CSR Blogs

We stand at the threshold of a moral crossroads in American business. Which way will we turn in the new decade is the dilemma before us. Do we retreat to old and tired patterns of indifference? Or do we find the courage to cut a new and hopeful path to the common good?
 
The heated debates of healthcare, bailouts, banking reform, financial regulation, usury laws, consumer protection, home loan modifications, small business support, social assistance programs-all point to one fundamental issue - the battle for a moral framework. What do we value in America? Easy Money or Hard work? Self-interest or Community? Vengeance or Forgiveness? Indifference or Compassion?
 
Do we continue to let 45 million Americans suffer without healthcare as long as we have access to it ourselves? Should we protect unsuspecting or reckless consumers or leave them at the mercy of profit hungry scams? Do we let the jobless and homeless fend for themselves because we are comfortable under our own roofs?
 
In the end, all of these economic debates come down to one thing: love. Love for our neighbor, love for ourselves, love for the planet, love for humanity. Love for those who are starving, hungry, desperate or forgotten. Love for those whose only hope of relief from suffering comes from you and me and our generosity.
 
Michael Moore’s latest movie was called, Capitalism: A Love Story. At first, the concept seemed hostile and sarcastic, yet the more I pondered its irony, the more I recognized its truth. Capitalism in its current anarchic state is all about love or rather the lack of it. Love in the Ancient Greek agape sense of the word.
 

American business is getting an important lesson in civics as one of the world’s most beloved automakers dramatically and temporarily falls from grace.

Toyota Motor Company is accused of delaying its response to countless service complaints about “sticky” accelerators. Millions of cars, including the wildly popular Prius, have been recalled in an effort to avoid more accidents, injuries and potential fatalities. To date thirty four deaths in the U.S. have been attributed to the sudden surge in acceleration.

Last week Toyota’s president, Mr. Akio Toyota, testified before U.S. Congress regarding the company’s global recall.  Mr. Toyota repeatedly apologized for the recall of millions of cars, offering to take personal responsibility for what had happened.  As part of his testimony, Mr. Toyota stated that the company lost sight of its priorities, growing too large too fast.  He claimed the company’s original priorities were safety first, quality second and volume third.  However, over the years these priorities became scrambled, resulting in volume toppling safety.

This situation is a reminder that during times of growth organizations should continually review their founding principles and mission.  This can help to ensure that an organization’s current strategy does not lead it down a path it does intend nor desire.   Such an exercise may have helped Toyota keep its priorities in proper order.

Published on the Toyota Worldwide website is a set of  “7 Guiding Principles.” Principle #3 states: Dedicate ourselves to providing clean and safe products and to enhancing the quality of life everywhere through all our activities. Interestingly, none of the principles mention anything to the tune of “sell more cars than anyone else.”  Additionally, Toyota North America’s mission statement reads: To attract and attain customers with high-valued products and services and the most satisfying ownership experience in America. Again, the mission is not about volume—rather it is about value and customer satisfaction.

Abstract. By burning fossil fuels we have put 3.6 trillion tons of Carbon Dioxide, CO2 in the atmosphere in the last 200 years – most in the last 60. This has changed the concentration of atmospheric CO2 from 250 parts per Million, ppm, to 390 ppm, an increase of approximately 35.9%. This increase of atmospheric CO2 is resulting in changing precipitation and rising temperatures, particularly at the poles and farther away from the equator.

The typical modern reductionist approach is to simplify the problem to develop a solution:
“Burning coal, oil, and natural gas puts CO2 into the atmosphere. All we need to do to solve the problem is modify the machines so they burn fossil fuel without releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. How do we do that? We should capture the carbon dioxide, and the arsenic, mercury, other heavy metals, radionucleotides, etc, and store it somewhere.”

But we need to remember that we are burning coal, oil, and natural gas for a reason: to generate heat, hot water, electricity and transportation. There are alternative energy technologies, including nuclear, solar, and wind.

Coal with Carbon Sequestration is estimated to cost $10 to $15 Billion per gigawatt, without considering the costs of mining, processing and transporting the coal, cleaning up after mining, and isolating the arsenicals, mercury, and radionucleotides released from burning coal.  Solar is estimated to cost $6.5 Billion per gigawatt - with no fuel and no wastes. Wind $2 to $3 Billion per gigawatt - with no fuel and no wastes.

We at Popular Logistics think, feel and believe that we need to replace coal with solar and wind immediately.

The incessant chatter about financial industry legislation reveals more talk and less action. Opponents of financial reform stand to lose big bucks if the status quo is changed. Okay, so they have the right to free speech in the USA, but why would anyone of sound mind and independent means bother to listen to that tired old rant? If you are not working for the Big Four Banks that currently control monetary policy in America or any of its subsidiary arms or lobbyists, then logic should compel you to join the public campaign for financial reform.

For the sake of American economic security, the financial system needs to transition from anti-public to pro-public by ceasing to favor private interests over public concerns. What we need is a Ralph Nader of consumer financial products. (I nominate Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of the TARP Oversight Committee and a staunch advocate of the new Consumer Financial Product Agency.) Ms. Warren’s activism aside, establishing an independent agency is vital for the health and welfare of consumer finance.

Back in the zippy American sports car hey day circa 1960s, the hot car of the decade was a jazzy little number called the General Motors Corvair. The car sold in record numbers allowing consumers to live out their American dreams of sexy convertibles and high speed travel. Yet the sports car’s poor safety record was hidden from the public and put unsuspecting drivers at risk. Enter Harvard educated lawyer Ralph Nader. The consumer superhero wrote an expose in 1965 entitled Unsafe at Any Speed detailing flagrant safety issues like unstable driver control, spinouts and rollovers.

Once you understand that a social mission is an incredible asset for your business your first question is usually “Where do I start?” Many of the pieces I write focus on what an entrepreneur or CEO should consider when building a social mission. But if you are an employee looking to implement from within, your first question might be “How do I convince my boss?”

It’s the simplest programs that drive action and results. Three days after Haiti was struck by the January 12 earthquake, Discover Card enacted a simple relief program that raised $3.1 million. Card members could contribute their cash back bonus points to the American Red Cross and Discover would convert this to dollars and match the donation.

Remember Haiti? Okay, good. Just checking. While it’s been hardly 4 weeks since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Port-Au-Prince, destroying over 200,000 lives and an entire capital city, the media cycle has already seemed to move on. It’s back to health care, elections, tea parties, and the economy.

Many people involved in board-matching advise nonprofit board candidates to find the organization that "you are passionate about," and then that's the board for you!

And many people hang around on boards for twenty years or more, because, after all, they are passionate about the organization.

Choosing the right nonprofit board

My recent reading of Dan Pink’s Drive has sparked some interesting thought around the purpose, benefits and unintended consequences of goal setting.  Traditionally in the business world, managers set goals and expect their employees to work toward them.  Typically the purpose of goals is to provide focus for employees and provoke progress.  However, goal setting can have a dark side and lead to stress, irrational thoughts and potentially unethical behavior.

Why I am posting about this?  More and more companies are developing and publically sharing annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports.  Included in these reports are goals such as “we will reduce our packaging by X% by 20xx” or “we will eliminate the use of X product over the next year.”  Upon first glance these goals sound great.  They provide focus and give companies (and often their suppliers) something to work toward.  However, these goals might also hinder progress.  Two thoughts…

Such goals put pressure on executives and managers to deliver promised results to stakeholders.  They want to publish in next year’s CSR report that the company accomplished the stated X% reduction in packaging.  However, this pressure may lead some executives to unethical behavior and greenwashing practices. Executives may get “creative” with the numbers, giving stakeholders the illusion that stated goals were met.  It is easy for companies to become overly focused on short-term progress and ignore the long-term practices that they should be implementing (sound similar to profit reporting traps…).