CSR - Visioning the Future (Great Lesson Videos)
I really do recommend all colleagues and AQA BUSS4 students to take a few minutes out to watch this new video series from the BITC which has just launched “Visioning the Future”. Business studies gold dust - simples!
read more...»CSR - Corn: A Matter of Life or Death?
Should the USA continue to divert production of corn towards the production of biofuels rather than allow the corn to be used to feed the world’s population? The view of the Chairman of Nestle is a definite NO!
read more...»CSR - Responsible Jeans? Its a Blast…
Many thanks to Ian Pryer and Mike Slark for spotting this excellent, topical case study of CSR in action. The Telegraph article describes how retailers and clothing brands such as Asda, Diesel, Matalan and Primark are among those being criticised for selling jeans made using sandblasting, which can cause illness or even death.
As Ian pointed out to me during the BUSS4 revision workshop in Fulham on Monday, many students arrived at lessons during Comic Relief week in ‘worn-look’ jeans. Had they stopped to consider how the manufacturing process may effect the health of those involved in their production? Are their own jeans from a business like New Look or M&S who say they have already outlawed sandblasted jeans from their supply chain? Or are they from one of the firms being targeted by ‘Labour Behind the Label’? Lots of good CSR material to discuss here.
AQA BUSS4 Toolkit on CSR now available
Our teacher support toolkit for AQA BUSS4 2011 (CSR) began shipping first thing yesterday (Monday)...
read more...»CSR - Insights from the Leader of the Revolution
A fantastic video interview here with Peter Marks, the CEO of the Co-operative Group, which was named as the UK’s most socially-responsible firm by the ICAEW in 2010.
read more...»CSR in the Ad Break - Dettol
I’m indebted to Vanessa McGowan at Bolton Sixth Form College for making a superb suggestion that followed on from our CSR at the Movies series. How about CSR in the Ad break, featuring examples of products, brands and firms that are keen to emphasis their environmental and social responsibilities?
Vanessa kicks the series off with an A* star example…Dettol.
read more...»CSR - The Case Against CSR
Aneel Karnani’s article in the WSJ back in 2010 is well worth a read for colleagues and students looking for a bit of balance in the debate about whether CSR is worthwhile for profit-maximising firms.
read more...»CSR - All Change at BP: New Era, New Responsibilities
The first few months of 2011 are providing us with some excellent resources to research CSR and this recent speech by Bob Dudley (the new CEO of BP) is a great example in point. The problems experienced by BP as a result of the Deepwater Horizon disaster are well documented and, frankly, the rights and wrongs of who did what are less relevant to business students than the impact of Deepwater Horizon on the strategy and culture of a huge multinational like BP…
read more...»Why Companies are part of society
I’m reading the text of a terrific speech by the former CEO of Unilever - Niall Fitzgerald - given back in 2003 at the London Business School. The transcript, entitled “CSR - Rebuilding Trust in Business” provides some wonderful chains of argument for colleagues and students who want to deepen their understanding of the theory underpinning the concept of corporate social responsibility. I was taken by one part in particular, in which Fitzgerald considers the original purpose of limited companies and their relationship with society.
read more...»CSR - Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan
Unilever, one of the world’s biggest consumer multinationals, took a major change in strategic direction in November 2010 with the launch of its Sustainable Living Plan. The change was certainly of similar significance to M&S’s Plan A and the Co-op Group’s “Join the Revolution” which we’ve featured already here on the Business Studies blog. Here are some supporting resources which colleagues and students may find helpful if they decide to use Unilever during their research process:
read more...»CSR - An Interview with Paul Polman (Unilever)
A fantastic interview here in the latest (March 2011) edition of Management Today with Paul Polman - the CEO of Unilever. We featured Polman during our AQA BUSS4 CPD days recently and I was a little surprised that no-one in the audience recognised him! Perhaps the reason is that he keeps a relatively low media profile. But the impact he is having on the business strategy at Unilever is significant - and the firm should be a required research source for all BUSS4 students.
read more...»CSR - Greenwashing & Carbon: Consumers Just “Don’t Believe It”!
There are lots of businesses out there making some pretty impressive claims about the green credentials of their products and services. But how effective are these claims as part of the promotional mix? Is it just a case of greenwashing that most customers see through? A new report from the CBI provides some insights into what consumers think - and it raises some important issues for business. Its a cracking survey to provide some data nuggetts for students preparing for AQA BUSS4 too…
read more...»CSR and Equality - Walmart accused of gender discrimination
Walmart is the worlds largest private sector employer; it employs 2.1 million people worldwide and nearly 900,000 of them are women. They claim that they have “strong policies against discrimination and these policies are there to ensure women are promoted and paid well” - yet in 2001 the average female Walmart manager earned $14,500 less than their male counterpart.
In the US Walmart is now facing a lawsuit from six of their female employees who believe they and Walmart’s other female staff were paid less and missed out on promotion because of their gender.
This story is worth reading - could be a valuable piece of EVIDENCE to quote in BUSS4 essays about social responsibility towards employees, and the need for government intervention to assist with ensuring those responsibilities are met.
CSR - Awesome Research Data on the Issue of Corporate Trust
I think this has to be the best dataset I’ve come across so far for colleagues and students researching the key issues in corporate social responsibility. The Edelman Trust Barometer has been going for over ten years, and the latest 2011 report provides some gold-standard data evidence for the A* AQA BUSS4 student essay…
read more...»CSR - Is Social Responsibility Vital for Business Survival?
Another Sunday hat tip - this time to Vanessa McGowan at Bolton SFC - for recommending this excellent article from the Independent archive of 2009. As Vanessa points out, the title of the article gives a subtle hint as to which side the Independent falls on, but there is some of the other argument in there, including our old friend Milton Friedman. Vanessa used this with her students when the AQA BUSS4 research theme was first announced, and asked them to read it and pull out both sides of the debate, which proved very useful. There are some good facts and figures about the performance and success of businesses who are socially responsible too. A great spot. As always, we welcome suggestions for resources like this which really are appreciated by our readers.
CSR - How Transparent are the World’s Oil Companies?
The impact of the Deepwater Horizon disaster continues to be felt for all stakeholders concerned. So it is no surprise that NGOs continue to focus on the CSR & ethical activities and policies of the world’s oil companies. A blog hat tip to Fiona Lerigo from Northampton College for spotting this terrific piece in the Guardian last week which reports on a new research into what the world’s oil companies do about corruption.
CSR - How Companies Avoid Paying Tax
This is an emerging issue - and potentially a significant one too. I’m grateful to Peter Hill (Blessed Hugh Faringdon School) for sending me a link to ITN’s Tonight Show from last Thursday which examines the issue how Britain’s major companies are able to get away with paying so little corporation tax. According to Tonight, big businesses could be avoiding paying up to £12 billion in tax - by working within the system legally. But are they playing fair when the government says it is short of money? Here is the link to programme on ITV player.. At our AQA BUSS4 CPD days, we mentioned the emergence of NGOs like UK Uncut which are focusing on the low levels of taxation paid by well-known UK businesses. Here is a link to their current campaigns.
CSR - McDonalds and the Case for the Defence
I’m indebted to Ian Pryer for sending through some suggested links to video resources which help us strike a balance when using McDonalds as part of teaching corporate social responsibility.
read more...»CSR - What is going on at 250-266 Ecclesall Road?
Something has been building at number 250-266 Eccleshall Road in Sheffield which might have significant implications for sustainable retailing in the UK. What is it?
read more...»CSR becomes the Strategy for Co-operative
A fantastic interview with the CEO of the Co-operative Group here in the Independent which is packed full with useful business strategy nuggets (and perfect for AQA BUSS4 students)....
read more...»CSR - Focus on Fairtrade Fortnight 2011
Fairtrade comes into the spotlight over the next two weeks as a series of campaigns are run to showcase the growing level of consumer interest (UK sales of over £1bn p.a.) in Fairtrade products….
read more...»CSR - Links to PLC Corporate Social Responsibility Reports
[updated 26 Feb - 17 new firms added]
Many of the larger businesses provide comprehensive coverage of their corporate social responsibility activities and strategy. The attached document (which we’ll update to add new resources) provides direct links to relevant resources for the businesses listed.
Download Links to PLC Corporate Social Responsibility Reports
CSR - Green Growth Case Studies from UK Businesses
Students researching the benefits and costs of firms which are undertaking corporate social responsibility activities will be on the look out for tangible, credible evidence of results. This series of brief case studies from the Carbon Trust is a veritable gold mine for effective research and should enable students to include evidence which examiners find credible and relevant…
read more...»CSR - The Mega Dairy, Economies of Scale and Cornflakes
This is a terrific, topical case study that you can use with students to examine a range of important business studies topics - not the least economies of scale, CSR and market structure.
read more...»CSR - the Essential Economist Podcast
This podcast is a couple of years old, but frankly it is so good that I think it ought to be essential listening to every colleague and student preparing students for exams which feature CSR…
read more...»CSR - Costing the Earth & Reporting Sustainability
Should firms report the social costs of their activities in their financial reporting? This Costing the Earth film, with Stephen Fry and Al Murray, explains the thoughts behind the need to embed sustainability into a firm’s DNA. It has been produced by The Prince of Wales’ Accounting for Sustainability project which brings organisations together to develop practical tools to enable environmental and social performance to be better connected with strategy and financial performance, and thereby embedded into day-to-day operations and decision making. Cracking lesson material for AQA BUSS4 this summer!
read more...»CSR - BBC One Planet on Coca-Cola & Sustainability
This podcast from a special edition of BBC World Service’s One Planet makes ideal listening for students researching corporate social responsibility. The opening 8 minutes of the programme features an interview with John Brock, Head of Coca-Cola Enterprises in Western Europe, where he talks generally about the role of CSR in Coca-Cola’s strategy. Well worth a listen…
read more...»CSR at the Movies - Capitalism a Love Story
Michael Moore has long been a thorn in the side of the Amercian business & financial establishment. Capitalism - A Love Story, produced by Moore in 2009 , pulls no punches. The film centers on the financial crisis of 2007–2010 and the recovery stimulus, while putting forward an indictment of the current economic order in the United States and capitalism in general. Students will soon be able to judge where Moore is coming from based on the targets covered by the film. Topics covered include Wall Street’s “casino mentality”, for-profit prisons, Goldman Sachs’ influence in Washington, DC, the poverty-level wages of many workers, the large wave of home foreclosures, corporate-owned life insurance, and the consequences of what Moore describes as “runaway greed”. The film also features a religious component where Moore examines whether or not capitalism is a sin and if Jesus would be a capitalist!
read more...»CSR at the Movies - Thank You for Smoking
A film here which is certainly not a documentary, but still takes a hard dig at the world of business lobbying in the USA. Thank You for Smoking is a satirical comedy which follows the machinations of Big Tobacco’s chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his twelve-year-old son.
read more...»CSR at the Movies - Black Gold
For this movie-inspired resource for teaching CSR (and globalisation) we go back to 2006 - to the launch of an award-winning movie about the global coffee trade…
read more...»
