The Magazine of Corporate Responsibility

Archive for March, 2010

Survey: U.S. Consumers Willing to Pay for Corporate Responsibility

Despite the economic recession, 59 percent of those responding said they plan to spend the same or more on products from socially responsible companies.

Daimler Agrees To Pay $185 Million to Settle Bribery Charges

The maker of Mercedes cars and trucks is the latest company dealing with fallout from violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Transnational bribery and corruption are intensifying ethics and compliance concerns for companies doing business on a global basis as prosecutors pursue a record number of cases and penalties for offenses escalate dramatically.

Google Halts Censorship on Chinese Search

Google announces a “new approach to China,” indicating that China’s behavior toward human rights activists and other efforts “to further limit free speech on the web in China” had led Google to stop censoring its search services on the Google.cn site and instead redirect traffic to its Hong Kong-based servers.

Businesses Confront the Water Quality Challenge

For many in the so-called developed world, the ability to turn on the tap for clean, fresh water to drink, cook and wash with is taken for granted. The stark truth, however, is that over a billion people in the world have little choice but to use potentially harmful sources of water. What are companies doing to respond? And is it enough?

Environment: Recycling Tired Appliances

The first place to check is with your utility, which would like to see you upgrade to a more energy efficient new model—an older fridge uses upwards of three times the energy of most newer models.

Women Lack Numbers and Influence on Corporate Boards

A new report from The Corporate Library finds that while almost 90 percent of S&P 500 companies have at least one woman board member, there are far fewer women directors at smaller companies, and even at larger companies “women are typically a small minority and hold few positions of responsibility.”

Jeffrey Hollender’s Corporate Responsibility Revolution

The co-founder of Seventh Generation argues that “when companies shift their value proposition from selling desirable products to solving difficult social and environmental problems, whole new opportunities arise.”

RiskMetrics Introduces New Governance Scorekeeping Tool

The new GRId, or Governance Risk Indicators, will score companies against best practices in four areas: board, compensation/remuneration, shareholder rights and audit.

Financial Reform Bill Includes New Governance Measures

Among other things, the measure would give shareholders a say on pay by permitting a non-binding vote on executive pay. And it would give the SEC authority to grant shareholders proxy access to nominate directors.

Game Change: Environmentalists Advise WalMart on Sustainability

When the Environmental Defense Fund first fought for a ban on the pesticide DDT more than 40 years ago, the non-profit organization went to court and sued. Times have changed. These days, EDF staff members work directly with companies like WalMart to address sustainability issues.