The Magazine of Corporate Responsibility

Archive for January, 2010

Toyota Recall: Five Critical Lessons

Fixing the problem and ensuring that something like it doesn’t happen again will require an all-out effort by Toyota, from assembly line to the boardroom. Even then, there are no guarantees. Maintaining a good corporate reputation in the 21st century is tricky business indeed.

McDonald’s Publishes 2009 Corporate Responsibility Report

The report focuses on the company’s practices in sustainable supply chain, nutrition and well-being, environmental responsibility, employment experience, community and corporate governance and ethics.

SEC Votes for Improved Disclosure on Climate Risk

In an action hailed by environmental groups as “ground-breaking,” the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted to provide guidance to publicly-listed companies regarding the level and quality of their disclosures on climate change and its “material” impact on their businesses.

World Economic Forum: Will Many Take The Global Business Oath?

It will be interesting to see how many of the 2,500 attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, will wind up taking The Global Business Oath. Yes, there is one – and you, too, can pledge.

VIDEO: Infosys CEO Says Leaders Must “Walk the Talk”

Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys Technologies, India, has suggestions on how business leaders can establish a corporate values framework. “Every company must define a framework for values, a framework for ethics, a framework for behavior of its leaders,” he says. “Leaders must walk the talk, leaders must lead by example. There has to be zero tolerance for values violations.”

VIDEO:Morgan Stanley Chair Says Regulation Is #1 Issue

John Mack, Chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley, says that in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008-09, the number one issue for the financial industry is regulation. “We need to find some link to bring regulators around the world together, and a more systematized way of communicating and understanding risk,” Mack says. “We need to figure out a way that we have a systemic risk manager and make sure they have the resources to understand, monitor and help regulate our industry.”

Nike: Corporate Responsibility at a “Tipping Point”

Nike’s latest report on the company’s corporate responsibility initiatives features a slick multimedia display and a 176-page written document. You can see Nike grappling, in public, with some tough choices. Labor and human rights continue as a top priority and corporate worry.

Opinion: When CSR Became a Movement

Bill Baue argues that CSR is not a random collection of ad hoc, discrete actions to revise corporate behavior, but rather has become a coherent aggregation of sustained, widespread efforts to reform (or even revolutionize) the role of corporations, shifting from negative to positive impacts on society, environment, and economy.

Clinton Urges “Principled Stand” on Internet Censorship

An open Internet is good for society and good for business. And American technology companies need to make a “principled stand” against attempts at censorship. That’s one of the messages delivered by U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton in a major speech that focused on attempts by some national governments to stifle the “free exchange of ideas” among their citizens.

Socially Responsible Mutual Funds Outperformed in 2009

Data on 160 socially responsible mutual funds found that 65 percent of them outperformed their benchmarks last year across nearly all asset classes, including balanced, large cap, small cap and global funds, as well as bonds.