Among the most important aspects of starting a company is determining the target market. In many cases the obvious answer to determining a market is to go where the money is. Most of the time that means target the wealthy as that is the group that would be both interested in using and have the …
Hello Wallet Helps Balance The Books and Give Back Read More »
Based on a comment I received in regards to last week’s article “Responsibilities of the Alcohol Industry”, I thought I’d follow up with an article addressing how much water is actually used to make beer. Although that article really looked at the social responsibility of alcohol companies, I did mention more than once that beer …
I wasn’t planning on following up on last week’s article, “Twitter and Corporate Social Responsibility”, nor was I really considering taking the CSR conversation in this direction. However I saw a video the other day on Mashable which was an interview of venerable Apple evangalist and venture capitalist veteran Guy Kawasaki at South By Southwest …
Developing Platforms for Social Change: The New CSR Movement? Read More »
Believe it or not, this is not some twisted April Fool’s Day joke, but as highlighted in today’s New York Time article “India Microcredit Faces Collapse From Defaults”, is something that is actually taking place in India and could potentially be akin to the sub-prime crisis in the United States. This is clearly terrible news …
I’ve been pondering this question for quite some time and as far as I’m concerned, the answer is still unclear. Without analyzing the specifics of what CSR is (100 different people may give you 100 different answers), I’ve always broken things down into two camps. One side would be companies that have formulated their business …
Over the last few weeks I’ve talked about the difficulty in determining appropriate CSR metrics, finding metrics useful for comparison of businesses and whether the annual CSR report is obsolete, however I have to admit, I did not see coming a mandate by a national government (of a enormous country for that matter) requiring businesses …
New Law Passed in India Requires Businesses to Engage in CSR Read More »
Previously, I’ve written about conflict minerals in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and US efforts to curtail their sales (parts I and II), as well as the repercussions of companies doing indirect business in countries where direct business is forbidden by the US government. So, it only make sense that this article takes …
The Continuing Saga of Conflict Diamonds and the Kimberley Process Read More »
Based on a recent report published by sustainability analyst firm Verdantix, spending on sustainability by almost 2,000 businesses with revenues of over $1 billion will increase from $28 billion in 2010 to $60 billion in 2014. Now, I know what you’re thinking. That’s barely anything in comparison to total revenue (1.4% up to 3.3%), but …
Despite Sluggish Economy, Spending on Sustainability Forecast to Increase Read More »
CSR is now a thing. It has gotten to the point where when visiting a corporation’s website, one of the first things you will see is at least a mention of corporate social responsibility and perhaps a link to some sort of sustainability report. While this is becoming the norm and is something the general …
Most Americans are aware of the fact that San Francisco is known as one of the more progressive towns in the Unites States. In attempt to uphold that title, policy makers in the city are hoping to get mayor Gavin Newsom on board as they attempt to ban toys in Happy Meals in order to …
Recently, the New York Times Magazine has been a hotbed for articles covering business in or affecting developing countries. Last week I wrote about a potentially more unconventional way of looking at the counterfeit goods trade from the perspective of major apparel companies. More recently, an incredibly impressive article was written by Andrew Rice, on …
Plumpy’nut and the Role of the Private Sector in International Development Read More »
For marketers looking to improve the sustainability of their print marketing programs, there is almost nothing more important than the role of the paper. For this reason, Wausau Paper has launched a new online community, Digital Space, for designers, printers, and other experts in digital print technology and applications. The site includes both a collaborative, …
It’s All About the Paper — New Online Blog & Community Read More »
While the U.S. Postal Service bleeds red with billions of dollars in financial loses ($3.8 billion in 2008), they keep earning environmental accolades for their green roofs and energy conserving initiatives. Today, some post offices are even LEED certified by the US Green Building Council. As I wrote about last week, the US Postal Service …
So who doesn’t love this planet? Unless you have a few screws loose (or living in extreme poverty or managing to survive in a war zone or some similar predicament), at some basic level, you gotta love living on Earth – for its beauty, sustenance, and mystery. But how are we taking the responsibility to …