Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal published a story by Aneel Karnani, Professor of Strategy at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M Ross School of Business with a controversial headline: The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility. He manages to pull in some corporate governance arguments: “The movement for corporate social responsibility is in direct opposition, in such [...]
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Revisiting Toyota, Ethics and Compliance
After many people slapped Toyota with the unethical label over its unintended acceleration problem, it appears that Toyota may be vindicated. The Wall Street Journal is reporting some early results form the U.S. Department of Transportation’s analysis of data recorders. They found that throttles were wide open and brakes not engaged on Toyotas involved in [...]
Toyota, Ethics and Compliance
With Toyota’s problems all over the news, I started to think about whether compliance and ethics professionals could learn anything from these problems. To begin, I don’t think there is a systemic problem with their vehicles or with the company. I think the sudden acceleration problem is bunk. Yes, I own a Toyota, but my [...]
SEC Guidance Regarding Disclosure Related to Climate Change
Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to provide public companies with interpretive guidance on existing disclosure requirements as they apply to business or legal developments relating to the issue of climate change. The SEC has now released the text of the guidance: Guidance Regarding Disclosure Related to Climate Change Those who are fired [...]
The SEC and Climate Change
Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to provide public companies with interpretive guidance on existing disclosure requirements as they apply to business or legal developments relating to the issue of climate change. Chairman Mary Schapiro pointed out in her speech that the SEC is not commenting or opining on the issue of climate [...]
Corporate Responsibility Weathering the Economic Storm
The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship released their findings in the 2009 State of Corporate Citizenship in the United States. Despite the upheaval in the economy, a majority of U.S. companies are not making major changes in their corporate citizenship practices. Of those who made changes: 38% reduced philanthropy/giving, 27% increased layoffs, and 19% [...]
Green Initiatives and Compliance Risks
Organizations or all types and sizes are adopting policies to provide standards for environmental responsibility and sustainability initiatives. But adopting green policies may impose risks on your organization if the policies are not properly followed. Perkins Coie published a piece on these risks and issues: Green Policies – Understanding and Addressing Compliance Risks. False Advertising. [...]
Sustainability, Ethics and Business Performance
Ted Nunez, Ph.D. Director, Ethics & Corporate Compliance at Kaplan EduNeering gave the presentation on this webinar. Compliance already has a lot on its plate, does sustainability also belong there? These are my notes: To start, what is corporate social responsibility? It depends on who’s asking. Different companies have different views and different needs. It’s [...]
Earth Day
Today is the 39th celebration of Earth Day, celebrated in the U.S. each April 22 since 1970. Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin called for an environmental teach-in, or Earth Day, to be held on April 22, 1970. In that same year, the Environmental Protection Agency was formed to consolidate federal research, monitoring, and enforcement. About [...]
Does It Pay To Be Good?
Compliance is not just about complying with legal requirements. After all, legal requirements are just a minimum standard of behavior. Your company can (and probably should) operate at a higher level. Sustainability and ethically produced products are are areas that some companies are spending extra resources. At some point you run into a business ethics [...]
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