that include regular audits throughout

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-36610600103419007502009-02-18T12:58:00.008-05:002009-02-18T14:40:24.314-05:00

Peanut Corporation of America caused a nation-wide salmonella outbreak accounting for 600 cases including 9 deaths. The company filed for bankruptcy to avoid being held responsible in court. This is what happens when a company doesn't care HOW it makes money. When a company's values are as infested as its facilities and represent nothing else than the drive to "turn the raw peanuts on the floor

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-23032936847425128672009-02-17T14:58:00.005-05:002009-02-17T16:37:51.600-05:00

Upon returning from a ski trip at Mount Snow, Vermont, where I hadn't had Internet access for a three-day weekend (which might be regarded as an (albeit modest) offset of my unusually large skiing carbon footprint, I came across this The Guardian article (thanks to David of Coethica for pointing it out). The article suggests that a company's fiscal obligations should be regarded as a corporate

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-73252268425171403032009-02-12T14:37:00.009-05:002009-02-12T15:16:28.053-05:00

Here are some interesting sustainability links brought to my attention by readers of this blog. Did you know that:1. the world will be watching these green industry leaders in 2009?2. you can reduce your energy consumption using the Google Power Meter?3. green businesses show resilience in the economic downturn.4. you can promote sustainability with these facts?

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-29544112747865831642009-02-11T13:35:00.010-05:002009-02-11T14:21:09.128-05:00

According to Adam Greene of US Council for International Business, businesses and human rights are an important corporate responsibility issue today. If you follow the news on this subject, you get contradictory reports about companies’ impacts on human rights and it's hard to know where the truth really is. So, in my attempt to find a source of reliable information, I came across Business &

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-43762227976526561992009-02-10T16:10:00.019-05:002009-02-11T11:47:19.269-05:00

That's right. Georg Kell, Executive Director of UN Global Compact, agreed to have a discussion on the hottest topics on corporate responsibility and sustainability. Now I hope to engage you, the readers of Corporate and Responsible, to take part in what promises to be a very interesting conversation. Since UN Global Compact is the largest international citizenship and sustainability initiative in

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-39847259290233744902009-02-09T19:02:00.014-05:002009-02-10T09:24:16.723-05:00

Is it OK for the US government to cap executive compensation or not?After the announcement of Obama's plan to cap senior executive pay in the companies that received bailout money, the bloggers, along with the rest of the public, are divided. Many think this is the ethical thing to do since it's unacceptable to use public money to pay exorbitant compensation to people who, by virtue of their

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-58787316567997764472009-02-07T10:11:00.000-05:002009-02-07T10:11:01.313-05:00

It was nice to learn that Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy - the school I graduated from back in 2006 - has recently launched a Net Impact Student Chapter. Marc Albion, co-founder of Net Impact, and Peter Patch, founder and president of Patch & Associates LLC, spoke at the launching event, which was attended by an impressive group of students.Net Impact is an organization

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-72429820171308277352009-02-05T10:00:00.013-05:002009-02-06T10:38:39.855-05:00

LC: Continuing our discussion on the corporate responsibility challenges facing multinational companies, what about the relationship between business and human rights?Adam Greene: Business and human rights is another big issue right now. Some groups blame companies for complicity in violating human rights by supporting oppressive governments in countries like Congo, Myanmar and Zimbabwe. Paying

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-50568048545154236412009-02-05T10:00:00.008-05:002009-02-05T10:20:04.538-05:00

US Council for International Business (USCIB) advances the global interests of American businesses both in the US and abroad, and contributes with opinions and solutions to a vast array of international policy issues. I talked with Adam Greene, Vice-President of Labor Affairs and Corporate Responsibility, about current topics on the corporate responsibility agenda with focus on the business

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-10224625647023144812009-02-03T13:38:00.010-05:002009-02-03T17:57:06.166-05:00

Since we were talking about the state of sustainability in New York, the recently launched State of Green Business 2009 report adds on to that discussion. The GreenBiz team, headed by Joel Makower, set off to assess the state of green business wondering, like many of us, whether there is "a fundamental shift taking place in business — one that will have a lasting salutary effect on planet Earth?

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-64142291615488461942009-02-02T09:12:00.000-05:002009-02-02T09:12:00.277-05:00

The commercials that made it to my Super Responsible Ad list are:General Electric: Wind Enegy for investing in clean energyKellog's: Plant a Seed for giving back to communitiesPedigree: Crazy Pets for compassion

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-47541954284416663962009-02-01T16:13:00.017-05:002009-02-01T23:06:04.879-05:00

Yesterday I went skiing at Hunter Mountain for the first time. While skiing down nice trails named after New York City streets, I was thinking about the carbon footprint of this type of entertainment. So I found Marc Gunther's post "Greening Skiing" timely and thought-provoking. Photo credit: Chaval BrasilToday is the Super Bowl Sunday in the US. The first good news is that it's the greenest

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-32209588542190434322009-01-29T11:15:00.009-05:002009-01-29T12:03:37.706-05:00

If you did not get the chance to attend the "Sustainability: Leadership Required" conference organized by the Business for Social Responsibility back in November 2008 in New York, you now have the chance to get the highlights here.You can find ideas and insights from business leaders on various current CSR-related topics such as:1. measuring return on investment: "Sometimes CSR requires a leap of

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-31660219683697028712009-01-28T09:25:00.012-05:002009-01-28T10:30:25.255-05:00

Environmentally-conscious orange juice drinkers should know the recently released fact that the PepsiCo Tropicana 64-oz container has a lifecycle carboon footprint of 1.7 kg. Although I've always prefered fresh oranges, I find the idea of measuring and publicizing the carbon footprint of consumer goods very appealing. This reminds me of the time when food products had no nutritionist informations

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-29438429140170808562009-01-27T10:01:00.007-05:002009-01-27T10:23:52.489-05:00

Leonard Shostak is an active member of the New York Corporate Social Responsibility Group. He acts as Partner and Business Development Consultant with Box of Rain LLC, a business development consulting firm in Brooklyn, New York. We discussed the meanings and aspects of sustainable business as they are understood, practiced and debated in the US, particularly in New York City. LC: What does Box

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-38031550453449758752009-01-22T14:21:00.006-05:002009-01-22T15:17:55.810-05:00

Tomorrow an important event will take place in Queens, New York. I'm talking about the Green Business Summit, a business-to-business gathering to promote green business standards and practices among the local business community. This event is hosted by the Queens Chamber of Commerce, Econventions and the Queens College and over 1000 people are expected to attend. It is noteworthy that the

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-81486006291285149402009-01-19T17:48:00.011-05:002009-01-19T21:00:10.578-05:00

While looking for a place to watch and celebrate Barack Obama's inauguration tomorrow, I was skimming through the current issue of New York magazine, and, instead, came across some great ideas to solve our big problems. I want to share my favorite ones with you and ask you what you think:1. CEO Ebay. To save companies money on CEOs' astronomical pay, the candidates, short-listed by boards, make

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-31294942788642623562009-01-16T10:21:00.007-05:002009-01-16T11:26:07.301-05:00

At a panel discussion held at the MIT Enterprise Forum of New York City, Stanley Litow, IBM's Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Corporate Responsibility, talked about the Corporate Service Corps program. The presentation made quite an impression on the panel's audience, particularly because it was accompanied by a personal account of a former Corps IBM-er. You can find details and related

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-62079606912683478792009-01-16T09:36:00.011-05:002009-01-16T10:19:11.399-05:00

Below is George Mobiot's interview with the CEO of Shell, a global oil and gas company with a controversial environmental and ethical record.

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-15679959887614221192009-01-13T15:28:00.007-05:002009-01-13T22:38:59.940-05:00

Today I attended one of the Workshops for Ethics in Business a program of Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. For details on today's luncheon panel check out this web-page . One of the panelist was Art Kleiner, editor-in-chief of a management magazine and author of The Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management (2nd ed., 2008, Wiley)

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-67574232088768014842009-01-10T12:58:00.006-05:002009-01-10T13:42:05.372-05:00

The news that the Danish government made it mandatory for about 1,100 companies to produce annual CSR reports generated varied reactions among bloggers. Opinions range from very optimistic to rather skeptical. On one hand, this regulation is likely to encourage more CSR practices. Elain Cohen, author of reporting blog, thinks this initiative will "prove the point that reporting is a catalyst for

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-81580753985032766532009-01-06T09:48:00.004-05:002009-01-06T12:49:31.100-05:00

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

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-59344335576326809812009-01-01T16:00:00.011-05:002009-01-01T18:17:47.338-05:00

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

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-53033016199797316702008-12-31T14:47:00.004-05:002008-12-31T15:47:35.553-05:00

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

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-17678046060884775092008-12-29T11:24:00.007-05:002008-12-29T14:23:31.098-05:00

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

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-27063878003027840442008-12-18T15:05:00.012-05:002008-12-18T16:58:37.949-05:00

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

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-73159509752464253982008-12-17T10:59:00.005-05:002008-12-17T11:53:52.939-05:00

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,

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-68308656871740963172008-12-16T14:46:00.011-05:002008-12-16T15:46:10.833-05:00

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 20092. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and philanthropist, for outlining the opportunity side of responsible business with his vision for

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-86845301745191055342008-12-15T22:31:00.008-05:002008-12-15T23:27:05.206-05:00

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

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814295780968333593.post-58411976185064596712008-12-12T22:04:00.009-05:002008-12-12T23:07:59.569-05:00

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.

Luciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11741209960003411470noreply@blogger.com0