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March 15, 2012
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An Ethical Voice Silenced

I was riding in the back of a cab some where between Detroit and Troy, Michigan when I knew he had died.  The Maine area code on my iPhone told me even before I heard the voice on the other end that Rush Kidder was no more.

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Sneak Preview of 3rd Annual International Corporate Volunteerism Conference

On April 11 & 12, private sector leaders from IBM, PepsiCo, Pfizer, and dozens of other corporations will join the U.S. State Department, USAID, and other public sector groups to talk about some of today’s most pressing issues – jobs creation, water, education, global health, and the environment, among others.  How are these groups looking to impact such a divergent set of issues?  Through the lens of international volunteering.  
 
Addressing the intersection of corporate citizenship, talent and leadership development and more traditional international development programs, CDC Development Solutions’upcoming Third Annual International Corporate Volunteerism Conference will look at why some of the largest corporations in America are sending employees beyond their office walls to pro bono skilled volunteer assignments in emerging markets such as Ghana, Vietnam, Brazil, and Cambodia – and how this is making a difference.
Companies as diverse as Dow Corning, Intel, and Ernst & Young are sending teams of employees on International Corporate Volunteer programs (ICV) – a type of corporate Peace Corps in which employees donate their skills to build the capacity of a local nonprofit, government, social enterprise, or NGO in an emerging market.  Businesses are seeing a return on investment from these volunteer trips that pays off in social and business dividends: companies build partnerships with critical stakeholders in emerging markets and gain a competitive advantage, while employees gain unparalleled leadership skills in a global marketplace that otherwise take years to develop.
 
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Climate Science is Useless (to Business): Time to send scientists to b-school & business leaders back to science class

Kyoto. Montreal. Durban. Rio.Venerable cities all, but, with the exception of Rio (only because it hasn’t happened yet), each is also synonymous with failure. Failure to get consensus on the future of the environment and sustainable development.
 
But why? When I speak with individual business and government leaders a broad consensus exists on the need for action. The barrier seems to be politics. So let’s by-pass the politics. To do that, though, we need a different kind of collective-action—one based on science and grounded in data.
 
The problem with science is that it’s mostly aimed at scientists. The “big science” coming out of scientific academies and institutions is aimed either at other scientists or at the big multi-national conferences. Let’s flip that on its head.
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Where CSR Fits On The Board's Agenda

According to the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) 2011 Public Company Governance Survey, when asked to name the top three issues for the board,only 1.5% of corporate directors picked “Corporate Social Responsibility” among the highest priorities for the board in 2011.

 
But what counts as corporate responsibility (CR) and when and how should boards and CEOs take an interest in it?  Read more...
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Do Corporate Responsibility “Best Practices” Really Exist?

In short, no. 
 
Although there are a growing number of examples of “successful practices”. More often than not, companies are still sorting out what CR really means for them. While companies have an important role to play in tackling some of our most pressing challenges, each company’s CR strategy has to make sense for their industry, their business model, and the identity of their individual organization. So rarely does CR look the same at different companies. Moreover, this remains a nascent field, making it a little early declare any practice “best”.
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Showcasing Supply Chains

A few years ago, Nike paid the price for the bad labor and human rights practices of its suppliers.  Now it's Apple's turn in the penalty box.

 
In stark contrast, McDonald’s has put its suppliers front-and-center in a series of heartwarming new ads.  McDonald’s put faces, names, and voices to these folks.  Frank Martinez, potato supplier.  Dirk Giannini, lettuce supplier.  Steve Fogelsong, beef supplier.
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Finding & Supporting New Models of Collaboration for Good

Following up on last weeks blog post about how, in the midst of the economic downturn, the best corporate citizens built more successful ways of working with governments and NGOs, we now look at how to help organizations establish them by shining a light on real-world examples and providing a platform for connecting with potential partners.

At the 2011 COMMIT!Forum we highlighted several new models of collaboration. Two of my personal favorites were the work done by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Compass Group to alleviate slave-like working conditions for migrant workers in Florida and that of Western Union and USAID to establish an African Diaspora Marketplace to harness the wealth and entrepreneurialism of this community to jump-start new businesses in Africa itself...

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Leveraging Deficits: How the Best Corporate Citizens drove more effective cross-sector collaboration during the Great Recession

In last week's blog post, I pointed to the emergence of a "renaissance" in how companies, NGOs, and governments are collaborating to tackle some of our toughest challenges. This week I'm going to look in-depth at the specific new models and practices we're seeing emerge. 
 
Throughout 2011 we looked for successful practices in cross-sector collaboration by examining commitments made as part of the annual COMMIT!Campaign and by talking with CR Magazines Best Corporate Citizens. There were stark differences in the way these organizations engage with NGOs and governments as compared with most companies and donors. The best:
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Deficit-Driven Developments


The recession started a renaissance in how companies, NGOs, & governments collaborate

Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention.  With governments and non-profits facing yawning budget deficits and business facing one of its biggest trust-deficits in history, organizations are coming together in unprecedented ways to tackle some of society's greatest challenges. In fact, a distinct set of collaborative practices used by the “best corporate citizens” and their partners have emerged that others could adopt.

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The Campaign to Change the World

We call it the COMMIT!Campaign because it does exactly that: it calls on organizations to make commitments that will change the world. But people often ask exactly how does it work? Sometimes, others see you more clearly than you see yourself… 
 
"Oh! I get it. It's like Match.com for corporates and causes."
 
"Makes perfect sense. Nothing major gets done in government without a deadline and a press conference. Why would corporate responsibility be any different?" 
 
These two quotes perfectly sum up the essence of the COMMIT!Campaign and Forum. Earlier this year, over 600 people gathered in New York City at the COMMIT!Forum, a place the GRI's Ernst Ligteringen called, "...full of ideas, full of commitment."  The Forum called upon people to come together to make commitments to change the world. The 2012 Campaign and Forum picks up exactly where the Forum left off.
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Is Sustainability Analogous to Economics?

At Green Gov 2011 this morning I facilitated a lively panel that included discussion of what is  sustainability and what is the role of the sustainability profession. Ira Feldman (Greentrack Strategies), Terry Yosie (World Environment Center) and Valerie Patrick (Bayer Corporation) were our panelists and came with a rich set of views and experience.

The discussion of what is sustainability was broad and philosophical using terms like ‘systems thinking’ and ‘form of art’. But many people in the room (myself included) had sustainability jobs, with specific job descriptions and objectives.  So what can we compare that to?

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Understanding the Value of Corporate Responsibility

Susan Pullin, CSC Vice President of Corporate Responsibility, writes that

There are many opinions about the real value to a company of corporate responsibility (CR). Aman Singh recently wrote for Forbes about these contrary opinions and posed the question: “Are we fighting over semantics or strategy?” She went on to consider how stakeholders often view CR. Is it perceived as something that is disconnected from markets, profits and capitalism itself? Is it typically misinterpreted as a cost, with some seeing CR as little more than “giving away money and adopting the latest cause of activists”?

As we look at this debate, one point is clear:  if CR is perceived anything but a contributor to top-line growth, then stakeholder opinions will be negative and the value of CR is misunderstood.

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Attention Washington: Please address the skills crisis, too

In his address to a joint session of Congress last week, President Obama said, “Tonight we meet at an urgent time for our country.  We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a political crisis that’s made things worse.”Indeed, the evidence abounds.

In recent days, the Labor Department reported that the economy created virtually no net jobs in August—its poorest monthly showing in a year. Unemployment remained stuck at 9.1 percent. The president’s own budget office, in its midyear review, forecast that the jobless rate will persist at 9 percent into next year as well. And just today, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the national poverty rate had hit 15.1 percent last year while median household income declined. The 46 million Americans living below the poverty line last year represented the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.

Sparking an economic revival in America and creating new jobs has no higher national priority. Yet as a business membership organization representing companies that employ millions of Americans, Corporate Voices for Working Families grapples with a related and urgent imperative: A widespread skills gap, which leaves many employers struggling to fill job openings even as millions of Americans search for work.
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WANTED a jobs & growth agenda

In his address tonight to a Joint Session of Congress, President Obama will lay out his plans for kick-starting employment and growth. America needs a plan for good-paying jobs combined with sustained and sustainable growth. Here’s our jobs and growth agenda at the COMMIT!Forum Sept 26-27 in NYC:

 
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COMMIT to selling more, saving more, growing more

How can corporate responsibility help you sell more stuff, save more money, and grow your business? Come find out at the COMMIT!Forum on Sept 26-27 in NYC when you hear:

- How UPS uses sustainability reporting to sell more & save more. 

- How HIP Investor, TIAA-CREF, & KKR deliver shareholder returns.

- How Corporate Voices for Working Families builds a more competitive workforce.

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