The Magazine of Corporate Responsibility

Archive for February, 2010

Apple Increases Its Monitoring of Suppliers

The company says it conducted on-site audits at 102 facilities in 2009, up from 83 in 2008, and trained 133,000 workers, supervisors and managers, a sharp increase from 27,000 a year earlier.

Shareholder Advocates Urge Disclosure of Political Spending

The Center for Political Accountability, the Council of Institutional Investors and a number of shareholder advocate groups have launched a letter-writing campaign urging companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to disclose all political contributions they make with corporate funds.

US Likely to Broaden Anti-Bribery and Corruption Efforts

“The U.S. government – and not just the Justice Department, but the U.S. government more broadly – is going to focus on international corruption in a more comprehensive and even more rigorous way than it has in the past,” said Mark Mendelsohn, the Justice Department’s lead criminal prosecutor for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Pfizer’s “Never Ending Dance” to Regain Its Reputation

What’s it like to have your company plead guilty to a crime and pay a $2.3 billion fine? “To put it bluntly, it’s like being hit in the face by a two-by-four. Even for a big company, it’s a very, very difficult thing to go through,” said Douglas Lankler, Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer of Pfizer, the world’s largest drug company.

BOOKS: Celebrating Failure and the Power of Risk Taking

An excerpt from Ralph Heath’s book: “The great thing about making a mistake is that the bar is now moved pretty low, and you get the opportunity to rush in and correct the problem and suggest a positive solution. It is an opportunity to demonstrate that you listen, that you understand what you did wrong, and that you can solve the problem when given a second chance.”

U.S. Airlines Get Poor Grades on Recycling Programs

US Airways and United Airlines rate an “F” when it comes to reducing waste, according to a consumer watchdog report. Delta and Virgin rank highest – but even their grades are not something the average college student would write home about.

Who Detects Corporate Fraud? (Tip: It’s Not Usually the SEC…)

Class action lawsuits and federal agency enforcement proceedings have little to do with uncovering corporate fraud, according to a new academic study.

How To Lead in Corporate Citizenship

Two new reports from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship examine what’s needed in implementing and maintaining effective corporate citizen leadership. They also put forth “unique competency models” for those working in the corporate citizenship field.

Climate Change: Will Carbon Tax Unite ExxonMobil and Its Critics?

The only hope for a new carbon-cutting law from the U.S. Congress in 2010 could involve what has long been thought of as the least politically viable approach: a tax on carbon. But achieving that might very well require an alliance of strange bedfellows – including environmental advocates and ExxonMobil, long a chief climate change skeptic.

Harvard Law School Launches Public Service Venture Fund

In what it said was “the first program of its kind at a law school,” Harvard Law School announced creation of Public Service Venture Fund, which will start by awarding $1 million in grants every year to help graduating students pursue careers in public service.