Five ways for a head of CSR to break in a new CEO
Business Respect, 9 Nov 2010
Marc Bolland, the new chief executive of leading UK sustainability champion Marks & Spencer, launched his new strategy today. In so doing, he reversed certain things that had been started by his predecessor, Stuart Rose. Certain sub-brands. Positioning in regard to foreign expansion. One thing he didn't change, he mentioned pretty much in passing, was the company's commitment to Plan A - its sustainability programme.
Integrated Reporting - The gulf between theory and practice
Business Respect, 21 Oct 2010
The growing profile around integrated reporting is a good thing. It will take us into places on sustainability reporting we probably wouldn't have gotten to otherwise. But there's some wishful thinking going on that probably won't be part of the reality.
Reply to the Case Against CSR - The Latest Version
Business Respect, 26 Aug 2010
The Wall Street Journal recently carried a piece by Aneel Karnani, associate professor of strategy at the University of Michigan's Stephen M Ross School of Business. Karnani was the author some years ago of a thoughtful and trenchant critique of the 'Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid' work of CK Prahalad, which I wrote about at the time. Now he has turned his attention to an attack against corporate social responsibility generally.
How good companies create bad outcomes in the supply chain
Business Respect, 2 Aug 2010
It used to be all about blame. Company X uses suppliers that have abusive working conditions, or child labour. They are cynically turning a blind eye to evil practices to benefit their bottom line.
Spotting responsible companies - blink and you might miss it
Business Respect, 10 May 2010
We have a lot of sophisticated tools out there now for spotting socially responsible companies. We have indices, and awards, and quality standards - you name it. Between them, they look at every management process you can think of, and cover every issue that might affect a company. But what if all that information gets in the way, rather than helps?
Marks & Spencer - how do its new promises shape up?
Business Respect, 12 Mar 2010
British retailer Marks & Spencer used to be best known as a pillar of the establishment. No fiery wild-eyed radical, it would do a select number of good things for the community, and it would steadfastly refuse to beat its own drum about it. All that has changed, and the measure of just how much could be seen with the retailer's recent pronouncement that it is aiming to become the world's most sustainable retailer by 2015.
Why even some of the best companies fail to keep cool in a crisis
Business Respect, 16 Feb 2010
Next month, Ethical Corporation will be holding its conference on managing social and environmental risk. It includes a session that focuses on keeping cool in a crisis - what to do when it all goes wrong. Although the event is primarily aimed at the heavy industries, you can't help but feel that Toyota could benefit from booking a couple of places.
References: mallenbaker.net
