SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights March 4, 2014

Top Story of the Week

"CSR" is a term that's been around for more than four decades, notes Forbes' contributor Ryan Scott, and he cites a study by Boston College's Center for Corporate Citizenship that found that 97% of surveyed companies had budgets designed for their corporate responsibility programs.  "CSR is a business approach that is here to stay," he concludes.

Still, there is somewhat of a debate about the merits of CSR -- we see that in recent statements by investors that a company's obligation is to create profits (harking back to the economist Milton Friedman's views as CSR became a corporate focus at executive levels). 

Long-term we think the CSR issue -- anti's say it is a "frill" and diversion, and PR activity --the pros say it something much closer to the heart of the business and vital to the well-being of the enterprise over the long-term -- will be settled as the Millennial Generation settles in and moves up the management food chain.  Today's young workers want to be part of a "responsible company" -- recruiters know this, especially as they recruit new grads.  Colleges and universities are responding with several hundred institutions putting sustainability management course work in place to meet the demand.  The Top Story is worth a read.

The Key Ingredient of CSR
(Thursday - February 27, 2014)
Source: Forbes - Ever since the term “corporate social responsibility” became popularized in the 1960s, it’s been used to cover a broad swath of ethical issues, including those that affect the environment, human rights, supply-chain...

Four Keys to Thinking about the Future of Sustainability
(Tuesday - February 25, 2014)
Source: Environmental Leader - It is often a good strategy to listen to the new ideas of thought leaders and successful CEOs to see if they can provide inspiration that can be used on a broader scale. In the Harvard Business Review article, Four Keys to...

Sustainability in Focus

Corporate Responsibility or "Greenwashing"?
(Monday - March 03, 2014)
Source: Huff Post - How can investors and consumers tell whether companies are doing the right thing by the environment or "greenwashing" their images to make it seem like they're doing the right thing? Magali Delmas, a professor of management at...

Banks pushed to report sustainability data
(Friday - February 28, 2014) Associated Profiles : California State Teachers’ Retirement System
Source: Financial Times - Jack Ehnes, chief executive of Calstrs, said that while he expected some initial uncertainty about the new standards, over time companies would move towards reporting the information. There...

This is just a sample of some of the articles from this weeks SustainabilityHQ Highlights.  You can view the full Highlights by using the following links. Sustainability | ESG, Highlights for the Week of February 26, 2014