Workplace Bullying: More Common – and Damaging – Than You Think
Cloud Computing’s Substantial Environmental Footprint
What’s on the Agenda for Upcoming “Rio+20″ Earth Summit?
Meet the Media Companies Lobbying Against Transparency
Opinion: A Punishment BP Can’t Pay Off
Thought Trap: ‘Consumer Society’ is the Problem
Thought Trap: Growth vs. No Growth?
Our Challenge: Developing an ‘Eco-Mind’
Why the FCC Fined Google Just 68 Seconds in Profits
Social Media and the Board: Why #Hashtags Matter to Directors
Study: More Than 40 Chemicals in “Chemical Free” Products
Fuel Efficient Car Choices for 2012
Building Confidence in Banks: The Payoff in Jobs
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Books»
Why You Need to Retain Women: The Business Case for Gender Diversity (0)
Author Caroline Turner suggests that enrolling others in creating a culture of inclusion requires that you present a clear business case that fits your industry and organization. “It requires,” she writes, “that the leaders of your organization understand the business value of inclusion and gender diversity.”
Business Ethics»
Pain Foundation Shuts Down As Senators Investigate Prescription Narcotics (0)
As the U.S. Senate Finance Committee launched an investigation into makers of narcotic painkillers and groups that champion them, a leading pain advocacy organization said it was dissolving “due to irreparable economic circumstances.” The group received 90 percent of its $5 million in funding in 2010 from the drug and medical-device industry.
Compliance & Governance»
Advice From Walmart Exec at Center of Scandal: ‘Personal Integrity’ is Key (0)
The New York Times reported this week that Walmart allegedly engaged in a vast campaign of bribery to expand the company’s Mexico business in the early 2000s, potentially violating U.S. law. The scheme was allegedly overseen by a Walmart executive, Eduardo Castro-Wright, described by The Times as “the driving force behind years of bribery” totaling millions of dollars.
Corporate Political Spending»
Meet the Media Companies Lobbying Against Transparency (0)
News organizations generally cultivate a reputation for demanding transparency. But now many of the U.S.’s biggest media companies – which own dozens of newspapers and TV news operations – are flexing their muscle in Washington in a fight against a government initiative to increase transparency of political spending.
CSR»
Building Confidence in Banks: The Payoff in Jobs (0)
Columnist Gael O’Brien speaks with Gallup Chairman and CEO Jim Clifton about a new book in which he argues that successful entrepreneurship and job creation are the most pressing issues facing the world. A critical part of addressing those challenges: the banking industry and its relationships with small business. “Banks,” says Clifton, “are one degree away from us, not six degrees.”
EarthTalk - Consumer Info»
The ‘Fair Trade Your Supermarket’ Campaign (0)
A project of the non-profit Green America, the “Fair Trade Your Supermarket” campaign aims to empower consumers to advocate for more “Fair Trade” products on store shelves at their local supermarkets.
Economy»
Big Oil Revenue Equals More Than 10% of U.S. GDP (0)
A 2012 Congressional Research Service report, “Financial Performance of the Major Oil Companies, 2007-2011”(PDF), analyzes the business results of the five biggest firms operating in the U.S. market: ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips. The report notes that their combined revenues in 2011 were equivalent to more than 10% of U.S. gross domestic product.
Education»
Campus Crises Highlight Risk Management Weaknesses (0)
Columnist Gael O’Brien says recent crises at University of California Davis, Syracuse University and Penn State University raise questions about the role of risk management on campuses. One problem, she writes, is that university leaders “often don’t have practice thinking through how their values, and those of the institution, will come into play in a variety of different potential situations.”
Ethics Case Scenarios»
How Do You Fix Your Reputation After An Ethical Lapse? (0)
It’s nice to be on the right side of ethics, but sometimes we falter. We’re only human. So the question becomes: How do you rebuild your reputation after an ethical or even legal lapse in judgment?
Executive Compensation»
The Corporate Capture of the United States (0)
Corporate governance activist Robert AG Monks argues that American corporations today are like the great European monarchies of long ago. “Corporations have effectively captured the United States: its judiciary, its political system, and its national wealth, without assuming any of the responsibilities of dominion,” he writes. “Evidence is everywhere.”
International»
In-touch Boards: Reaching Out to the Value Critical Stakeholders (1)
Corporate governance expert Paul Strebel says the repeated failure of boards to intervene early enough to avert corporate disasters reflects a serious problem in the boardroom that cannot simply be swept under the carpet: boards are out of touch often with those who can make or break a company.
Leadership»
Why True Leaders Make Us Uncomfortable (2)
John Elkington thinks that if busy people insist on getting all their knowledge in 20-second sound-bites, they are unlikely to be open to the sort of deep conversations that the sustainability agenda requires. The path to great leadership, he suggests, may involve what one executive calls “constructive discomfort.”
Media»
New Arrests in Murdoch Bribery Scandal Raise Question of U.S. Charges (0)
Five more journalists from a Rupert Murdoch-owned British tabloid were arrested as part of an ongoing bribery investigation. The arrested journalists, all from the The Sun, were later released, and have yet to be charged with any crimes. But the arrests have once again raised questions about whether Murdoch’s News Corporation might face prosecution for bribery in the U.S. under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
NGOs»
Business and Human Rights: Interview with John Ruggie (1)
In July 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council endorsed a set of principles designed to address human rights abuses by business. In an interview, the man who led development of those principles – Harvard professor John Ruggie – discusses their implications and explains why he thinks the newly-coined term “human rights due diligence” has already become a permanent entry in the lexicon of international business.
Opinion»
Have We Placed Too Much Faith in Corporate Governance Reform? (0)
Across the globe, the trend toward corporate governance reform continues in response to the global financial crisis and to the opening of markets in developing economies. But consultants for the executive search firm Spencer Stuart think some of that may be overdone. “Governance regulation plays a valuable role,” they write, “but those who elevate its standing to that of corporate savior are exaggerating its power.”
Philanthropy»
VIDEO: Bill Gates on Philanthropy During a Recession (0)
In an exclusive interview with the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates discusses the challenges of philanthropy in an economic recession and how his tenure at Microsoft prepared him for his new job running the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Poverty»
Trying to Break the Sweatshop Business Model (1)
One of the most persistent corporate responsibility issues for many global brands is how to manufacture products in less developed countries while paying fair wages and maintaining acceptable working conditions. The New York Times reports on an experiment by a U.S. clothing company that is paying factory workers in the Dominican Republic a “living wage” – three times the average pay of the country’s apparel workers.
Regulation & Legislation»
Why the FCC Fined Google Just 68 Seconds in Profits (0)
The Federal Communications Commission announced it is slapping a fine on Google for deliberately impeding an investigation of the collection of sensitive wireless network data as part of the search giant’s Street View mapping project. The amount of the fine: $25,000.
Socially Responsible Investing»
JP Morgan:Impact Investing Offers Trillion Dollar Opportunity (0)
A study by analysts at J.P. Morgan concludes that impact investing – which is intended to generate social good as well as financial return – could represent a highly-profitable trillion dollar market over the next decade. “In fact, we believe that impact investing will reveal itself to be one of the most powerful changes within the asset management industry in the years to come,” the study says.
Sustainability»
Thought Trap: ‘Consumer Society’ is the Problem (0)
Author Frances Moore Lappé says it’s easy to join the chorus that “consumerism” is out of con¬trol and is killing us. “But the message is a nonstarter for a couple of reasons,” she writes. “For one, it doesn’t fit most people’s everyday lives, even in an ostensi¬bly wealthy country like the US.”
Video»
VIDEO: Jon Stewart Dissects Jon Corzine and MF Global (0)
Has anything changed in banking regulation since the crisis of 2008? Consider the case of MF Global Holdings Ltd., a New York-based securities firm that filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 31 after disclosing sizable exposure to derivatives and other investments related to billions of dollars in European sovereign debt. The firm was headed by Jon Corzine, a former CEO of Goldman Sachs who subsequently went into politics and was elected U.S. Senator and, later, Governor of New Jersey. In this video clip, “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart compares and contrasts the positions and behavior of Jon Corzine, the politician, with Jon Corzine, the CEO banker.
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