Companies large and small are learning the importance of corporate social
responsibility, or CSR. The term covers a range of behaviors and practices such
as fair wages, fair trade, nondiscrimination, environmental stewardship, and
contributions to the local community. While a number of companies have had these
values for years, many are new to the practice -- sometimes dragged there by
testy shareholders or increasingly savvy customers, who expect more from a
company than simply a good product at a good price.
Corporate social responsibility takes many
forms. For some companies, it's ingrained in the culture. Ben and Jerry's Ice
Cream in 2004 published its 16th annual Social and Environmental Assessment.
Because of the folksy, almost hippie reputation of the famously progressive
company, you probably didn't know that it makes nearly a quarter-billion dollars
per year, and is now a subsidiary of huge ($54 billion per year) British
consumer products company Unilever.
Giant coffee retailer Starbucks
has offered health insurance to its part-time employees for nearly two decades,
and has other programs such as a "commitment to origins," that is,
efforts to improve the lives of the people from whom Starbucks buys its coffee.
Premium pricing, access to affordable credit, and employing coffee and farmer
equity (C.A.F.E.) practices are part of that effort.
But many companies not traditionally associated with social causes are getting
into the act. Shipping giant UPS,
a company that owns nearly 90,000 trucks and 600 airplanes, published it's
intention to reduce its enormous environmental footprint in 2003, and has
subsequently updated it.
Some companies accomplish CSR goals by the products that they sell rather than
by corporate initiative. Toyota,
which has a number of company-wide environmental programs such as clean-running
plants, has almost single-handedly changed the perception of the hybrid car with
its wildly successful Prius. This was not a risk-free proposition. The long-term
success of hybrids, though a fait accompli to environmentalists, was not thought
to be guaranteed by car-company executives. The proof is Honda's
Insight, which has been as unsuccessful in the US as the Prius has been
successful. Despite getting better mileage than the Prius, the Insight averages
barely 20 sales per month in the entire US. The car was tiny and funny-looking.
Toyota did the hard work of making a hybrid that was both fuel-efficient and
marketable. Honda now makes a hybrid Civic which is doing better, but has turned
its R&D efforts toward fuel-cell cars. The rest of the car-making world is
playing catch-up.
For the company that decides to "go green" or embrace a full slate of
CSR initiatives, there is no shortage of resources. CSR compliance has become an
industry itself, with high-priced consultants with names such as "Future
Considerations" touting an ability to teach executives how to "create
a sustainability vision" and "facilitate stakeholder dialogue."
Think Dr. Phil meets Dilbert.
There has been some backlash against the move toward corporate social
responsibility. The libertarian economist Milton Friedman said in a famous New
York Times editorial in 1970 that the only responsibility a company has is to
make a profit, and some believe that companies should return to that ethos, and
leave social responsibility to governments and charitable organizations. One article
in The Economist referred to CSR efforts as "two-faced
capitalism." The theory there is that corporate executives don't own the
resources that they're devoting to CSR efforts -- and away from profit-making
activities -- the shareholders do.
Of course, now that CSR in general, and environmental responsibility in
particular, are popular to the degree that they're nearly required for virtually
all large companies, the prospect of greenwashing is an issue. Some companies
rely on third-party certifications or awards to show their CSR mettle. Others
partner with or sponsor well-known charities or environmental organizations,
such as Office
Depot's partnership with The Nature Conservancy. But in many cases, a
company states its case, and it's up to you to decide. For instance, you could
peruse ExxonMobil's
corporate citizenship publication, which includes a chapter on environmental
responsibility. You'll certainly find no mention of the Exxon Valdez there, but
you will be reminded by ExxonMobil that "(w)e are involved in every
neighborhood. Our neighborhood just happens to be the world." That this
isn't a pleasant prospect to many people is obviously lost on Exxon's
executives. Perhaps they should consult "Future Considerations."
The point is that just as in any business or consumer decision you make, you
have to be as educated as you can be. ENN readers obviously want to know that
their purchases are contributing positively to the environment as well as the
economy. The best way to do this is through knowledge. So check out the
information provided in our Special Report, and be an even more educated green
consumer. Reward responsible companies, large and small, with your business, and
let the greenwashers know that they're not getting any of the green in your
wallet.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INFORMATION RESOURCES
Articles
Radio
Programs
Web
Sites
Books
Magazines
& Journals
Television
& Video
Blogs
Organizations
White
Papers
Articles
On ENN:
Companies
Reward Individuals For Taking Two Million Miles Off US Roads
Dell's
National Solar Car Race Begins Today
Tom
Chappell Grows Tom's of Maine Into a National Company
Georgia
Power Investing $1.3 Billion in Environmental Controls, Reducing Sulfur
Emissions About 50 Percent
Mainstream
Chains Join Organic Revolution
Manatee
Hotels, Resorts Reach Out to Environment
Business
for Corporate Responsibility to 'Green' November Conference
UPS
Releases Report on Sustainability Goals
Rebates
Encourage Businesses to Try Alternative Sources of Energy
Office
Depot and The Nature Conservancy Employ New Boreal Ecologist
C&A
Floorcoverings Earns Environmentally Preferable Product Certification for Ethos
Brand Carpet Backing
Market
Operates in Environmentally Friendly Building
Abbott
Sponsors Youth Policy Summit on Child and Adolescent Obesity and Nutrition in
America
N.H.
Firm Carves Niche Selling Pasteurized Chicken Manure as Organic Fertilizer
High-Tech
Recycling: It's a Trashy Future
Pre-Financing
Used To Make Possible The Sale Of Over 22.3 Million Pounds Of Coffee, Improve
Circumstances For Small Coffee Farmers
Sales
of Hybrid, Diesel Cars Projected to Soar by 2012
Elsewhere on the Web:
100
Best Corporate Citizens for 2005
Corporate
Social Responsibility in Mining in Southern Africa: Fair Accountability or Just
Greenwash?
Two-faced
Capitalism
UN
Resolution Mixes Human Rights And Business
Tree
Huggers, Soy Lovers, and Profits
Warren
Buffett Speaks Out
When
Preaching Globalized Ethics Is Just Corporate P.R.
Taking
Care of the Environment, with Fido's Help
Mixing
it up: Property Developers are Responding to a Demand for Mixed-Use Projects
Corporate
Social Responsibility: What's Good for the Community is Good for Business.
Do
Corporations Have Social Responsibility?
When
Doing the Right Thing Provides a Pay-Off
Seeing
is believing: CEOs Speak Out About Their "Sustainable Livelihoods
Experience"
Suggest
an article
Radio Programs
EarthNews Radio: Recycled
Glass
EarthNews Radio: GEM
car
EarthNews Radio: Biotech
Pharming
EarthNews Radio: Pesticide
Alternatives
EarthNews Radio: Coffee
Pacifica
EarthNews Radio: Seafood
Guide
EarthNews Radio: Why
Organic Flowers?
EarthNews Radio: People's
Grocery
EarthNews Radio: Plastic
Wrap Alternative
Earthwatch Radio: A
Bold Plan for Energy
Earthwatch Radio: Riches
and Responsibility
Earthwatch Radio: Capitalizing
on Cleaning Up
Earthwatch Radio: Greener
Markets
Sky
Radio World Business Monitor
Natural
Capitalism - A lecture by Amory Lovins (transcript)
>> Suggest
a radio program
Helpful Web Sites
Greenbiz.com
Sustainable
Marketing
Business
in the Community
Small
Business Journey
BSD
Global
Natural
Capitalism
AccountAbility:
Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability
CSRwire
(press releases)
World
Business Council for Sustainable Development
David
Grayson (CSR activist)
SocialFunds.com
(socially responsible investing)
Rocky
Mountain Institute
FTSE4Good
Index Series (CSR market index)
Dow
Jones Sustainability Indexes
Suggest
a web site
Books
Natural
Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
The
Natural Step for Business: Wealth, Ecology and the Evolutionary Corporation
Mid-Course
Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise
Walking
the Talk: The Business Case for Sustainable Development
The
Conscience of Capitalism: Business Social Responsibility to Communities
Social
and Economic Transformation in the Digital Era
Liberating
the Corporate Soul: Building a Visionary Organization
Corporate
Responsibility: Private Initiatives and Public Goals
Sustainability
Perspectives for Resources and Businesses
A
Survey of Sustainable Development: Social and Economic Dimensions
Corporate
Social Responsibility Failures in the Oil Industry
Corporate
Social Responsibility : Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause
Empires
of Profit : Commerce, Conquest and Corporate Responsibility
When
Good Companies Do Bad Things: Responsibility and Risk in an Age of Globalization
The
Planetary Bargain: Corporate Social Responsibility Matters
Harvard
Business Review on Business and the Environment
Unequal
Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights
Looking
Good and Doing Good: Corporate Philanthropy and Corporate Power
>> Suggest
a book
Magazines & Journals
Business
Ethics Magazine
Ethical
Performance
Harvard
Business Review
Fast
Company
Ethical
Corporation
Corporate
Knights - The Canadian Magazine for Responsible Business
Capitalism
Magazine (advocates pure capitalism)
Dollars
& Sense: The Magazine of Economic Justice
http://www.greenatworkmag.com/
Suggest
a magazine or journal
Television & Video
CEO
Exchange
Commanding
Heights: The Battle for the World Economy
Extreme
Oil
Nova:
World in the Balance
Wall
$treet Week with Fortune
Earth
Report: Hands On
BBC
Business Today
Suggest
a TV program or video
Blogs
CSR
in China
The
Conglomerate
Corporate
Social Responsibility: A Blog by Tariq Mohammed
Ideoblog:
A blog about ideas
IABC
Cafe
Leadership.
Now. by Don Blohowiak
>> Suggest
a blog
Organizations
Eldis
Corporate Social Responsibility Resource Guide
UK
Government Corporate Social Responsibility
mallenbaker.net
CSR
Europe
Business
for Social Responsibility
Corporate
Social Responsibility Canada
International
Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility
The
European Business Campaign for Corporate Social Responsibility
World
Bank CSR and Sustainable Competitiveness Program
CSR
Asia
Harvard
Kennedy School of Government Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative
European
Union Corporate Social Responsibility Guides
Center
for Media & Democracy Sourcewatch
Canadian
Business Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR Watch
(anti-CSR organization)
The
Copenhagen Center for Corporate Responsibility
United
Nations Research Institute for Social Development
Centre for
Social Markets
The
Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College The
Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy
Suggest
an organization
White Papers
Socially
Responsible Investing Trends in the United States
CSR:
An Issues Paper
Endpaper:
Corporate Social Responsibility
An
Appropriate Ethical Model for Business and a Critique of Milton Friedman's
Thesis