I joined the governing board of the newly established Corporate Responsibility Officers Association almost two years ago because I have a strong interest in exploring, and hopefully more firmly establishing the role of the practitioner. We created a committee for professional development with colleagues from Capaccio, Cisco, Crowe Horwath, Hess Oil, Molson Coors and Shared Expertise, which I have been chairing. With the help of an extended list of supportive members we explored the components that make up a profession and determined that we would focus initially on three areas (1) job descriptions (2) competencies and (3) an ethics code.
The committee has just published its first substantive piece of work, a Guidebook on Structuring and Staffing Corporate Responsibility. Readers of my blog can … Read the Full Post
On Friday I posted some thoughts about the role of philanthropy in corporate responsibility and left one idea to consider separately. Does philanthropy have a role to play as a form of compensation.
It is the case that much of our human activity and associated consumption has a net negative impact on the environment. The nature of business also means that in order to meet a greater social need, there can be a real or perceived negative impact on the local community in whose back yard an operation is carried out. In this situation there is perhaps a role for community investment to compensate above and beyond what the market and the law deems sufficient.
This might take the form of philanthropic participation or provision … Read the Full Post
As regular readers of my blog may have divined, I have struggled with the role of philanthropy and even volunteering within corporate responsibility. When I say this, I hear sharp intakes of breath from not only my fellow practitioners but I am sure from many wonderful non-profits who depend on corporate funding for some of their critically required activities.
I don’t underestimate the importance and value of the money and the services community investment enables. But, I believe that how companies both make and spend our money has a far bigger impact on society and the environment than how we give away the one percent of our profits that is the standard. I worry that the work on community investment of this form can distract … Read the Full Post
Every six months or so one of the big news publications, the FT, WSJ, Economist……. predictably surprises all of us CR&S practitioners with a piece that restates the argument that the business of business is profit and all our efforts on CR&S are at best misguided. By my reckoning the next one is due in the spring of 2011.
We react indignantly with the expected rebuttals. We present the arguments that this isn’t just about doing good. We discuss how it is in a company’s longer term interest to behave responsibly, we present the value of risk reduction, we provide evidence that companies that follow sustainability principles are better managed and a better investment in the long run and we present many other well-rehearsed lines … Read the Full Post
On January 6th I posted this guest blog from Chris Tuppen with Chris’s 20 year anniversary reflection on the field. Late in 2010 I met Michelle Greene the recently appointed Vice President, Head of Corporate Responsibility, and Executive Director of NYSE Foundation at NYSE Euronext. Michelle is new to the Corporate Responsibility role (although she brings with her a wealth of invaluable experience in the public and private sectors) and I felt her thoughts as a relative newcomer would be a valuable complement to Chris’s perspective.
As someone who has formally entered the Corporate Responsibility field quite recently, I think it is an exciting time to be here. I believe that, collectively, we are on the cusp of significant changes in the way … Read the Full Post
