tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20246323473957929202024-03-18T21:03:25.166-07:00CSR InternationalOfficial blog of CSR International, managed by CEO Wayne Visser. CSR International a membership organisation dedicated to connecting and empowering Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) professionals. See www.csrinternational.org for more information.Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comBlogger242125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-50218247011692421062012-04-24T05:12:00.002-07:002012-04-24T05:12:44.892-07:00Sign Up for CSR International RSS Feed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Wayne Visser</div>
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CEO, CSR International</div>
</div>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-56143309518818976892012-03-28T04:48:00.001-07:002012-03-28T04:48:00.052-07:00The Millennium Development Goals – Are we getting there?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:author>Wayne Visser</o:Author> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:created>2011-04-20T10:51:00Z</o:Created> <o:lastsaved>2011-04-20T10:51:00Z</o:LastSaved> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>612</o:Words> <o:characters>3494</o:Characters> <o:company>Kaleidoscope Futures Ltd</o:Company> <o:lines>29</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>8</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>4098</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>14.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> 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Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="0" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left; "><b>By Ana Svab</b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">When launching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), United Nations Secretary-General BAN Ki-moon said that the “Goals are ambitious but feasible and, together with the comprehensive United Nations development agenda, set the course for the world’s efforts to alleviate extreme poverty by 2015." So how far have we progressed on this journey? The answer is: quite far, but not far enough. According to the 2011 Millennium Development Goals Report, some of the global targets are likely to be met, while others will probably be missed.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">The eight MDGs have been agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They range from halving extreme poverty, to providing universal primary education and achieving gender equality. The MDG website states that: “They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.” Obviously, perspectives on progress depend on the part of the globe we are looking at, as well as which goals we are reviewing. So let’s see how we’re getting on:<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18pt; "><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; "> </span><!--[endif]-->Goal 1 – Eradicate extreme poverty and huger</b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">Sounds ambitious, doesn’t it? However, “sustained growth in developing countries, particularly in Asia, is keeping the world on track to meet the poverty-reduction target”. Unfortunately, this does not mean that less people are going hungry – the number stands stubbornly at 16%, and the report admits that it will be “difficult to meet the hunger-reduction target in many regions of the developing world”.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18pt; "><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; "> </span><!--[endif]-->Goal 2 – Achieve universal primary education</b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">“To achieve universal primary education, children everywhere must complete a full cycle of primary schooling. Current statistics show that the world is far from meeting that goal”. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18pt; "><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; "> </span><!--[endif]-->Goal 3 – Promote gender equality and empower women</b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">The progress made on achieving this goal is clearly dependant on the geographical region. The progress will also depend on the nature of comparison made. “Representation by women in parliament is at an all-time high, but falls shamefully short of parity”. Quite a few of the women I know would claim that this disparity still causes wars, economic meltdowns, and, well, most major world problems in general!<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18pt; "><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; "> </span><!--[endif]-->Goal 4 – Reduce child mortality</b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">There is steady progress being made to reduce child mortality, with the greatest success being found in Northern Africa and Eastern Asia, though children from rural households are still at a greater risk. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18pt; "><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; "> </span><!--[endif]-->Goal 5 – Improve maternal health</b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">Progress has been made, but maternal mortality remains a major problem in many developing countries, due to unskilled childbirth, unmonitored pregnancies, poor reproductive health, low use of contraceptives and adolescent pregnancies.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18pt; "><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; "> </span><!--[endif]-->Goal 6 – Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases</b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">“New HIV infections are declining”! Though there is still a lot of work to be done, especially in some parts of the world, this is good news.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18pt; "><!--[if !supportLists]-->7.<span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; "> </span><!--[endif]--> <b>Goal 7 – Ensure environmental sustainability</b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">“Global greenhouse gas emissions continue their ascent”. Will we achieve this goal? Maybe. But we will all have to do our bit as individuals to reduce flights and travel, reduce consumption and recycle more. More importantly, we will have to do much more as employees and employers to change the way we do business and influence our supply chain and customers to become more sustainable.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-indent: -18pt; "><!--[if !supportLists]-->8.<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; "> </span><!--[endif]-->Goal 8 – Develop a global partnership for development</b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">With the existence of multinational and “multi-continental” organisations, such as the European Union and the United Nations, one would think we have already achieved this. Yet challenges remain, not least closing the digital divide by enabling internet access to the other two thirds of the world.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">To conclude, across the different MDGs, progress is being made, and some of the targets will be met by 2015. However, we still have a long way to go, and most of these targets will only be achieved if we all make an effort. So roll up your sleeves!<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; "><b>References<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">1) <a href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml">http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: normal; ">2) Millennium Development Goals Report 2011<o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-74120458893607405922012-03-27T04:18:00.000-07:002012-03-27T04:18:00.470-07:00Nature vs. Nurture: Are Social Entrepreneurs Born or Made?<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span >By Dr Wayne Visser</span></h3><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Part 7 of 13 in Wayne Visser's </em><a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html" href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; "><em style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Age of Responsibility</em></a><em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "> Blog Series for 3BL Media.</em></p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">What do Taddy Blecher, Anurag Gupta, Wang Chuan-Fu and all of the other social entrepreneurs have in common? Is this a special breed of human being? Are social entrepreneurs born or can they be made? In the academic literature, there is an interesting thread of research that is around the concept of ‘champions’ in organisations, especially ‘environmental champions’. The idea draws on prior conceptions of the human resources champion in the 1970s and 1980s, before HR became institutionalised.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Academics define environmental champions as people who can attractively express a personal vision about environmental protection that is in tune with both industry’s needs and wider public concern and who convince and enable organisation members to turn environmental issues into successful corporate programs and innovations. Environmental champions have been showed to imbue a combination of characteristics, including being a catalyst, champion, sponsor, facilitator and demonstrator. Their skills include the ability to identify, package and sell environmental issues within their organisations. Their effectiveness in engaging others rests heavily on expertise, top management support and a strong appreciation for the problems that every business unit or operations manager faces.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Research on champions is not confined purely to the environmental dimension of sustainability. Others have written about socially responsible change-agents, as well as managers’ individual discretion as a component of corporate social performance. British academic Christine Hemingway, for example, finds that CSR can be the result of championing by a few managers, based on their personal values and beliefs, despite the personal and professional risks this may entail. Individual managers are also often mediators in corporate philanthropy and stakeholder influence. Hence, the notion of CSR champions has emerged as an important concept, which I will return to this in the final chapter on individual change agents.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Bill Drayton, who has been involved in selecting and tracking the progress of the 2,700 Ashoka Fellows, believes social entrepreneurs ‘focus everyday on the “how to” questions. How are they going to get from here to their ultimate goal? How are they going to deal with this opportunity or that barrier? How are the pieces going to fit together? They are engineers, not poets. ... The entrepreneur’s job is not to take an idea and then implement it. That is what franchisees do. The entrepreneur is building something that is entirely new – by constantly creating and testing and recreating and then testing and recreating again.’ <a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=5515&action=edit#_edn1" href="#_edn1" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[i]</a></p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">There are other characteristics as well, according to Drayton. ‘The true social entrepreneur also has an almost magical ability to move people, a power rooted in exceptional ethical fibre. He or she is always asking people to do things that are unreasonable – and people do them. ... The entrepreneur has an inner confidence that most sense but do not understand. While others think entrepreneurs are taking risks, entrepreneurs don’t see it that way because they have thought things through extremely well. They also believe in their ability continuously to adapt the idea as they drive toward a goal that they know is a huge win for everyone, and ultimately to reach that goal. They know, in other words, that they have the gift that brings the greatest happiness in the world, the gift of being able to give at the highest level. Once one grasps who the true social entrepreneur is,’ concludes Drayton, ‘one would have to be crazed to bet against him or her ultimately changing the world at large scale.’</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The question remains: Is such social entrepreneurship a random and unpredictable phenomenon, or is there some underlying rationale or theory that we can use to better understand and advance sustainability innovation? I did a research project with my colleagues at Cambridge University to answer this question.<a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=5515&action=edit#_edn2" href="#_edn2" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[ii]</a> In our attempt to ‘map the territory’, we created a model that looked at the Enablers, Processes and Agents of sustainability innovation. There were a number of interesting findings.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">First, of the four <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Enablers</em> of innovation that we identified – government, finance, technology and culture – most people are focused either on finance or technology. For example, in the SustainAbility survey of over 100 social entrepreneurs, 72% cited ‘access to finance’ as their primary challenge, and much of the report is dedicated to understanding this issue.<a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=5515&action=edit#_edn3" href="#_edn3" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[iii]</a> Furthermore, many typical cases held up as innovation success stories – whether they be GE’s EcoImagination programme or Vodafone’s M-Pesa service – are almost inevitably technology solutions.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The corollary of this finding is that the role of government and culture is being neglected. Government, by setting clear, long term policy targets on social and environmental issues like biodiversity, climate change or access to health and sanitation, can create an enabling environment that allows business to innovate. Likewise, fostering a corporate and national culture of innovation – of opportunity orientation rather than risk obsession – is a necessary precondition for innovation.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In the area of <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Processes</em>, of which we identified three – individual actions, management systems and tailored approaches – most of the focus has been on individual actions. This mirrored our findings for <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Agents</em>, where individuals were favoured over companies and non-business agents. Hence, the notion of a sustainability champion or a social entrepreneur trains our hopes on the creative, business-savvy individual. This overlooks the important role of innovation within large companies – what the second in the SustainAbility series of reports called ‘intrapreneurship’ – as well as the potential for NGOs like Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) to be part of the innovative solution.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Another interesting finding from my Cambridge research was that most cited cases seem to be innovation processes specifically targeting sustainability issues, rather than efforts at embedding sustainability principles in core innovation processes. This is a fundamental distinction, because it means that most R&D going on in companies – and hence most innovation – is not systematically building in social and environmental criteria. As a result, much like CSR more generally, innovation is a peripheral, project/product specific activity, which is exactly what is preventing scalable solutions from emerging in the mainstream economy. Until CSR is built into every organisational process – and especially into strategic functions like R&D or new product development – we will always be playing on the fringes of the Age of Responsibility.</p><div style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 12px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: rgb(231, 231, 231); border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px; margin-bottom: 24px; "><div style="line-height: 1.5; "><p style="line-height: 1.5; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px; "><a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=5515&action=edit#_ednref1" href="#_ednref1" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[i]</a> Drayton, B. (2010). Tipping the world: The power of collaborative entrepreneurship. Published on the McKinsey What Matters site, 8 April 2010.</p></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; "><p style="line-height: 1.5; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px; "><a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=5515&action=edit#_ednref2" href="#_ednref2" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[ii]</a> Blowfield, M., Visser, W. & Livesey, F. (2007). Sustainability Innovation: Mapping the Territory, University Cambridge Programme for Industry Research Paper Series: No. 2.</p></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; "><p style="line-height: 1.5; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px; "><a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=5515&action=edit#_ednref3" href="#_ednref3" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[iii]</a> Growing Opportunity: Entrepreneurial Solutions to Insoluble Problems (2007)</p></div></div>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-4163482083952239532012-03-26T04:16:00.001-07:002012-03-26T04:18:05.023-07:00The Impact of Ruggie’s Guiding Principles for Human Rights?<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span >By Sabrina Basran</span></h3><p style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The world is no stranger to human rights abuses committed by companies – Union Carbide (taken over by Dow Chemical) in India in the 1980s; Shell in the Niger Delta; Nike and sweatshop labour in Vietnam the 1990s; Trafigura dumping toxic waste in Côte d'Ivoire in the 2000s; and Vedanta Resources in India today – these are a few among many examples.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In March 2011 John Ruggie, then Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG) submitted his final report for consideration by the UN Human Rights Council. The report set out Ruggie’s Guiding Principles for implementing a ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ framework for human rights. The Council officially endorsed the Principles in June 2011. They were six years in the making.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Ruggie’s Framework rests on three pillars:</p><ul style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; list-style-type: square; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 1.5em; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">The <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">state</em> duty to <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">protect</em> human rights</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">The <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">corporate </em>responsibility to <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">respect</em> human rights; and</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Access to <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">remedy</em> (provided largely by states, but also by corporates).</li></ul><p style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">A year on, what impact has Ruggie’s Framework (particularly the second pillar) had on business behaviour? Not much. Beyond a stated commitment to the Guiding Principles in a few CSR reports and Code of Ethics, there has been a conspicuous lack of activity by companies in implementing the Framework. This is not to say there has been none, but examples are few and far between. One of the difficulties with such voluntary guidance is there is no body to take ‘ownership’ once it is complete. As such, it tends to ‘drift’ and have little success in effecting genuine change.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">This is perhaps why the EC announced earlier this year that it is developing guidance to support Ruggie’s second pillar, in conjunction with the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and Shift. We will have to ‘watch this space’. Meanwhile, there is evidence of some change. Recent cases of corporate human rights abuses highlight that there is another ‘player’ in the human rights game besides states, business and regulatory bodies – the general public.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">A case in point is Apple, which, in February 2012, admitted it had a human rights problem and agreed to investigate working conditions in its supply chain. The decision was partly due to growing pressure from consumers and the general public, including calls to boycott Apple products. This was especially the case in China, where one of Apple’s suppliers, Foxconn, had experienced a spate of suicides at its factories since 2009.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Another example is Hershey’s. After more than 100,000 consumers lobbied Hershey’s online as part of the ‘Raise the bar, Hershey!’ Coalition, the company agreed in March to buy Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa. The Coalition began in response to forced and child labour problems in Hershey’s supply chain.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">These examples raise important questions around the role of guidance and regulation as drivers of corporate responsibility for human rights. The shift of power from state governments to multinational corporations suggests that we need a shift in thinking on human rights and how to effect positive change and progress. Is guidance sufficient? Does it place enough ‘pressure’ on companies? Does it really drive change in business behaviour? Compared to issues around corporate social responsibility, sustainability and ethics, human rights have long been the focus of regulatory bodies such as the UN. Yet, whilst there has been a definite shift in business attitudes towards these issues, companies have been reluctant to take much action.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">This suggests regulation and guidance are not the best way forward. Where there has been company action this has been partly in response to public pressure. Ultimately, companies are pragmatic; they care about their future. If society is pushing for change, business will generally (albeit sometimes rather slowly), respond. This is increasingly the case as business realises the power of societal pressure to influence corporate reputation - and so the bottom line.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.5; "><b>References</b></span></p><ol style="font-size: 100%; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 1.5em; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, John Ruggie, ‘<em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Guiding principles on business and human rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy</em>” <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Framework’</em>, 21<sup style="line-height: 1; font-size: 10px; height: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; bottom: 1ex; ">st</sup> March 2011.</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Institute for human rights and business press release, 13<sup style="line-height: 1; font-size: 10px; height: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; bottom: 1ex; ">th</sup> January 2012. See: <a href="http://www.ihrb.org/news/2012/new_project_to_develop_business_and_human_rights_guides_for_three_european_business_sectors.html" href="http://www.ihrb.org/news/2012/new_project_to_develop_business_and_human_rights_guides_for_three_european_business_sectors.html" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">http://www.ihrb.org/news/2012/new_project_to_develop_business_and_human_rights_guides_for_three_european_business_sectors.html</a></li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Ethical performance, ‘<em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Foxconn factory first in Apple’s supplier labour practices review’</em>, March 2012.</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">The Independent, ‘<em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Apple admits it has a human rights problem’</em>, 14<sup style="line-height: 1; font-size: 10px; height: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; bottom: 1ex; ">th</sup> February 2012. See: <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/apple-admits-it-has-a-human-rights-problem-6898617.html" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/apple-admits-it-has-a-human-rights-problem-6898617.html" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/apple-admits-it-has-a-human-rights-problem-6898617.html</a></li><li style="line-height: 1.5; "><a href="http://www.raisethebarhershey.org/" href="http://www.raisethebarhershey.org/" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">http://www.raisethebarhershey.org/</a></li></ol>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-45935870417404920302012-03-18T04:24:00.001-07:002012-03-18T04:26:33.075-07:00CSR 2.0 as a New DNA for Business<b style="font-style: normal; ">By Wayne Visser</b><div> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> 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0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; "><i><span style="font-size: 100%; ">Part 6 of 13 in Wayne Visser's </span><a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html" style="font-size: 100%; "><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">Age of Responsibility</span></a><span style="font-size: 100%; "> Blog Series for 3BL Media.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; margin-top: 6pt; "><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; margin-top: 6pt; ">By May 2008, it was clear to me that the evolutionary concept of Web 2.0 held many lessons for CSR, and I began to develop my thinking around CSR 2.0. It quickly became clear, however, that a metaphor can only take you so far. What was needed was a set of principles against which we could test CSR. These went through a few iterations, but I eventually settled on five, which form a kind of mnemonic for CSR 2.0: Creativity (C), Scalability (S), Responsiveness (R), Glocality (2) and Circularity (0). These principles, which will be explored in detail in the next blog posts, can be described briefly as follows:<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; "><i>Creativity </i><span style="font-style: normal; ">– The problem with the current obsession with CSR codes and standards (including the new ISO 26000 standard) is that it encourages a tick-box approach to CSR. But our social and environmental problems are complex and intractable. They need creative solutions, like Free-play’s wind-up technology or Vodafone’s M-Pesa money transfer scheme.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; "><i>Scalability </i><span style="font-style: normal; ">– The CSR literature is liberally sprinkled with charming case studies of truly responsible and sustainable projects. The problem is that so few of them ever go to scale. We need more examples like Wal-Mart ‘choice editing’ by converting to organic cotton, Tata creating the affordable eco-efficient Nano car or Muhammad Yunus’s Grameen microfinance model.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; "><i>Responsiveness</i><span style="font-style: normal; "> – More cross-sector partnerships and stakeholder-driven approaches are needed at every level, as well as more uncomfortable, transformative responsiveness, which questions whether particular industries, or the business model itself, are part of the solution or part of the problem. A good example of responsiveness is the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; "><i>Glocality </i><span style="font-style: normal; ">– This means ‘think global, act local’. In a complex, interconnected, globalising world, companies (and their critics) will have to become far more sophisticated in combining international norms with local contexts, finding local solutions that are culturally appropriate, without forsaking universal principles. We are moving from an ‘either-or’ one-size-fits-all world to a ‘both-and’ strength-in-diversity world.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; "><i>Circularity </i><span style="font-style: normal; ">– Our global economic and commercial system is based on a fundamentally flawed design, which acts as if there are no limits on resource consumption or waste disposal. Instead, we need a cradle-to-cradle approach, closing the loop on production and designing products and processes to be inherently ‘good’, rather than ‘less bad’, as Shaw Carpets does.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; margin-top: 6pt; ">I believe that CSR 2.0 – or Systemic CSR (I also sometimes call it Radical CSR or Holistic CSR, so use whichever you prefer) – represents a new model of CSR. In one sense, it is not so different from other models we have seen before. We can recognise echoes of Archie Carroll’s CSR Pyramid, Ed Freeman’s Stakeholder Theory, Donna Wood’s Corporate Social Performance, John Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line, Stuart Hart and C.K. Prahalad’s Bottom of the Pyramid, Michael Porter’s Strategic CSR and the ESG approach of Socially Responsible Investment, to mention but a few. But that is really the point – it integrates what we have learned to date. It presents a holistic model of CSR.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; margin-top: 6pt; ">The essence of the CSR 2.0 DNA model are the four DNA Responsibility Bases, which are like the four nitrogenous bases of biological DNA (adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine), sometimes abbreviated to the four-letters GCTA (which was the inspiration for the 1997 science fiction film GATTACA). In the case of CSR 2.0, the DNA Responsibility Bases are Value creation, Good governance, Societal contribution and Environmental integrity, or VEGS if you like. Each DNA Base has a primary goal and each goal has key indicators.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; "><span style="font-style: normal; ">Hence, if we look at </span><i>Value Creation</i>, it is clear we are talking about more than financial profitability. The goal is economic development, which means not only contributing to the enrichment of shareholders and executives, but improving the economic context in which a company operates, including investing in infrastructure, creating jobs, providing skills development and so on. There can be any number of KPIs, but I want to highlight two that I believe are essential: beneficial products and inclusive business. Does the company’s products and services really improve our quality of life, or do they cause harm or add to the low-quality junk of what Charles Handy calls the ‘chindogu society’. And how are the economic benefits shared? Does wealth trickle up or down; are employees, SMEs in the supply chain and poor communities genuinely empowered?<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; "><i>Good Governance</i><span style="font-style: normal; "> is another area that is not new, but in my view has failed to be properly recognised or integrated in CSR circles. The goal of institutional effectiveness is as important as more lofty social and environmental ideals. After all, if the institution fails, or is not transparent and fair, this undermines everything else that CSR is trying to accomplish. Trends in reporting, but also other forms of transparency like social media and brand- or product-linked public databases of CSR performance, will be increasingly important indicators of success, alongside embedding ethical conduct in the culture of companies. Tools like Goodguide, KPMG’s Integrity Thermometer and Covalence’s EthicalQuote ranking will become more prevalent.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; "><i>Societal Contribution</i><span style="font-style: normal; "> is an area that CSR is traditionally more used to addressing, with its goal of stakeholder orientation. This gives philanthropy its rightful place in CSR – as one tile in a larger mosaic – while also providing a spotlight for the importance of fair labour practices. It is simply unacceptable that there are more people in slavery today than there were before it was officially abolished in the 1800s, just as regular exposures of high-brand companies for the use of child-labour are despicable. This area of stakeholder engagement, community participation and supply chain integrity remains one of the most vexing and critical elements of CSR.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6pt; ">Finally, <i>Environmental Integrity </i>sets the bar way higher than minimising damage and rather aims at maintaining and improving ecosystem sustainability. The KPIs give some sense of the ambition required here – 100% renewable energy and zero waste. We cannot continue the same practices that have, according to WWF’s Living Planet Index, caused us to lose a third of the biodiversity on the planet since they began monitoring 1970. Nor can we continue to gamble with prospect of dangerous – and perhaps catastrophic and irreversible – climate change.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; margin-top: 6pt; ">In this blog series, I will explore what a different approach – CSR 2.0 – may look like.</p> <!--EndFragment--></div>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-73163410039133183262012-03-16T03:38:00.000-07:002012-03-16T03:38:00.064-07:00How Reliable is Corporate Social Responsibility?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>572</o:Words> <o:characters>3263</o:Characters> <o:company>Kaleidoscope Futures Ltd</o:Company> <o:lines>27</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>7</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>3828</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>14.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> 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<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; "><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>By Lorna Taylor</b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Pressure is increasing on large organisations to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability across the three pillars of economic performance, social equity and environmental protection. There are many good stories of CSR in practice, but many others are undermining the principles of CSR. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Think back 15 years. The organic and fair-trade industries were small niche markets for dedicated sustainability enthusiasts. Nowadays they are found in every major supermarket with a huge following. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">However, along with this boom in sustainability and CSR came ‘greenwash’ - “disinformation disseminated by an organisation, so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.” The term greenwash may now be outdated but the problem remains; it encompasses not just misleading environmental claims but also ethical and social ones.<span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin;color:red"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Time and again we hear how large organisations that have caused social or environmental damage rapidly take up new CSR initiatives to counteract the bad press and encourage perceptions of ‘good’ corporate citizenship. But CSR should not be a cover up, or a PR tool; it should be embedded in the organisation at every level. Corporate actions need to match CSR claims.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Christian Aid in 2004 named and shamed large organisations involved in greenwash, revealing CSR projects that were misleadingly marketed as ‘the right thing’, when in fact they were not feasible; unsuccessful or detrimental to local communities. Commenting on Shell in the oil producing region of the Niger Delta, their report states, “The region is now a veritable graveyard of projects, including water systems that do not work, health centres that have never opened and schools where no lesson has been taught.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">CSR should be about companies outlining their social and environmental goals and committing to follow through. However, there is very little independent regulation to monitor such commitments. Should governments control companies’ efforts through increased legislation, or in the true spirit of CSR, should organisations be regulating themselves? Unfortunately, whilst self-regulation may be preferable, it does not always occur. Corporate statements of CSR no longer guarantee good practice. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Greenwash is not always deliberate; laziness and ignorance are common causes.<span style="font-size:8.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; line-height:115%;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin"> </span>CSR, or sustainability, is a difficult term to define and definitions tend to be vague due to its broad nature. Stakeholders have adapted and moulded the CSR concept to work for them; but ulterior motives have also resulted in confusion, greenwashing and the compromise of long-term sustainability goals. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Despite some progress, governmental regulation and political action is required to rebuild faith in the concept and monitor CSR delivery. Sustainability in its current form is not sustainable. CSR needs to evolve, becoming more accountable and embedded in core societal changes in order to provide truly sustainable benefits for society. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">Accountability is the key to addressing the issue of greenwashing and ensuring that CSR is sustainable. Corporate Social Responsibility has to grow into Corporate Social Accountability, measuring the impact of actions, not just what actions have been taken. <span style="font-size:8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-style: normal; "><b>References</b><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; ">Christian Aid, 2004. <i>Behind The Mask: The real face of Corporate Social Responsibility</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; ">Jim MacNeill, 2007. <i>Our Common Future: Advance or Retreat? Sustainable Development: A New Urgency. </i>Geneva: EcoLomics International.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; ">John Drexhage and Deborah Murphy, 2010. <i>Sustainable Development: From Brundtland to Rio 2012</i>, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; ">Futerra Sustainability Communications, 2008. <i>The Greenwash Guide</i><span style="font-size: 100%; "> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><i>Sustainable development Innovation Briefs, </i>Issue 1, February 2007, “CSR and Developing Countries: what scope for government action?”<o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-30583340589816470442012-03-15T07:52:00.000-07:002012-03-15T07:52:00.677-07:00CSR: Altruism vs. Enlightened Self-interest<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>By Jessica Friend</span></h3><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be justified either in terms of altruism or enlightened self-interest. On the one hand, definitions of CSR typically contain altruistic elements – such as unselfish concern for the welfare of others – requiring corporations to acknowledge their obligations to stakeholders. On the other hand, enlightened self-interest advances the belief that ethical behaviour can be good for business – for example, gaining a competitive edge by adding value to an organisation’s products or increasing the company’s public reputation. </p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Of these two approaches, it appears that enlightened self-interest is favoured most strongly by companies. For instance, over 70 percent of CEOs interviewed by Springpoint Consultancy agreed that CSR was essential for making a profit.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">To illustrate this approach, Google’s CSR strategy is openly motivated by enlightened self-interest. Hence, according Axel Marrtinez, assistant treasurer for Google, the company invested US$28 million in 240 affordable housing units for low-income families in Boston, Massachusetts, not only to be a good corporate citizen, but also to benefit from an improvement in societal standing by being seen to contribute to social problem solving.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Often, CSR programs like Google’s are justified by enlightened self-interest enthusiasts purely on the basis of their utilitarian benefits – in this case, the material benefits of low-cost housing enjoyed by Boston residents is equal to the reputation gains and societal standing afforded to Google. Hence, CSR beneficiaries are viewed only in terms of their intrinsic value for the company.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">This is where the donor-recipient relationship can seem exploitative and enlightened self-interest can damage the integrity of CSR. To reduce cynicism and to avoid producing exploitative-prone CSR strategies, altruism must be embedded within the corporation’s core purpose and the interests of all stakeholders must be taken into account, not only those of shareholders.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Aygaz, Turkey’s leading gas provider and a CIPR Excellence award winner, is a good example of a company with altruistic orientation. Their Climate Change Education Program aimed to increase awareness amongst Turks of global warming. Aygaz centred their program around the recipient, involving their customers in pilot projects, eventually achieving a 51 percent increase in climate change awareness. The 21 percent increase sale in gas appliances was an added bonus, rather than the sole focus of CSR activity. </p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Aygaz showed that CSR strategies motivated by genuine concern for the common good are less open for criticism. Accountability of CSR strategies is improved when beneficiaries are actively involved within the CSR design process and are seen as ‘ends’ in themselves, not simply a ‘means to an end’.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In conclusion, strong CSR strategies are those where altruism is deeply embedded within the organisation and places beneficiaries at the centre of programs, increasing both organisational accountability and transparency. Although enlightened self-interest provides a logical business reason for pursuing CSR strategies, these tend to produce weak programs open to accusations of ‘greenwashing’, PR-spin or stakeholder manipulation.</p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><strong style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.5; font-weight: bold; ">References</strong></p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">CIPR, 2011, ‘Excellence Award Winner Case Study – Aygaz with Lobby PR’ [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.cipr.co.uk/content/events-awards/excellence-awards/past-winners" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">http://www.cipr.co.uk/content/events-awards/excellence-awards/past-winners</a> [accessed 5th January 2012] </p><p style="font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Godelnik, R., 2011, ‘Google Investing in Low-Income Housing – Good Cause, Bad CSR?’ [Online] Available at <a href="http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/10/google-investing-low-income-housing-good-bad-csr/" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/10/google-investing-low-income-housing-good-bad-csr/</a> [accessed 5th January 2012]</p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-63014036859478012092012-03-14T04:16:00.000-07:002012-03-14T04:16:00.479-07:00Employee Volunteering – If it’s so important, why aren’t we all doing it?<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>By Andrea Grace Rannard</span></h3><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Employee volunteering is widely acknowledged as an integral component of a company’s CSR activity. Yet, many companies don’t integrate it into their operations by giving staff time off to volunteer. And, for those companies that do, not all staff utilise it. So, do we take employee volunteering that seriously?</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">According to the 2010-11 Citizenship Survey, 25% of people volunteer on a monthly basis (1). If a company is a microcosm of wider society, then regardless of the formalised mechanisms to foster a culture of volunteering, people will not always engage with it.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Some companies are concerned that establishing a policy will result in huge uptake and adverse impact on core business. However, this can be refuted on two accounts: First, for any responsible employer, community investment via employee volunteering is core business. Second, offering employees time off to volunteer is a marathon rather than a sprint. For example, the FSA, who integrate volunteering into appraisals, offer employees up to 27 days of volunteering leave a year. Yet, only 20% of the workforce is engaged (2)</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The main reason cited by people for not volunteering is a lack of time (3). So, perhaps addressing this barrier by formally allowing staff time off to volunteer will go some way in demonstrating a company’s commitment to CSR and employees without the fear of 100% workforce engagement.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Browsing through a company’s CR report, it is obvious that volunteering is a useful mechanism to report employee engagement and community impact. Yet, despite the importance of capturing outputs, there appear to be mixed feelings about embedding employee volunteering into operations, for example through appraisals and volunteering leave days.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">From a company perspective, adapting HR procedures to implement new volunteering policies can involve significant resource. If the demand from staff isn’t explicit, why make company-wide changes?</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Of course, employee volunteering arrangements can be made on an informal basis between employees and line managers, not necessitating formal procedure. The output remains the same – employees volunteer. Also, an informal approach may make volunteering more attractive.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">However, as with any activity a company takes seriously – whether it is promoting diversity or sustainable procurement – formalisation is helpful to embed a company-wide culture and demonstrate commitment. Creating formalised channels for volunteering can also ensure a more robust data capture system, supporting wider CSR reporting. This includes generating personal case studies that bring reporting to life.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Another benefit of having a policy on volunteering is that it helps reinforce the company’s brand and reputation. Allowing volunteering leave can also make the company an attractive place to work, forming part of a wider portfolio of employee benefits such as training, pension and healthcare provision.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Finally, there is significant evidence to support the engaged employer argument (Gallup 2006, CMI 2008,MacLeod and Clarke 2009) including reduced staff turnover, higher levels of productivity and profitability, fewer sick days, increased levels of innovation and improved morale. (4-6)</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><strong style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 1.5; font-weight: bold; ">References</strong></p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">(1) Department for Communities and Local Government (2011) Citizenship Survey: 2010-11</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">(April 2010 – March 2011, England), Statistical Release Number 16</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">(2) Corporate Citizenship (2010) Volunteering – The Business Case: The benefits of coporate volunteering programmes in education</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">(3) National Centre for Social Research in partnership with the Institute for Volunteering Research (2007) A National Survey of Volunteering and Charitable Giving 2006-07 (Helping Out)</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">(4) Gallup (2006) Gallup Study: Feeling Good Matters in the Workplace</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">(5) Kumar, V. and Wilton, P. (2008) ‘Briefing note for the MacLeod Review’, Chartered Management Institute</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">(6) MacLeod, D. and Clarke, N. (2009) <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement</em></p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-83728555890319445692012-03-13T04:14:00.000-07:002012-03-13T04:14:00.180-07:00Cracking the CSR Codes Puzzle<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:created>2011-04-13T08:48:00Z</o:Created> <o:lastsaved>2011-04-13T08:48:00Z</o:LastSaved> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>1146</o:Words> <o:characters>6535</o:Characters> <o:company>Kaleidoscope Futures Ltd</o:Company> <o:lines>54</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>15</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>7666</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>14.0</o:Version> 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font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="font-size: 100%; ">By Dr Wayne Visser</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><i>Part 5 of 13 in Wayne Visser's Age of Responsibility Blog Series for 3BL Media.<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Looking back, we can see that the 1990s were the decade of CSR codes – not only EMAS, ISO 14001 and SA 8000, but also the Forest Steward Council (FSC) and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Certification Schemes, Green Globe Standard (tourism sector), Corruption Perceptions Index, Fairtrade Standard, Ethical Trading Initiative, Dow Jones Sustainability Index and OHSAS 18001 (health & safety), to mention just a few. But all that was just a warm up act when we look at the last 10 years, when we have seen codes proliferate in virtually every area of sustainability and responsibility and all major industry sectors. So much so that in the <i>A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility</i>, we included over 100 such codes, guidelines and standards – and that was just a selection of what it out there. To illustrate the point, here is a sample of what has been thrust onto corporate agendas since the year 2000:<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">The Carbon Disclosure Project; Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation; GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines; Kimberley Process (to stop trade in conflict diamonds); Mining and Minerals for Sustainable Development (MMSD) Project; UN Global Compact; UN Millennium Development Goals; Voluntary Principles on Human Rights; FTSE4Good Index; Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS; Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Business Principles for Countering Bribery; Publish What Pay Campaign; Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development; London Principles (finance sector); AA 1000 Assurance Standard; Equator Principles (finance sector); Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI); Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil; Global Corruption Barometer; UN Convention Against Corruption; UNEP Finance Initiative; UN Norms on Business and Human Rights; World Bank Extractive Industries Review; AA 1000 Standard for Stakeholder Engagement; EU Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment; ISO 14064 Standard on Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Verification; Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change; Bribe Payers’ Index; UN Principles for Responsible Investment; ClimateWise Principles (insurance sector); UNEP Declaration on Climate Change; UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME); Bali, Poznan and Copenhagen Communiqués (climate change) ... and many, many more.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">No wonder companies are suffering from code fatigue and audit exhaustion. It is the supreme paradox of the Age of Management – companies are pressured to standardise their efforts on sustainability and responsibility, while stakeholders and critics (myself included) remain unconvinced that this approach identifies or addresses the root causes of the problems we face. Many of the institutional failures over the past 20 years have, I would argue, been systemic failures of culture, rather than bureaucratic failures of management; they have more to do with a prevailing set of values than a particular set of procedures. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">The latest in this code-mania is ISO 26000 on Social Responsibility. I have suggested before that ISO 26000 is like a teddy bear – something cute and fluffy, which may help companies sleep better at night, but nothing like the grizzly bear that we really need to shake business out of their CSR complacency. Of course, it is unfair of me to make so light of a five-year international process of negotiation involving over 90 countries, which managed to reach some measure of agreement on such tricky issues as human rights and fair operating practices. But I really do believe that, as a non-certifiable guidance standard that promotes a strategic approach to CSR (rather than a transformative CSR 2.0 agenda), ISO 26000 may prove to be more of a damp squib than a big bang.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Having said that, I must give ISO 26000 its due – as a foundation document that encapsulates the international consensus on social responsibility, it is to be applauded and recommended. Its greatest achievement – and what I expect may prove to be its most enduring legacy – is the way in which it broadens the scope of CSR, first beyond big corporates to any organisation, and second beyond an exclusive focus on philanthropic community development to incorporate six other core subjects, namely organisational governance, human rights, labour rights, the environment, fair operating practices and consumer issues. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Besides this, countries like Denmark are ignoring ISO’s strong declaration against ISO 26000 certification schemes and have begun developing their own certifiable national standard, DS 26000. I expect consultants will also increasingly offer ISO 26000 compliance auditing services, irrespective of whether these are sanctioned by ISO. The fact is that business, governments and civil society alike want standards on social responsibility with ‘teeth’. A decade of weak standards without sanction, like the UN Global Compact and AA 1000, as compared with tougher certification schemes like SA 8000 and the Forest Stewardship Council, have taught us where real value lies.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">I believe that the codes-based approach, which I call Strategic CSR in an Age of Management, fails on three counts. First, the <i>incremental</i> approach of CSR, while replete with evidence of micro-scale, gradual improvements, has completely and utterly failed to make any impact on the massive sustainability crises that we face, many of which are getting worse at a pace that far outstrips any futile CSR-led attempts at amelioration.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Second,<i> </i>CSR is, at best, a <i>peripheral</i> function in most companies. There may be a CSR manager, a CSR department even, a CSR report and a public commitment to any number of CSR codes and standards. But these do little to change the underlying growth-and-consumption model that fuels environmental degradation and social disruption.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Third,<i> </i>the ‘inconvenient truth’ is that CSR sometimes pays, in specific circumstances, but more often, it is still <i>uneconomic</i>. Of course there are low-hanging fruit – like eco-efficiencies around waste and energy – but most of the hard-core CSR changes that are needed require strategic change and massive investment, which the markets don’t support.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">So where does this leave us? I have argued so far that the Ages of Greed, Philanthropy, Marketing and Management have brought us to a point of crisis in CSR. Specifically, CSR is failing to turn around our most serious global problems – the very issues it purports to be concerned with – and may even be distracting us from the real issue, which is business’s role causal role in the social and environmental crises we face. In the rest of this blog series, I will explore what a different approach – CSR 2.0 – may look like.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>About the author<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Dr Wayne Visser is Founder and Director of the think-tank <a href="http://www.csrinternational.org/">CSR International</a> and consultancy Kaleidoscope Futures Ltd. He is the author of thirteen books, including <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html">The Age of Responsibility</a><i>: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business</i> (2011), <i>The World Guide to CSR </i>(2010) and<i> The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility </i>(2010). He is the author of over 180 publications (chapters, articles, etc.) and has delivered more than 170 professional speeches on in over <span class="apple-style-span">50 countries in the last 20 years.</span> In addition, Wayne is Senior Associate at the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, Visiting Professor of Sustainability at Magna Carta College, Oxford, and Adjunct Professor of CSR at Warwick Business School, UK.<o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-37410397838312650732012-03-12T04:12:00.000-07:002012-03-12T04:12:00.202-07:00I Am Fat and It Is Your Fault!<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>By Alicia de la Peña</span></h3><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In 2006, the Mexican Institute for Public Health warned that, despite persistent poverty levels, the country was facing an obesity pandemic. (National Institute of Public Health, 2010). High rates of malnutrition among the poorest people in Mexico still exist, but a change in lifestyle patterns - leading families to eat more processed foods, engage in less physical activity and consume more edible oils and sweetened beverages - has resulted in rates of obesity comparable to many developed countries. (Popkin, Adair, & Wen Ng, 2011)</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">It is true that each individual is responsible for what he or she eats. But children have less choice - they eat what their parents give them. And parents argue that they cannot afford to provide for a healthy diet. For example one litre of milk in Mexico costs about $1, the same as three litres of soda which tastes better and is more widely available. With a minimum wage in Mexico of less than 5 dollars a day, is it surprising that families are buying more soda than milk?</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">As consumers, we expect that food and beverage manufacturers apply the highest ethical - that the products we purchase are fresh and pure; that we are charged a fair price for these goods; and that they are made available to us where and when we require them. But, increasingly, we expect marketers to go beyond this – to also take on responsibility for our consumption behavior. As a result, some self-regulatory bodies, food marketers and advertising agencies have begun to take action on health issues. (Mueller, 2007)</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The Mexican government has also begun proactively regulating companies that sell processed foods such as sodas, chips and cookies. The advertising and food industry has, in turn, developed several of the new standards – like the PABI Code (2007). (PABI CODE, 2007). There have also been efforts to legislate against the sale of foods and drinks of low nutritional value in schools. As a result we now have smaller versions of the products with lower calories, but still aimed at children.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Is this an adequate solution? I believe that besides the regulatory measures and changes in product size and ingredients, we have to educate consumers - to make them co-responsible of their behavior and teach them to make healthful choices. Otherwise, we will end blaming the government for our bad choices (which is not untypical in Mexico) and expecting the public health system to take care of increasing numbers of Mexicans with diabetes and heart disease.</p><h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>References</span></h3><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">PABI CODE. (2007). Recuperado el 17 de Feb de 2012, de Self regulation advertising code of food and beverages aimed to the children: http://www.e-consulta.com/blogs/educacion/imgs_10/codigo_pabi.pdf</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">National Institute of Public Health. (2010). Recuperado el 17 de Feb de 2012, de http://www.insp.mx/noticias/nutricion-y-salud/1200-crecen-sobrepeso-y-obesidad-infantil-en-mexico-11-al-ano.html</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Mueller, B. (2007). Just where does corporate responsibility end and consumer responsibility begin? The case of marketing food to ids around the globe. International Journal of Advertising, 26(4), 561-564.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Popkin, B. M., Adair, L. S., & Wen Ng, S. (2011). Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries. Nutrition Reviews, 70(1), 3-21.</p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-47500019893486396982012-03-11T04:10:00.000-07:002012-03-11T04:10:00.480-07:00Broken Promises: BP’s slide backwards into Promotional CSR<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="line-height: 1.5em; "><span>By Wayne Visser</span></span></h3><div><h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; font-weight: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><em style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "><span>Part 4 of 13 in Wayne Visser's Age of Responsibility Blog Series for 3BL Media.</span></em></h3></div><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">By 2000, John Browne, then-CEO of BP, felt the company had earned enough sustainability kudos to risk a major rebranding. The company reportedly spent $7 million in researching the new ‘Beyond Petroleum’ Helios brand and $25 million on a campaign to support the brand change. When Browne justified the exercise by saying ‘it’s all about increasing sales, increasing margins and reducing costs at the retail sites’, perhaps more people should have tempered their expectations. Certainly Greenpeace wasn’t duped, concluding at the time that ‘this is a triumph of style over substance. BP spent more on their logo this year than they did on renewable energy last year’.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Antonia Juhasz, author of The Tyranny of Oil (2008), was similarly sceptical, claiming that at its peak, BP was spending 4% of its total capital and exploratory budget on renewable energy and that this has since declined, despite Browne’s announcement in 2005 of BP’s plans to double its investment in alternative and renewable energies ‘to create a new low-carbon power business with the growth potential to deliver revenues of around $6 billion a year within the next decade.’</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Sceptics notwithstanding, Browne had earned his new title as the ‘Sun King’ and his reputation was not only being earned with green stripes. BP was also one of the first companies to declare their support for the Publish-What-You-Pay campaign. But success or failure is all about timing. If Browne had been a politician and had retired in 2003 after two four-year terms of office, he may still have been covered in glory, with his Sun King crown firmly in place. After all, he had turned BP into an oil major – perhaps even a competitor for Exxon Mobil – by creating a lean, mean, green machine. Instead, he hung onto power long enough to face the consequences of his own legacy of cost-cutting and rhetoric. As a result, between 2004 and 2007, the proverbial chickens came home to roost. Browne was left tarred and feathered.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">On 23 March 2005, when an explosion and fire at BP’s Texas City refinery killed 15 workers and injured more than 170 others. An investigation into the accident by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ultimately found over 300 safety violations and fined BP $21 million – the largest fine in OSHA history at the time. In 2007, in a separate settlement related to the explosion, BP pleaded guilty to a violation of the federal Clean Air Act and agreed to pay a $50 million fine and to make safety upgrades to the plant. Two years later, in 2009, OSHA imposed an additional $87 million in fines, claiming that the company had not completed all the safety upgrades required under the agreement and alleging 439 new ‘wilful’ safety violations.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In March 2006, BP was found to be criminally liable for a corroded pipe on Alaska’s North Slope that leaked 200,000 gallons of oil. In August of the same year, another leak appeared and the entire Prudhoe Bay operation had to be shut down. During the investigation, a federal grand jury subpoenaed records from a Seattle engineering firm that had been hired by Alaska to evaluate BP's pipeline-maintenance record and uncovered a draft report that was highly critical of BP, but somehow turned into a final report that was largely complimentary. Member of Congress, Rep. Jay Inslee, concluded that BP had made a ‘wilful, conscious decision’ to ‘quash that information from the public’.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">By the time of Browne’s undignified exit into the wings of BP history in 2007, he was widely criticised for the dual crimes of greenwashing and instilling a cost-cutting culture that was the root cause of BP’s spate of safety and environmental incidents. Even the new CEO, Tony Hayward, a year before taking over, admitted that BP had ‘a management style that has made a virtue of doing more for less.’</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">After taking over, Hayward quickly showed that he was not one for green rhetoric. Less than six months into the job, he announced BP’s plans to invest nearly £1.5bn ($2.3) to extract oil from the Canadian wilderness – the so-called Alberta tar sands – an action which earned it a Guardian newspaper headline as ‘the biggest environmental crime in history’. Greenpeace claims that it takes about 29kg of CO2 to produce a barrel of oil conventionally, but as much as 125kg for tar sands oil. It also believes the production threatens a vast forest wilderness, greater than the size of England and Wales, which forms part of one of the world’s biggest carbon sinks.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Two years later, Hayward’s apparent ‘back to the petroleum’ strategy gained momentum when BP announced that it had shut down its alternative energy headquarters in London, accepted the resignation of its clean energy boss and imposed cuts in the alternative energy budget - from $1.4bn (£850m) in 2008 to between $500m and $1bn in 2009. Bizarrely, Hayward used this occasion to stress that BP remained as committed as ever to exploring new energy sources. No wonder Grist journalist Joseph Romm responded with an incredulous rant: ‘Seriously, they gut the program and claim it is "reinforcement" of their commitment. Perhaps BP stands for "Beyond Prevarication" or "Beyond Pinocchio”.’</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">All of this history – the story of Browne, of Hayward and of BP – was like a dress rehearsal for the main event. I am referring of course to the catastrophic 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. That is covered in more detail in my book, <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">The Age of Responsibility</em>. For now, many questions remain unanswered: Will BP’s reputation recover? Will this prove to be the worst environmental disaster in history? Will we look back on the Macondo blowout as the inadvertent tipping point that ushers in a new low-carbon future? Students, professors and CSR wonks will study this case for years to come. But for the purposes of this blog, it is simply the latest drama in the BP saga – the story of a corporate leader in Strategic CSR, which managed to dethrone itself become a poster-company for Promotional CSR in an Age of Marketing.</p><h3 style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>About the author</span></h3><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Dr Wayne Visser is Founder and Director of the think-tank <a href="http://www.csrinternational.org/" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">CSR International</a> and consultancy Kaleidoscope Futures Ltd. He is the author of thirteen books, including <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">The Age of Responsibility</a><em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business</em> (2011), <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">The World Guide to CSR </em>(2010) and<em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "> The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility </em>(2010). He is the author of over 180 publications (chapters, articles, etc.) and has delivered more than 170 professional speeches on in over 50 countries in the last 20 years. In addition, Wayne is Senior Associate at the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, Visiting Professor of Sustainability at Magna Carta College, Oxford, and Adjunct Professor of CSR at Warwick Business School, UK.</p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-90695852425395191172012-03-10T04:09:00.000-08:002012-03-10T04:09:00.823-08:00Tracing Corporate Social Investment (CSI) Milestones in South Africa<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>By Greer Blizzard</span></h3><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">2012 marks the eighteenth year of democracy for the ‘new’ South Africa – a country still navigating its way through the unique political, economic and social turmoil of its birth, while accepting the shortcomings inherent in its colonial and apartheid past.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Corporate Social Investment (CSI), a far more widely used and accepted term in the South African context, has been around for many years. As a broad concept it was introduced in 1972, when Meyer Feldberg called on local business leaders to support the communities that surrounded their operations and from where they drew the majority of their workforce.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Since then, this dynamic landscape has seen many challenges, yet continues to grow as cooperation between government, NGOs, the private-sector and individuals moves from confrontation to collaboration and responsibility – albeit a slow and far from perfect process.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In 1992, in an effort to support corporate South Africa, the <a href="http://www.iodsa.co.za/" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">Institute of Directors</a> approached <a href="http://www.mervynking.co.za/pages/cv.htm" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">Professor Mervyn E. King</a> to create a corporate governance solution for business. This resulted in the establishment of the King Committee on Corporate Governance, which in 1994 launched the first King Report that marked the institutionalisation of corporate governance in South Africa.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In 2002 the <a href="http://www.sheqplus.co.za/files/King%20Report%20on%20Corporate%20Governance%20for%20South%20Africa%202002.pdf" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">King II Report</a> was published, which included a far-reaching section on integrated sustainability reporting, setting out specific reporting, accounting and auditing guidelines for non-financial matters. Although voluntary at the time, the <a href="http://www.jse.co.za/About-Us/History-Of-The-JSE.aspx" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">Johannesburg Securities Exchange</a> requested that listed companies comply with the King II Report recommendations, or explain their level of non-compliance. This subtle pressure was seen as a turning point in the formal life of CSI.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">These shifts in the corporate world paralleled changes in the newly elected democratic government, with the intention of bridging the traditional economic gap between black and white South Africans. The first move saw the launch of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_and_Development_Programme" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">RDP</a>) in 1994, followed by many transformations in an evolving effort to create a supportive, stable and economically profitable environment.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In 1996 the RDP was replaced with the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (<a href="http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/04396_gear.pdf" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">GEAR</a>) macro-economic policy and further in 2000 by the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) commission, chaired by former politician and new leading black businessman Cyril Ramaphosa, which released a report highlighting the need to establish guidelines to ensure greater black participation in the economic future of the country.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">This in turn led to a revised Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) <a href="http://bee.thedti.gov.za/docs/Strategy%20for%20Broad-Based%20Black%20Economic%20Empowerment.pdf" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">Strategy</a>, a precursor to the <a href="http://bee.thedti.gov.za/docs/The%20Broad-Based%20Black%20Economic%20Empowerment%20Act%2053%20of%202003.pdf" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">B-BBEE Act 53 of 2003</a>. The period November 2005 to February 2007, saw three sets of <a href="http://bee.thedti.gov.za/34.htm" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice</a> published, each setting various frameworks for the practical implementation of the B-BBEE Act, including a <a href="http://bee.thedti.gov.za/08.htm" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">score-card system</a> which supports the implementation of the following seven pillars:</p><ol style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 1.5em; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Equity Ownership</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Management</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Employment Equity</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Skills Development</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Preferential Procurement</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Enterprise Development</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Residual Element/Corporate Social Investment</li></ol><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">As a result of these two key legislative frameworks, the concept and application of Corporate Social Investment in South Africa, has become very closely aligned to the advancement of ‘black’ (African, Coloured and Indian) people and their more formal participation in the economy.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">In 2014 when South Africa celebrates its 20th year of democracy, it will undoubtedly acknowledge the huge undertakings achieved and will most certainly highlight the steps going forward, as many more (listed) companies engage with Corporate Social Investment - not just as a ‘marketing add-on’, but as a fully integrated business strategy, giving it respected time on Board agendas.</p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-56137032852761365182012-03-09T04:07:00.000-08:002012-03-09T04:07:00.583-08:00Give a Man the Means to Fish<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>From Paternalistic Charity to Venture Philanthropy</span></h3><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Part 3 of 13 in Wayne Visser's <a href="http://3blmedia.com/blog/20978" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">Age of Responsibility Blog Series</a> for 3BL Media.</em></p><h4 style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">By Dr Wayne Visser</h4><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Give a man a fish and he will eat today. Teach a man to fish and he will eat tomorrow – or until his nets break. Invest in a man’s fishing business and he will feed himself and others for a long time to come. This is what it means to shift from paternalistic charity to venture philanthropy. It is an evolution that is important to root in a long and varied cultural tradition of philanthropy.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Confucius (551-479 BC) said: ‘When wealth is centralized, the people are dispersed. When wealth is distributed, the people are brought together.’ Hence, ‘a man of humanity is one who, in seeking to establish himself, finds a foothold for others and who, desiring attainment for himself, helps others to attain.’ When asked, ‘Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?’ he replied, ‘Is not <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">reciprocity </em>such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others’.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">This so-called Golden Rule, which we find in all the world’s major religions, has come to represent the very essence of charity. In fact, the word charity derives from Latin <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">caritas</em>, which meant preciousness, dearness, or high price. However, in Christian theology, <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">caritas</em> became the standard Latin translation for the Greek word <a title="Agapē" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agap%C4%93" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; "><em style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">agapē</em></a>, meaning an unlimited loving-kindness to all others. Hence, in St Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, we read, in the <a title="King James Version" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Version" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">King James Version</a> of the Bible, of ‘faith, hope and charity’. Of course, it is not only giving that is important, but also the nature of giving. There is a Jewish proverb that says: What you give for the cause of charity in health is gold; what you give in sickness is silver; what you give after death is lead.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Islam also has a strong tradition of charity. <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Zakāt</em>, or alms-giving for the purposes of alleviating poverty and helping those less fortunate, is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The practice is generally in the form of an annual tithe or tax of 2.5% of an individual’s wealth, including money made through business, savings and income. The <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">zakāt</em> must also be above an agreed minimum (called <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">nisab</em>), which is said to be around $2,640 or the equivalent in any other currency. As important as the collection of <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">zakāt</em> in a community is its fair distribution among the needy. Another form of charitable action is <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">sadaqah</em>, which literally means ‘righteousness’ and refers to the voluntary giving of alms or charity. These ancient traditions are considered to be a personal responsibility for all Muslims, practiced out of love for humanity, to ease economic hardship for others and eliminate inequality.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">There are numerous other religious and cultural variations on the theme. Philanthropy in Latin America typically revolves around <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">asistencialismo</em>, which is charitable giving for poverty alleviation. Out of dedication to their religion, education and culture, Bulgarian communities raised donations to build churches, schools and cultural centres called <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">chitalishta</em>. In India, Gandhi’s trusteeship concept was adapted and applied to welfare acts. In Mexico, the Raramori, who still live in the mountains of the state of Chihuahua, use the expression <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">korima</em>, which means ‘to share’ resources in times of stress. In Southern Africa, <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">ubuntu</em> is the practice of humanism based on the collectivist notion that ‘I am a person through other people’.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">So much for the roots and cultural traditions of philanthropy. Upon these foundations, the great philanthropists, ancient and modern, built their charities – from Rockefeller and Carnegie to Gates and Turner. The more interesting question, I think, is whether there is anything new and transformative about charitable giving?</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">One concept that has generated a lot of excitement is ‘venture philanthropy’. Seemingly, it has origins in another HBR article, ‘Virtuous Capital: What Foundations Can Learn from Venture Capitalists’, by <a href="http://hbr.org/search/Christine+W.+Letts" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">Christine W. Letts</a>, <a href="http://hbr.org/search/William+Ryan" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">William Ryan</a> and <a href="http://hbr.org/search/Allen+Grossman" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">Allen Grossman</a> in 1997. Their basic message was that corporate foundations can be more effective if they ‘develop hands-on partnering skills’, for which venture capital firms offer a helpful benchmark: ‘In addition to putting up capital, they closely monitor the companies in which they have invested, provide management support, and stay involved long enough to see the company become strong.’</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Since then, the debate has raged about what venture philanthropy is and whether it is plausible, ethical and desirable. After all, if the venture capitalists are treating their donations as an investment with expectations of a financial return, then is it philanthropy, or just business? And is it feasible to expect charities like community development organisations to generate a financial return in the first place? And what about the distinction between venture philanthropy and social enterprise, or social business?</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">So what do we know? There are basically three models of venture philanthropy. The first is traditional foundations practicing high-engagement grantmaking. The second is organisations which are funded by individuals, but all engagement is done by professional staff. Examples cited include the <a title="Robin Hood Foundation" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_Foundation" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">Robin Hood Foundation</a> in <a title="New York City" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">New York City</a> and <a title="Tipping Point Community" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipping_Point_Community" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">Tipping Point Community</a> in the <a title="San Francisco Bay Area" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">San Francisco Bay Area</a>. The third is the partnership model, in which partner investors both donate the financial capital and engage with the grantees. An example is the Silicon Valley <a title="Social Venture Fund (page does not exist)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Social_Venture_Fund&action=edit&redlink=1" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">Social Venture Fund</a> in <a title="San Jose, California" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jose,_California" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">San Jose, California</a>.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Without getting heavily into the venture philanthropy debate, I do believe that – as with strategic philanthropy – it is symptomatic of the shift in our approach to tackling society’s most intractable problems. What we have seen is that traditional charity has been, for the most part, invaluable in bringing about alleviation of social and environmental distress, but rather ineffective in achieving resolution of the problems themselves. The need for pure philanthropy, irrespective of its strategic alignment to donors, will always be there. There will always be emergencies, crises and urgent problems that don’t link conveniently to business interests.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Venture philanthropy, on the other hand, recognises that we need ways to scale up solutions, and one way is to link business with a social cause, and provide the capital it needs to be effective. Hence, I regard venture philanthropy as one of the transition tools that we need as we move to the Age of Responsibility, not least because it brings creativity and scalability to the table. It is one of the critical enablers that is facilitating the social enterprise revolution, which is discussed in more detail in later chapters.</p><h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>About the author</span></h3><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Dr Wayne Visser is Founder and Director of the think-tank <a href="http://www.csrinternational.org/" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">CSR International</a> and consultancy Kaleidoscope Futures Ltd. He is the author of thirteen books, including <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">The Age of Responsibility</a><em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business</em> (2011), <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">The World Guide to CSR </em>(2010) and<em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "> The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility </em>(2010). He is the author of over 180 publications (chapters, articles, etc.) and has delivered more than 170 professional speeches on in over 50 countries in the last 20 years. In addition, Wayne is Senior Associate at the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, Visiting Professor of Sustainability at Magna Carta College, Oxford, and Adjunct Professor of CSR at Warwick Business School, UK.</p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-74253010275481448362012-03-08T04:06:00.000-08:002012-03-08T04:06:00.208-08:00When passion takes over logic: Mugs vs. disposable cups<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>By Yelena Novikova</span></h3><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">CSR and sustainability professionals are frequently prepared to go the extra mile when designing a solution. It is taken as a given that they have to, if the company aspires to be best in class. Yet, do we really have to? Or can the determination to be CSR-innovative make it easier to miss obvious, simple and more functional solutions?</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">These were the things I was thinking about sitting at a lecture hosted last June by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce). One highly respected CSR manager was talking about his experience of dealing with the issue of coffee cups when he worked in Italy. Seeing that employees drank impressive amounts of coffee (it being Italy after all!) and hence generated mountains of plastic-cup waste, he decided to do something about it.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The obvious solution was to have a policy that everyone must use a ceramic mug. However, the speaker’s research concluded that it took more energy to produce and continuously wash a ceramic mug than it did to produce a disposable paper-cup option that only requires one initial wash. However, Martin Hocking’s energy-based evaluation of reusable and disposable cups shows the reusable cup would use less energy than the plastic one after only 39 uses/washes with an efficient dishwasher <a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=4879&action=edit#_ftn1" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[1]</a>.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">I believe the company in question ended up using polystyrene foam cups, which was the logical - and yet not instantly obvious - solution. Here is some of the statistical evidence on the matter <a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=4879&action=edit#_ftnref1" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[1]</a>:</p><ul style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; list-style-type: square; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-left: 1.5em; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">It takes 198 kj of energy to produce polystyrene foam disposable against 278 kj of primary energy required for single wash in a low energy efficiency countries; hence, there is no point at which a ceramic cup is preferable;</li><li style="line-height: 1.5; ">Also, while ceramic mugs recover practically no energy during the recycling process, polystyrene foam and paper-cup alternatives recover 76 kj and 166 kj of energy per unit respectively.</li></ul><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The answer seems clear-cut. Nevertheless, digging a little deeper suggests a more ambiguous conclusion. For instance, since energy efficiency of dishwashers plays a pivotal role in Hocking’s calculations - and the Energy Label for electrical appliances has been available in Europe as early as 1995 <a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=4879&action=edit#_ftn4" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[2]</a> - perhaps it is more a case of choosing the right dishwasher than the right mug.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Furthermore, a recent study found that the average ceramic mug is used over 2,000 times <a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=4879&action=edit#_ftn5" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[3]</a>. That is four times the 500 uses that Hocking suggests as the threshold beyond which its high fabrication energy becomes unimportant <a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=4879&action=edit#_ftn6" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[1]</a>. We can conclude, therefore, that in a corporate environment, ceramic mugs may very well be an energy sustainable solution, not to mention all the aesthetic, cultural and recycling-related benefits it may also offer.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The point really is not to champion to cause of ceramic mugs, but to challenge the idea that CSR pioneers and innovators always have to dig deep. Sometimes the intuitively simplest answers are also the correct ones. And sometimes digging deeper just means finding the roots.</p><div style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 18px; font-size: 12px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: rgb(231, 231, 231); border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; height: 1px; margin-bottom: 24px; "><div style="line-height: 1.5; "><p style="line-height: 1.5; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px; "><a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=4879&action=edit#_ftnref1" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[1]</a> Martin Hocking, “Reusable and Disposable Cups: An Energy-based Evaluation”, Environmental Management Vol. 18, No. 6, p. 894, 896, 899</p></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; "><p style="line-height: 1.5; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px; "><a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=4879&action=edit#_ftnref4" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[2]</a> http://www.energy.eu/</p></div><div style="line-height: 1.5; "><p style="line-height: 1.5; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 24px; "><a title="" href="http://www.csrinternational.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=4879&action=edit#_ftnref5" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">[3]</a> http://en.brinkwire.com/2082</p></div></div>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-18432726163369413072012-03-07T04:02:00.000-08:002012-03-07T04:02:00.824-08:00Fat-Cats versus Alley-Cats: Why the Occupy Movement is Right<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="font-weight: normal;">By Dr Wayne Visser</span></h3><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Part 2 of 13 in Wayne Visser's </em><a href="http://3blmedia.com/theCSRfeed/Campaign/Age-Responsibility" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; "><em style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Age of Responsibility</em></a><em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "> Blog Series for 3BL Media.</em></p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The most common explanation for the global financial crisis is to point a finger at the banks. And rightly so. But I believe we also need to shine a spotlight on the greed and irresponsibility of executives, fat-cats like Lehman Brothers’ former CEO Richard Fuld. These are the enriched 1% that suck the lifeblood out of the fleeced 99% and which the Occupy Movement is justifiably targeting. Naming and shaming is important, but we need to realise that this is a systemic cancer in our economic and financial system.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">It is also not a new phenomenon, but worrying it is showing signs of getting worse, not better. In 2000, Enron was the 7th largest company in America, with revenues of $111 billion and over 20,000 staff. When the company collapsed in 2001, due to various fraudulent activities fuelled by a culture of greed, the average severance payment was $45,000, while executives received bonuses of $55 million in the company's last year. Employees lost $1.2 billion in pensions; retirees lost $2 billion, but executives cashed in $116 million in stocks.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">At the end of 2007, just before the crisis went public, Lehmans’ CEO Fuld and president Joseph Gregory paid themselves stock bonuses of $35 million and $29 million respectively. At the time, Fuld lived in an enormous Greenwich mansion, over 9,000 square feet, valued at $10 million. He had four other homes and an art collection valued at $200 million. Hardly a picture of responsible restraint.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Taken on their own, these executive pay packages are outrageous enough. But the extent of creeping executive greed comes into even sharper focus when we look at trends in relative pay. In 1965, U.S. CEOs in major companies earned 24 times more than a typical worker, a ratio that grew to 35 in 1978 and to 71 in 1989. By 2000, it had hit 298, and despite falling to 143 in 2002 (after the post-Enron stock market slump), it bounced back again and has continued rising through the noughties (2000s).</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The Institute for Policy Studies Executive Excess report reveals that the 2010 ratio between average worker and average CEO compensation leaped to 325-to-1, up from in 263-to-1 in 2009. Among the nation's top firms, the S&P 500, CEO pay last year averaged $10,762,304, up 27.8 percent over 2009. Average worker pay in 2010? That finished up at $33,121, up just 3.3 percent over the year before.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">According to Fair Economy, the average U.S. worker's salary could pay for 10 months of health insurance, 5 months of college tuition, and buy 10 percent of an average home. On the other hand, the average Fortune 500 CEO's salary could pay for 300 years of health insurance, 200 years of college tuition and buy 34.5 new homes.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">But at least these CEOs are contributing through taxes, right? Wrong. In fact, corporate tax dodging has gone so out of control that 25 major U.S. corporations last year paid their chief executives more than they paid the U.S. government in federal income taxes. Citizens for Tax Justice, as part of a study on tax avoidance among the Fortune 500, has identified 12 corporations that have paid an effective rate of negative 1.5 percent on $171 billion in profits.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">It is easy to go cross-eyed or brain-fried when confronted by a barrage of numbers like that. And yet, there was one particular number that shocked me so much when I read it that it stuck in my mind. I believe I read it in Body Shop founder Anita Roddick’s wonderful and feisty book, <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Body and Soul</em>. She claimed that it would take one Haitian worker producing Disney clothes and dolls 166 years to earn as much as Disney’s then president, Michael Eisner, earned in one day.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Reflecting on this, I wrote in my book <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">Beyond Reasonable Greed</em>: ‘rather than spreading around the wealth for the common good, it seems to us that Adam Smith’s invisible hand has a compulsive habit of feeding itself’. If decades of inaction by governments on executive pay is anything to go by, then we should not wait for our elected politicians to put restraints on the market’s invisible hands.</p><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">So that leaves us – civil society. And that is why I believe the Occupy Movement is a revolution whose time has come. But they need our support; they need our determination; they, even need our outrage. If they don’t get it, we will stand by shaking our self-righteous heads and watch as another generation of Wall Street fat-cats gets fatter at the expense of Main Street alley-cats – that’s us by the way: we, the middle class; we the people who create the real wealth of nations; we who need to say ‘enough is enough!’</p><h3 style="font-style: normal; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>About the author</span></h3><p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Dr Wayne Visser is Founder and Director of the think-tank <a href="http://www.csrinternational.org/" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">CSR International</a> and consultancy Kaleidoscope Futures Ltd. He is the author of thirteen books, including <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html" style="color: rgb(116, 51, 153); line-height: 1.5; ">The Age of Responsibility</a><em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business</em> (2011), <em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; ">The World Guide to CSR </em>(2010) and<em style="line-height: 1.5; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; "> The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility </em>(2010). He is the author of over 180 publications (chapters, articles, etc.) and has delivered more than 170 professional speeches on in over 50 countries in the last 20 years. In addition, Wayne is Senior Associate at the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, Visiting Professor of Sustainability at Magna Carta College, Oxford, and Adjunct Professor of CSR at Warwick Business School, UK.</p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-40899221793571671972012-03-06T04:01:00.000-08:002012-03-06T07:50:32.043-08:00Public Purpose & the Corporate Form: CICs vs BCorps<h3 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span>By Cyrus Bhedwar</span></h3><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Over the past decade, two legal innovations have emerged that attempt to integrate social and environmental purpose with the well-known profit-making prowess of the corporation. Can these alternative corporate forms successfully scale and attract the interests of business people and investors or will they remain footnotes in corporate registries?</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The Community Interest Company (CIC) was created in 2006 in the United Kingdom. This alternative form of incorporation restores a broader sense of purpose to business enterprises. The CIC is an overlay on existing corporate forms, such as a private company limited by guarantee. What sets CICs apart from these conventional forms are two characteristics that ensure the primary beneficiary of the CIC remains the community it was established to serve.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">An organization registering as a CIC must provide a community interest statement which serves as the mechanism against which the CIC’s stakeholders or the government regulator may judge its suitability. If either find that the organization is acting in conflict with its statement, remedial action may be taken.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Secondly, the asset lock is a requirement by which the resources associated with the CIC remain restricted to uses benefiting the community in perpetuity. Related to this limitation are restrictions on the percentage of profits that can be distributed to investors. CICs allow for modest returns, but they are not intended to generate significant wealth for their shareholders.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Rather than reintroducing broader purpose to conventional, profit-minded corporations, the CIC model is designed for the third sector; specifically for entrepreneurs who already have social purpose in mind but need additional opportunities to channel resources to those ends. While CICs address issues that limited social enterprises and they help to reintroduce the relationship between purpose and profit, their relatively strict limitations make it unlikely that they will attract sufficient interest to reorient the trend of profit-maximizing corporations.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">The US version of an alternative corporate form is called the benefit or “B” corporation. While providing the legal protection to consider socially, environmentally and economically optimal solutions, it does not impose limits such as the asset lock or limits on the distribution of profits. Rather it emphasizes and protects broader purpose in organizations’ founding principles. It relies on instruments such as annual reporting and voluntary third-party evaluation to maintain the integrity of this brand.</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Of these options, the B-corp seems to have greater appeal to conventionally minded business people; it has been adopted by once traditional corporations such as Patagonia. However without more stringent accountability mechanisms, will B-corporations reintroduce a broader sense of purpose to businesses in meaningful ways or will they simply be window-dressing?</p><p style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Do either of these approaches make headway in the apparent loss of purpose in the business world? Can they influence the context in which businesses operate in ways that reduce the pressure and temptations to exploit opportunity rather than add value? Can additional innovation produce the right blend of profit and purpose to reduce the likelihood of corporate excess in the future?</p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-46745246183930657622012-03-05T03:59:00.002-08:002012-03-05T04:00:16.735-08:00The Meaning of Responsibility<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:created>2011-04-13T08:48:00Z</o:Created> <o:lastsaved>2011-04-13T08:48:00Z</o:LastSaved> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>1147</o:Words> <o:characters>6539</o:Characters> <o:company>Kaleidoscope Futures Ltd</o:Company> <o:lines>54</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>15</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>7671</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>14.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> 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</style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; "><b style="font-size: 100%; "><i>By Wayne Visser</i></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><i>The Age of Responsibility blog series for TBLmedia - No. 1<o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Do you sigh when you hear the word responsibility? Perhaps responsibility is even a dirty word in your vocabulary. Perhaps you associate it with burdens and restrictions; the opposite of being carefree and without obligations. But responsibility doesn’t have to be a chore, or a cage. It all depends how you think about it. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Responsibility is literally what it says – our ability to respond. It is a choice we make – whether to be attentive to our children’s needs, whether to be mindful of the plight of those less fortunate, whether to be considerate of the impact we have on the earth and others. To be responsible is to be proactive in the world, to be sensitive to the interconnections, and to be willing to do something constructive, as a way of giving back. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Responsibility is the counterbalance to rights. If we enjoy the right to freedom, it is because we accept our responsibility not to harm or harass others. If we expect the right to fair treatment, we have a responsibility to respect the rule of law and honour the principle of reciprocity. If we believe in the right to have our basic needs met, we have the responsibility to respond when poverty denies those rights to others. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Taking responsibility, at home or in the workplace, is an expression of confidence in our own abilities, a chance to test our own limits, to challenge ourselves and to see how far we can go. Responsibility is the gateway to achievement. And achievement is the path to growth. Being responsible for something means that we are entrusted with realising its potential, turning its promise into reality. We are the magicians of manifestation, ready to prove to ourselves and to others what can happen when we put our minds to it, if we focus our energies and concentrate our efforts. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Being responsible for someone – another person – is an even greater privilege, for it means that we are embracing our role as caregivers, helping others to develop and flourish. This is an awesome responsibility, in the truest sense, one which should be embraced with gratitude, not reluctantly accepted with trepidation. Responsibility asks no more of us than that we try our best, that we act in the highest and truest way we know. Responsibility is not a guarantee of success, but a commitment to trying. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">So why is responsibility seen by many as such an onerous burden? Responsibility becomes onerous when choice is removed from the equation, when we do not realise our freedom to act differently, when we forget that we are allowed to say no. Responsibility becomes pernicious when we take on too much, when we mistakenly think that more is always better, when we take on the guilt and expectations of others. Accepting too many responsibilities is, in fact, irresponsible – for it compromises our ability to respond. Do few things but do them well is the maxim of responsibility. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Being responsible also does not mean doing it all ourselves. Responsibility is a form of sharing, a way of recognising that we’re all in this together. Sole responsibility is an oxymoron. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Taking responsibility is a way of taking ownership in our lives, of acknowledging our own hand in the shaping of destiny. Responsibility is the antidote for victimhood. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">When we walk with awareness, we realise the enmeshed nature of reality, we see the subtle strands that make up the web of life, we accept that everything is linked to everything else. Responsibility is being conscious of the oneness of existence. <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Responsibility, if we manage it well, should never be like the curse of Sisyphus, eternally rolling a rock uphill, but rather a blessing gratefully received. For what can be more joyous than making a positive contribution in the world, or making a difference in someone else’s life? <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">Responsibility is the footprint we leave in the sand, the mark of our passage. What tracks will you leave? Where is the place where you can most freely and effectively respond? The choice, as always, is yours.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">I wrote these opening words on responsibility in 2005, and I believe they are still as relevant today as they were back then. Responsibility is the choice we make to respond with care. My book – <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html">The Age of Responsibility</a> – and this TBLmedia blog series, is a way of taking stock. What choices have we made – in the way we live our lives, in the way we do our work and in the way we run our businesses? How have we responded to the needs of our day – especially the social, environmental and ethical crises we face? And have our actions been taken with care – have we cared about our impacts on others?<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">There are even more troubling questions. For instance: Are companies more a part of the problem or the solution? Is the net impact of business positive or negative? There are other questions too; awkward questions that cut even closer to the bone. For better or for worse, I chose corporate sustainability and responsibility (CSR) as my way to make a positive difference in the world – the mark of my footprints in the sands of time. But given that CSR has increased dramatically over the same 50 years that many of our global problems have been getting worse, does that mean that CSR is ineffective? <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">It gets worse. Could the whole CSR bonanza be an unwitting accomplice to the spate of corporate crimes of recent decades? Am I quietly and unintentionally aiding and abetting our collective demise? After all, Enron was stuffed to the gills with CSR – from codes of conduct and ethics officers to corporate volunteering and community development programmes. I am sure all of these CSR programmes had their merits. And yet, if they did nothing to prevent these companies acting like pirates on the high seas of finance, what good are they? <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">If CSR cannot form the bedrock of ethical corporate behaviour, does it deserve to have ‘responsibility’ in its title? More worryingly still, if CSR is used to legitimise businesses or practices that are, at heart, irresponsible, surely CSR is partly to blame for the various corporate ‘sins’ that go undetected and unpunished? I am led to a very uncomfortable conclusion. At worst, CSR in its most primitive form may be a smokescreen covering up systemically irresponsible behaviour. At best, even the most evolved CSR practices might just be a band-aid applied to a gaping wound that is haemorrhaging the lifeblood of the economy, society and the planet.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; ">So we need a new approach – a new CSR, which I call CSR 2.0. This blog series will explore why CSR 1.0 is broken, and how CSR 2.0 can breathe new life into the concept and practice of corporate sustainability and responsibility. I hope you will join me.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><b>About the author<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt; ">Dr Wayne Visser is Founder and Director of the think-tank <a href="http://www.csrinternational.org">CSR International</a> and consultancy Kaleidoscope Futures Ltd. He is the author of thirteen books, including <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html">The Age of Responsibility</a><i>: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business</i> (2011), <i>The World Guide to CSR </i>(2010) and<i> The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility </i>(2010). He is the author of over 180 publications (chapters, articles, etc.) and has delivered more than 170 professional speeches on in over <span class="apple-style-span">50 countries in the last 20 years.</span> In addition, Wayne is Senior Associate at the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, Visiting Professor of Sustainability at Magna Carta College, Oxford, and Adjunct Professor of CSR at Warwick Business School, UK. <o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-54459521751812945632012-02-07T07:52:00.000-08:002012-02-07T07:55:14.977-08:00Be the Change – But first Be Yourself<p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span ><b>By Dr Wayne Visser</b></span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span ><i>Part of the <a href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/series/8-quest-for-csr-2-0/posts">Quest for CSR 2.0</a> Blog Series for CSR Wire</i></span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >What do we know about the role of individuals as CSR change agents? Intuitively, we resonate with adages such as Gandhi's 'be the change you want to see in the world,' or Margaret Mead's famous quote: 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does.' But beyond these clichés, what do we really know about change in the context of CSR?</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >As part of my PhD research, I interviewed a range of CSR professionals – managers, consultants, academics and NGO representatives working on corporate social, environmental and ethical issues. As expected, I found that the desire to create change recurs as a consistent theme.</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >But the way in which CSR professionals make change happen, and the satisfaction they derive as a result, differs considerably.</span></p><h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >Change Motivators</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >For some, as one might guess, values play an important role. In particular, corporate responsibility is seen as a way to align work with personal values. For example, one manager I interviewed says: 'It's the inner drive, it's the way I am put together, my value system, my belief system … it's my Christian belief, my ethical approach.' Another explains that it is important to have 'inspirational leadership and people who align with your value sets.'</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >For many CSR professionals, motivation comes from the fact that sustainability and responsibility are dynamic, complex and challenging concepts. 'The satisfaction is huge,” says one corporate responsibility manager, 'because there is no day that is the same when you get into your office. It's always changing, it's always different.' Another reflects that corporate responsibility 'painted a much bigger picture' and is 'just as holistic as you want it to be. It requires a far broader vision.'</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >These two factors – <a title="Can We Break the Spell of CSR Curses?" href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/194-can-we-break-the-spell-of-csr-curses" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(33, 177, 0); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">values alignment and the CSR concept</a> – are fairly crosscutting motivators. However, it is also possible to distinguish four fairly distinctive types of CSR professionals, based on how they derive satisfaction from their work.</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >In practice, every individual draws on all four types, but the centre of gravity rests with one, representing the mode of operating in which that individual feels most comfortable, fulfilled or satisfied.</span></p><h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >Four Types of CSR Change Agents</span></h3><h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >1. The <strong style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; "><em style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Expert</em></strong></span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img title="The Expert" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/csrwire-production/system/web_images/images/108/large/The_Expert_CSR.png?1327507758" alt="The Expert" width="172" height="121" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; " /><span >Experts find their motivation though engaging with projects or systems, giving expert input, focusing on technical excellence, seeking uniqueness through specialisation, and pride in problem solving abilities.</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >To illustrate, one such CSR professional explains: 'There were a couple of projects that I did find very exciting … It was very exciting to get all the bits and pieces in place, then commission them and see them starting to work.' Another Expert says: 'I usually get that sense of meaning in work when I've finished a product, say like an <em style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; ">Environmental Report</em> and you see, geez I've really put in a lot and here it is. Or you have had a series of community consultations and you now have the results.'</span></p><h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >2. The <strong style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; "><em style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Facilitator</em></strong></span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img title="The CSR Facilitator" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/csrwire-production/system/web_images/images/109/large/Facilitator.png?1327508006" alt="The CSR Facilitator" width="216" height="153" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; " /><span >Common themes among Facilitators are the derivation of motivation from transferring knowledge and skills, focusing on people development, creating opportunities for staff, changing the attitudes or perceptions of individuals, and paying attention to team building.</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >For example, one such CSR professional says: 'If you enjoy working with people, this is a sort of functional role that you have direct interaction, you can see people being empowered, having increased knowledge, and you can see what that eventually leads to.' Another Facilitator explains: 'The part of my work that I've enjoyed most is training, where I get the opportunity to work with a group of people – to interact with people at a very personal level. You can see how things start to get clear for them, in terms of understanding issues and how that applies to what they do.'</span></p><h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >3. The <strong style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; "><em style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Catalyst</em></strong></span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img title="The CSR Catalyst" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/csrwire-production/system/web_images/images/110/large/The_Catalyst.png?1327508259" alt="The CSR Catalyst" width="198" height="132" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; " /><span >For Catalysts, motivation is associated with initiating change, giving strategic direction, influencing leadership, tracking organisational performance, and having a big picture perspective.</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >One such CSR professional claims: 'The type of work that I'm doing is … giving direction in terms of where the company is going. So it can become almost a life purpose to try and steer the company in a direction that you believe personally is right as well.' Another says: 'I like getting things changed. My time is spent trying to influence people. The real interesting thing is to try and get managing directors, plant managers, business leaders, and sales guys to think differently and to change what they do.'</span></p><h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >4. The <strong style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; "><em style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">Activist</em></strong></span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >For Activists, motivation comes from being aware of broader social and environmental issues, feeling part of the community, making a contribution to poverty eradication, fighting for a just cause, and leaving a legacy of improved conditions in society.</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><img title="The CSR Activist" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/csrwire-production/system/web_images/images/111/large/The_Activist.png?1327508883" alt="The CSR Activist" width="164" height="142" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; " /><span >One CSR professional says: 'It's also about the issue of being poor. It actually touches you. You see these people have been living in appalling conditions, the shacks, the drinking water is so dirty, or there's no running water at all, you see those kind of things, it hits you, and you think: What can you do?'</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >Another confesses: 'I think my purpose here is to help others in some way and leave a legacy for my kids to follow. I could leave a legacy behind where I actually set up a school or a campus for disadvantaged people, taking street kids out and doing something, building homes for single parents.'</span></p><h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 1.3; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >Going Beyond the Business Case for CSR</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >One of the underlying messages of my CSR change agency research is that companies stand to gain a lot by going beyond the <a title="Building a Better Business Case for CSR" href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/227-csrwire-member-spotlight-building-a-better-business-case" target="_blank" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(33, 177, 0); outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; ">business case for CSR</a>, by justifying sustainability and responsibility efforts on the basis of values – or by appealing to the deep satisfaction that working on CSR issues can inspire.</span></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >Taking this position – in addition to, rather than instead of, the business case – will enable companies to tap into a powerful source of motivation, namely the meaning that CSR professionals (and in all likelihood many other employees) derive from the alignment of values with work.</span></p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-24312910811403543232012-01-25T03:23:00.000-08:002012-01-25T03:24:10.796-08:00Best Governance Research of 2011 - Free Download<div>This compilation includes 48 study/survey summaries. Register/login for the free download:</div><div><br /></div><div>http://www.csrinternational.org/2012/01/25/best-governance-research-of-2011/</div><div><br /></div><div>Dr Wayne Visser</div><div>CEO, CSR International</div>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-64171613893690630142012-01-25T03:21:00.000-08:002012-01-25T03:24:22.603-08:00Best Environmental Research of 2011 - Free dowload<div>This compilation includes 48 study/survey summaries. Register/login for the free download: </div><div><br /></div><div>http://www.csrinternational.org/2012/01/19/best-environmental-research-of-2011/</div><div><br /></div><div>Dr Wayne Visser</div><div>CEO, CSR International</div>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-51558385801322996242012-01-18T08:10:00.000-08:002012-01-18T08:14:02.811-08:00Changing the World - One Leader at a Time<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>1182</o:Words> <o:characters>6744</o:Characters> <o:company>Kaleidoscope Futures Ltd</o:Company> <o:lines>56</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>15</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>7911</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>14.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> 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<w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>By Dr Wayne Visser</b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext; text-decoration:none;text-underline:none"><a href="http://bit.ly/qw5xsM">Quest for CSR 2.0</a></span> Series No.12<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We face a crisis of leadership. Our global challenges loom large and clear, but we seem to lack leaders who can make change happen at a scale and speed that match the size and urgency of the problems we face. In an attempt to understand this leadership impasse, I’ve done some research with the <span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none"><a href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/bloggers/53-dr-wayne-visser/posts">University of Cambridge’s Programme for Sustainability Leadership</a></span> on how change happens. In this blog, I’ll briefly outline some of our conclusions.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let’s start with what kind of change we’re talking about. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, observes that companies that went from being ‘good to great’ did not rely on revolutions, dramatic change programs or wrenching restructurings. ‘Rather, the process resembled relentlessly pushing a giant flywheel in one direction, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.’<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So we’re talking about catalyzing and scaling up change. And for this change to be successful, leaders need to foster and entrench new values, culture, incentives, rules and resources. In <span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none"><a href="http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/29877-Chief-Executives-Believe-Overwhelmingly-That-Sustainability-Has-Become-Critical-to-their-Success-And-Could-Be-Fully-Embedded-Into-Core-Business-Within-Ten-Years">Accenture and the UN Global Compact’s 2010 survey</a></span>, 54 percent of CEOs felt that a cultural tipping point on sustainability is only a decade away—and 80 percent believe it will occur within 15 years, so perhaps we are nearing a moment of infectious change. Meanwhile, at the organizational level, leaders must catalyze change for sustainability through a suite of actions, including innovation, empowerment, accountability, closed-loop practices and collaboration.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We found that effective sustainability leaders are good at promoting creativity in business models, technology, products and services that address social and environmental challenges. Sustainability leaders also implement structures and processes for good governance, transparency and stakeholder engagement.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Accountability does not have to be all about structures and controls however. Collins believes great leaders foster a culture of discipline, saying “When you have disciplined people, you don’t need hierarchy. When you have disciplined thought, you don’t need bureaucracy. When you have disciplined action, you don’t need excessive controls.” According to Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of <a href="http://www.csrwire.com/members/12926-General-Electric-Company"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none">G.E.</span></a>, “Enron and 9/11 marked the end of an era of individual freedom and the beginning of personal responsibility. You lead today by building teams and placing others first. It’s not about you.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The best sustainability leaders adopt principles of cradle-to-cradle production, internalizing externalities and extending these principles to the supply chain. Sustainability leaders also build formal cross-sector partnerships, as well as innovative and inclusive collaborative processes such as social networking (Web 2.0). Betty Sue Flowers, co-author of Presence, poses the challenge as a question, saying, “We know a lot about heroic action because that’s in the past of leadership. But how do you have leadership in groups across boundaries, multi-nationally?”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">At the people level, leaders catalyze change for sustainability by providing a compelling vision, encouraging long term thinking, making strategic investments and promoting intergenerational equity. Immelt says “every leader needs to clearly explain the top three things the organization is working on. If you can’t, then you’re not leading well.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none"><a href="http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/32025-Ray-Anderson-s-Business-Lessons-from-a-Radical-Industrialist-Now-in-Paperback">Ray Anderson</a></span>, the late CEO of Interface, saw this as a process of inclusion, saying, “For Interface, sustainability is broader than before: sustainability reaches out to embrace people, processes, products, place, the planet and profits—we now know that none can long be afforded allegiance at the expense of the others.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sustainability leaders have to deep knowledge and skills and provide opportunities and resources for appropriate action. This embraces Robert Greenleaf’s notion of servant leadership. He explains that “It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The best test is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Transformational sustainability leaders also focus on creating a culture and structure that provides peer support and encouragement and recognizes achievement. Immelt says, “Today, it’s employment at will. Nobody’s here who doesn’t want to be here. So it’s critical to understand people, to always be fair, and to want the best in them.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the end, I believe the best leaders are effective storytellers. And they realize that we need a new collective story. As I wrote in Beyond Reasonable Greed, “each time the world changes – when civilizations rise and fall, when new scientific theories challenge our understanding of the universe, when technological innovation reinvents our lifestyle, when political revolution breaks down the old structures of society, or when a global crisis threatens to destroy our planet – humanity is forced to let go of some of its most cherished beliefs in order to create a new mythology to guide its collective psyche.”<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We are at just such a fulcrum of change, and the beliefs we need to challenge and modify are many. Maybe it is our belief in the beneficence of the “invisible hand” of the market. Or our belief that a global political deal is all we need to solve the climate crisis. Or that that business has the power to act unilaterally in bringing about a more sustainable and responsible future.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If my experience of living through the political changes in South Africa has taught me anything, it is that change is systemic. It happens because of millions of small actions by millions of people all over the world, some coordinated, some diffuse. Yes, change also happens because of bold leadership, but it always needs an enabling environment, a society or an organization that is ready to change.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Change is something organic. It is worth remembering that the largest living thing in the world is a honey mushroom in Oregon – an interconnected fungus measuring 3.5 miles across. It is said to be 2,400 years old and takes up 2,200 acres (1,665 football fields), with the small mushrooms visible above ground representing only a tiny proportion of its real girth and substance. I think change is something like that too: spread out, interconnected, growing where the ground is most fertile ground and often invisible.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Source</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Welcome to this international dialogue, Quest for CSR 2.0, with Dr Wayne Visser, pioneering author, academic and social entrepreneur. The dialogue, hosted by CSRwire Talkback, is based on his groundbreaking book, <span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none"><a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html">The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business</a></span>. For the next several weeks, Dr Visser will summarize the main points and key lessons of each chapter of his book, exploring why CSR 1.0 has failed, the 5 Ages and Stages of CSR, the 5 Principles of CSR 2.0 and how to make change happen. Readers will be invited to share their views on each posting. This exciting new series is co-published by <span style="color:windowtext; text-decoration:none;text-underline:none"><a href="http://www.csrwire.com/">CSRwire</a></span> and <span style="color:windowtext; text-decoration:none;text-underline:none"><a href="http://www.csrinternational.org/">CSR International</a></span>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none"><a href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/270-changing-the-world-one-leader-at-a-time">Original link on CSRwire</a></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-66868307857701741812012-01-12T08:05:00.000-08:002012-01-12T08:06:26.384-08:00Best CSR Research of 2011 - Free download<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Download "Best CSR Research of 2011" for free - a compilation of 70 research</span><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">report summaries.</span><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Login/Register to access at:</span><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><a href="http://www.csrinternational.org/2012/01/12/csr-research-digest-2011-compilation/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(145, 54, 173); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">http://www.csrinternational.org/2012/01/12/csr-research-digest-2011-compilation/</a><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">My thanks for our Research Associate, Karina Toonekurg, who compiled these</span><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">research digests over the past 12 months.</span><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Enjoy!</span><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Dr Wayne Visser</span><br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">CEO, CSR International</span>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-33823735797852532752011-12-23T09:21:00.001-08:002011-12-23T09:31:17.690-08:00Sustainable by Design? Lessons in Circularity from Seventh Generation<h3 style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; "></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; "></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >By Dr. Wayne Visser<span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " ><a href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/series/8-quest-for-csr-2-0/posts">Quest for CSR 2.0 Series</a> No.11<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >The CSR 2.0 principle of circularity has roots in life cycle assessment, cleaner production, sustainable consumption and cradle to cradle concepts. In The Age of Responsibility, I explore various well-known multinational examples, from Interface’s carpets and Nike’s Considered Design shoes to Coca-Cola’s water neutral initiative and Tesco’s carbon neutral programme.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >But there are also smaller, more nimble companies, like Seventh Generation, that are able to go much further, much faster. What can we learn from these companies that are intentionally sustainable ‘by design’?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >Seventh Generation, an American household cleaning products business started more than 20 years ago by Jeffrey Hollender, took inspiration for its name and philosophy from the Iroquois Confederacy (a council of Native American Indian tribes), which included the admonition that ‘in our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.’ From the beginning, this meant thinking in a circular way about the impact of their products.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >To begin with, this meant swimming upstream. “When Seventh Generation told executives at the old Fort Howard Paper Company that we wanted to market bathroom tissue made from unbleached recycled fibre, they laughed,” recalls Hollender. Despite such early resistance, however, Seventh Generation has remained steadfast in its commitment to ‘becoming the world's most trusted brand of authentic, safe, and environmentally-responsible products for a healthy home.’ And indeed, now has an impressive catalogue of cradle to cradle designed products, and has been doing extremely well, showing strong growth even through the recession.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >However, ensuring that Seventh Generation lives up to their promise of authenticity is something that requires constant vigilance. For example, in March 2008, the company was ‘exposed’ by the Organic Consumers Association for having detectable levels of the contaminate 1,4-dioxane in their dish liquid. In fact, Seventh Generation’s product was declared the safest of those available and they had been working with suppliers for more than five years to remove it. They have since eliminated the contaminant completely, but as Hollender later declared: “Our effort was simply not good enough. Our real mistake was to exclude consumers and key stakeholders from our ongoing dialogue about dioxane. In short, we flunked the transparency test.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >Of course, the very foundation of transparency is information and the most basic kind is a full list of product ingredients, which, unbelievably, is not required by US law for household products. Consequently, Seventh Generation launched a Show What’s Inside initiative, which included an educational website and an online Label Reading Guide, downloadable directly to shoppers’ cell phones, which helped them interpret labels at the point of purchase, especially any associated risks.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >As Hollender and Bill Breen report in their book, The Responsibility Revolution, not long after, SC Johnson launched a cloned version called What’s Inside. “That’s just what we had hoped for,” declared Hollender and Breen. “When a $7.5 billion giant like SC Johnson puts its brawn behind ingredient disclosure, it’s likely that the rest of the industry will follow, regardless of what the regulators do.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >Despite its green image, Seventh Generation knows that it needs to create virtuous cycles in its social as well as its environmental impacts. As a result, in 2009, the company joined Women's Action to Gain Economic Security (WAGES) – an organisation committed to building worker-owned, cooperatively-structured, eco-friendly, residential cleaning businesses in San Francisco – to launch Home Green Home, WAGES' fourth worker-owned cooperative. This unique social enterprise serves the city of San Francisco and is creating healthy, dignified jobs for women in an industry known for long hours and low pay. The women who own and work in the business earn wages that average 50 percent more than their non-coop counterparts, and receive health care and paid vacation benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >In the future, Seventh Generation and WAGES hope to expand the innovative practice beyond San Francisco. Hollender is under no illusions about how far we collectively still have to go. In his Foreword to The Age of Responsibility, he confesses that:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >“Corporate responsibility in its present incarnation has been an enormous disappointment at best. It has not lifted people out of poverty. It has not protected the environment. It has not boosted community wellbeing. It has been too little, too late and at most has succeeded in getting some companies to aspire to simply do less damage than they did before. Instead of changing the world, corporate responsibility merely evolved into a baseline requirement in every company’s license to operate. Where it succeeded, it only managed to slow the rate of decay, which is hardly enough to do much more than maintain the status quo.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >And yet, he remains optimistic. “Though much has changed in the last 25 years, one thing hasn’t: Business is still the only force with the reach and resources to do what needs to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible. The hour may be late and the clock loudly ticking but the story of responsible business is not over yet. There’s still room for a happy ending. And the time has come for us to write it for ourselves.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >It is examples like these and many others that show that the principle of circularity is not wishful thinking, but a practical strategy for achieving sustainability and responsibility, economically, socially and environmentally. And together with the other principles of CSR 2.0 or Transformative CSR – creativity, scalability, responsiveness and glocality (touched on in the previous blogs) – these inspiring innovations and bold actions are ushering in the new Age of Responsibility and with it, a new kind of ‘susponsible’ capitalism.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >Without a doubt, however, achieving this vision requires change on a scale and urgency that has seldom been witnessed in human history. So the question remains, how do we make change happen? I’ll examine the myriad answers to this in my forthcoming blogs, recommencing in January.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >Source<span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; " >Welcome to this international dialogue, Quest for CSR 2.0, with Dr Wayne Visser, pioneering author, academic and social entrepreneur. The dialogue, hosted by CSRwire Talkback, is based on his groundbreaking book, The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business. For the next several weeks, Dr Visser will summarize the main points and key lessons of each chapter of his book, exploring why CSR 1.0 has failed, the 5 Ages and Stages of CSR, the 5 Principles of CSR 2.0 and how to make change happen. Readers will be invited to share their views on each posting. This exciting new series is co-published by CSRwire and CSR International.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; " ><a href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/245-sustainable-by-design-lessons-in-circularity-from-seventh-generation" style="font-weight: normal; ">Original link on CSRwire</a></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p style="font-weight: normal;"><span> </span></o:p></p><p></p><p style="font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; "></p></h3>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-80189030938588413462011-12-14T00:38:00.000-08:002011-12-14T00:40:13.749-08:00Myths About CSR in Developing Countries<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>By Wayne Visser</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Part of the <a href="http://bit.ly/qw5xsM" target="_blank">Quest for CSR 2.0</a> series.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Are concepts and models of corporate social responsibility (CSR) developed in the West appropriate for developing countries?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I decided to first tackle this question by setting out what I believe to be Seven Popular Myths about CSR in developing countries. Most of these myths exist as a result of the feeding frenzy that inevitably occurs every time the media has hunted down and sunk its teeth into one or other juicy story of corporate exploitation. They, however, become sustainable because they are spread by whole legions of largely well-intentioned people who have vested interests in promoting their particular brand of the truth about CSR.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Seven Myths:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p><ol><li>Economic growth is not compatible with CSR.</li><li>Multinationals are the biggest CSR sinners.</li><li>Multinationals are the biggest CSR saviours.</li><li>Developing countries are anti-multinational.</li><li>Developed countries lead on CSR.</li><li>Codes can ensure CSR in developing countries.</li><li>CSR is the same the world over.</li></ol><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let’s look at these myths each briefly in turn.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Myth 1: Economic growth is not compatible with CSR</i>: What the Index for Sustainable Economic Welfare and Genuine Progress Index show is that GDP growth and quality of life move in parallel until social and environmental costs begin to outweigh economic benefits. According to this ‘threshold hypothesis’ – coined by Chilean barefoot economist, <a href="http://www.max-neef.cl/home.php" target="_blank">Manfred Max-Neef</a> – most developing countries have yet to reach this divergence threshold. For them, economic growth and the expansion of business activities is still one of the most effective ways to achieve improved social development, while environmental impacts are increasingly being tackled through leapfrog clean technologies.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Myth 2: Multinationals are the biggest CSR sinners</i>: On the ground in most countries, multinationals are generally powerful forces for good, through their investment in local economies, creation of jobs, upgrading of infrastructure, provision of basic services and involvement in community development and environmental conservation. There are always exceptions, of course, and these should be named and shamed. But they shouldn’t overshadow the overall positive role of big companies in developing countries. The cumulative social and environmental impacts of smaller companies, which operate below the radar of the media and out of reach of the arm of the law, are typically far larger than that of the high profile multinationals.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Myth 3: Multinationals are the biggest CSR saviours</i>: Not only do large companies have limited influence over government policy, but most multinationals, despite large capital investments, provide only a minuscule proportion of the total employment in developing countries. The real potential saviours are small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), including social enterprises, which are labour intensive and better placed to affect local economic development. If the social and environmental impacts of these SMMEs can be improved, the knock on benefits will be proportionally much greater than anything that multinationals could achieve on their own. This is why the work CSR for SMEs by <a href="http://www.anahuac.mx/" target="_blank">Anahuac University</a> in Mexico and <a href="http://www.empresa.org/" target="_blank">Forum Empresa</a> in Latin America is so encouraging and important.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Myth 4: Developing countries are anti-multinational</i>: Developing countries are often caught in a no-man’s land of under-development in a competitive, monetized, global economy, and the sooner they can modernise and integrate, the better for them. Most often, developing country communities welcome multinationals and their CSR initiatives. This is not the same as saying the developing world should repeat the past mistakes of the developed countries, such as highly polluting industrialisation, nor that multinationals should not be required to be responsible and held accountable. But we should not deny developing countries the dignity of choice, whether it be Unilever products or Coca Cola, both of which have made significant progress on CSR in recent years.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Myth 5: Developed countries lead on CSR</i>: There are countless examples of how developing countries are proving themselves highly adept at delivering the so-called triple bottom line of sustainability, namely balanced and integrated social, economic and environmental benefits. It is actually not surprising, since in developing countries, these three spheres are seldom separable – economic development almost inevitably results in social upliftment and environmental improvement, and vice versa. Whether it is <a href="http://www.icnl.org/knowledge/ijnl/vol12iss2/art_1.htm" target="_blank">South Africa’s King Code</a>, which encourages integrated sustainability reporting, or <a href="http://www.alittleworld.com/" target="_blank">A Little World</a>, which uses mobile phone and biometric scanners to bring micro-banking services to the poor in India, a lot of the innovation in CSR is taking place in developing countries.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Myth 6: Codes can ensure CSR in developing countries</i>: The past few years have seen a mushrooming of corporate responsibility codes, standards and guidelines, which developing countries are keen to adopt, if only to satisfy their Western partners. This standardisation trend is both inevitable and necessary in a globalising world—which is desperately searching for an alternative to command-and-control style business regulation in order to satisfy the governance and accountability void which still exists. But this codification tends to measure CSR activities, rather than CSR impacts on the ground. Developing countries need to move rapidly through this Strategic CSR approach in an Age of Management to a more transformative CSR approach in an Age of Responsibility.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Myth 7: CSR is the same the world over</i>: One of the biggest fallacies is that, in a globalised world, CSR can somehow conform to a unitary model. Of course, we need universal principles, like the <a href="http://www.unglobalcompact.org/" target="_blank">Global Compact</a>, and perhaps even process frameworks, like <a href="http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_14000_essentials" target="_blank">ISO 14001</a>. But standardised performance metrics, like those of the <a href="http://www.globalreporting.org/Home" target="_blank">Global Reporting Initiative</a> and the numerous sustainability funds and indexes, start to tread on shaky ground. The tendency is for developed country priorities – such as energy and climate change – to receive emphasis and for northern NGO agendas to dominate.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The antitdote to these CSR myths for developing countries is glocality – one of the five principles of CSR 2.0. The term ‘glocal’ – a portmanteau of global and local – is said to come from the Japanese worddochakuka, which simply means global localisation. Or more simply, ‘think global, act local’. The question is, do we see glocality in action, or do we just see corporations in developing countries mimicking the practices of the West?</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><b>Source</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; ">Welcome to this international dialogue, Quest for CSR 2.0, with Dr Wayne Visser, pioneering author, academic and social entrepreneur. The dialogue, hosted by CSRwire Talkback, is based on his groundbreaking book, <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html">The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business</a>. For the next several weeks, Dr Visser will summarize the main points and key lessons of each chapter of his book, exploring why CSR 1.0 has failed, the 5 Ages and Stages of CSR, the 5 Principles of CSR 2.0 and how to make change happen. Readers will be invited to share their views on each posting. This exciting new series is co-published by <a href="http://www.csrwire.com/" target="_blank">CSRwire</a> and <a href="http://www.csrinternational.org/">CSR International</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><a href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/238-myths-about-csr-in-developing-countries">Original link on CSRwire</a></p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2024632347395792920.post-70677930051516179762011-12-10T02:20:00.000-08:002011-12-10T02:20:00.874-08:00The Future Faces of CSR Activism<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><b>By Dr. Wayne Visser</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><a href="http://bit.ly/qw5xsM" target="_blank">Quest for CSR 2.0</a> Series No.9</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "></p><p class="MsoNormal">The third principle of Transformative CSR, or CSR 2.0, is responsiveness. (We explored <a href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/218-the-creative-destruction-revolution" target="_blank">creativity</a>and <a href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/224-could-less-consumer-choice-be-a-good-thing" target="_blank">scalability</a> in the last two posts). Some of the most important players in the responsiveness game – especially through cross-sector partnerships – are civil society organizations (CSOs, which I prefer rather than the term NGOs). Reflecting on how this sector is changing in the face of increased calls for responsiveness, I have distinguished 10 ‘Paths to the Future’ for CSR activism. I believe that CSOs acting in the CSR space will increasingly be:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul><li>Platforms for transparency – Undertaking investigative exposes & hosting disclosure forums;</li><li>Brokers of volunteerism – Providing project opportunities for employee volunteers;</li><li>Champions of CSR – Raising awareness and increasing public pressure for CSR;</li><li>Advisors of business – Offering consulting services to business on responsibility;</li><li>Agents of government – Working with or on behalf of regulatory authorities;</li><li>Reformers of policy – Pressuring for government policy reforms to incentivise CSR;</li><li>Makers of standards – Developing voluntary standards & inviting business compliance;</li><li>Channels for taxes – Receiving and deploying specially earmarked tax revenues;</li><li>Partners in solutions – Partnering with business/government to tackle specific issues; and</li><li>Catalysts for creativity – Creating social enterprises & supporting social entrepreneurs.</li></ul><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let’s explore these ‘future faces’ of CSR activism in a little more detail below, drawing on examples from around the world of CSOs emerging roles.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Platforms for transparency</i> – The role of CSOs as agitators for, and agents of, greater transparency seems set to continue. For example, in Senegal, Benin, and Guinea, CSO intervention has been critical in the development of a free press. And in India, Karmayog allows citizens to report specific instances of bribery and corruption on a live, public website.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Brokers of volunteerism</i> – As companies increasingly see the benefits of volunteerism (greater job satisfaction, productivity, commitment and loyalty), CSOs are increasingly becoming people-brokers, as sources of projects for employee volunteers. For example, the Voluntary Workcamps Association of Ghana (VOLU) coordinates volunteers to help with the construction of schools, reforestation and AIDS campaigning.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Champions of CSR</i> – While some CSOs remain sceptical about CSR, in many countries they are the main agents for promoting CSR. For example, in Iran, a group of CSOs have joined forces with the UNDP to promote CSR through targeted training for managers under the umbrella of the UN MDGs. And in Senegal, CSR awareness has grown mainly due to a CSO called La Lumière in Kédougou.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Advisors of business</i> – A combination of genuine expertise, valuable perspectives and a crunch on funding means that many CSOs are turning to consultancy, working with and advising companies not only on specific social and environmental issues, but also more generally on sustainability and responsibility. For example, in Hungary, as opposed to the traditional role of watchdog, many CSOs engage in consultancy on CSR.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Agents of government</i> – The phenomena of GONGOs (government organised NGOs), GINGOs (government-inspired NGOs), GRINGOs (government regulated/run and initiated NGOs) and PANGOs (party-affiliated NGOs) are becoming more widespread, no longer just seen in China. Even where governments are not setting up or running the CSOs, they are supporting them as key catalysts. For example, Belgian CSOs receive €3 government funding for every €1 they raised themselves.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Reformers of policy</i> – Realizing that the ‘rules of the game’ need to change, CSOs are increasingly getting involved in legal reform. For example, in Indonesia, it was largely due to rising pressure from CSOs that the Law No. 40/2007 concerning Limited Liability Companies was introduced to make CSR mandatory.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Makers of standards</i> – In an effort to raise the bar on voluntary action by companies, many CSOs are developing their own social and environmental codes and standards, then inviting business to comply with them. For example, in Israel, the Public Trust Organisation established The Public Trust Code, covering advertising, transparency, disclosure, service and product guarantees, honesty in contracts and privacy of information.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Channels for taxes</i> – In some countries, the effectiveness of CSOs has earned them the ability to source tax dollars directly. For example, in Mexico, the FECHAC (Federation of the Chihuahuan Industry) is a CSO, set up after devastating floods in 1990, that is funded through a special annual tax on more than 38,000 industries. And in Romania, the 2% Law (in terms of the Fiscal Code) allows citizens to redirect 2% of personal income tax to a CSO.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Partners in solutions</i> – Not only are CSOs collaborating with business more and more, but also with governments and multilateral agencies. For example, in South Korea, ‘Cross Sector Alliance’ is one of 5 approaches to CSR being promoted, while in Africa the New Nigeria Foundation provides a platform for mobilizing non-traditional resources through public-private partnerships. In Turkey, TUSEV promotes linkages between domestic and international CSOs and encourages CSR by putting foreign and domestic firms in contact with appropriate CSOs.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>Catalysts for creativity</i> – CSOs are increasingly expected to provide solutions, not just point out the problems, especially by launching or supporting social enterprises. For example, in Bangladesh, BRAC (formerly Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) has been crucial in the microcredit movement, and in Singapore, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has 12 social enterprises and 4 related organisations that are owned by more than 500,000 workers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">However the future unfolds, it is clear that CSOs will be a significant player in the new landscape of responsible governance and accountability, both as a counter-balancing force and a partner to governments and business. In fact, I believe CSOs will be the responsive glue that holds society together in the turbulent years ahead.</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><b>Source</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; ">Welcome to this international dialogue, Quest for CSR 2.0, with Dr Wayne Visser, pioneering author, academic and social entrepreneur. The dialogue, hosted by CSRwire Talkback, is based on his groundbreaking book, <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688572.html">The Age of Responsibility: CSR 2.0 and the New DNA of Business</a>. For the next several weeks, Dr Visser will summarize the main points and key lessons of each chapter of his book, exploring why CSR 1.0 has failed, the 5 Ages and Stages of CSR, the 5 Principles of CSR 2.0 and how to make change happen. Readers will be invited to share their views on each posting. This exciting new series is co-published by <a href="http://www.csrwire.com/" target="_blank">CSRwire</a> and <a href="http://www.csrinternational.org/">CSR International</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><a href="http://www.csrwire.com/blog/posts/231-the-future-faces-of-csr-activism">Original link on CSRwire</a></p>Wayne Visserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05824537291559958335noreply@blogger.com