CSR at Harvard's top 50 successful domestic companies?
There is an article in this month's Harvard Business Review called "How local companies keep multinationals at bay". It lists "fifty homegrown champions", i.e. 50 successful domestic companies in 10 emerging economies (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Slovakia & Thailand).
My QUESTION is: do we know anything about the CSR/sustainability track-records of these companies? Or is CSR purely a Western multinational phenomenon? (I don't believe it is). I'd be fascinated to hear from anyone - especially those living in the developing countries profiled - who know these companies and can comment. Are they responsible? Are they sustainable?
Here is the list:
BRAZIL - B2W | Casas Bahia | Cosan | Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes | Grupo Positivo | O Boticario | Totvs | TV Globo | Votorantim Financas | CHINA - Baidu | China Merchants Bank | China Vanke | Ctrip | Focus Media | Goldwind Science and Technology | Gome Electrical Appliances | Goodbaby | New Oriental Education & Technology | Shanda | SIM Technology Group | Tencent | WuXi PharmaTech | ZinAo Group | Xinyi Glass | INDIA - Apollo Hospitals | Bharti Airtel | CavinKare | Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation | ICICI Bank | The Indian Hostels Company | ITC | NIIT | SKS Microfinance | Subhiksha | Titan Industries | INDONESIA - Astra International | MALAYSIA - Air Asia | MEXICO - Controladora Milano | Corporacion Interamericana de Entretenimiento | Desarrolladora Homex | Farmacia Guadalajara | Grupo Elektra | Sigma Alimentos | POLAND - Atlas Group | Maspex Wadowice | RUSSIA - Euroset | MegaFon | Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods | SLOVAKIA - SkyEurope Airlines | THAILAND - Siam Cement Group.
Perhaps we can start to build up a CSR/sustainability profile of these multinationals of tomorrow?
POSTED BY WayneVisser.com AT 3/15/2008 8:34 AM
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Most Admired Companies, But Are They Responsible?
This week, Fortune Magazine released their list of the world's most admired companies. It got me to thinking. Does social and environmental responsibility get factored into our judgement of companies, or are other things (like good product design and efficient service) simply more important?
Let's have a look TOP PERFORMERS on the list:
1. Apple - no outstanding CSR/sustainability track record, or am I wrong?
2. General Electric - launched Eco-Imagination a few years back.
3. Toyota - Leader in fuel efficient, low emission cars like the Prius.
4. Berkshire Hathaway - Not really on the radar screen for me.
5. Procter & Gamble - leaders in innovation, but what kind?
Fortune does have a COMMUNITY/ENVIRONMENT category. The best are:
1. United Parcel Service - I don't know enough to comment.
2. Anheuser-Busch - Ditto.
3. General Electric - Fair enough.
But are these really better than our other CSR/sustainability "hero" companies?
A look at the INDUSTRY SECTOR "winners" is even more worrying:
1. For Petroleum Refining, Exxon Mobil tops the list (as they do for Financial Soundness and Use of Assets, coming 2nd for Long-Term Investment). Well, we all know their reputation, built on the Exxon Valdez spill and their legacy of climate change denial and lobbying against the Kyoto Protocol.
2. In Mining, Crude Oil Production, Occidental Petroleum is first. So where are the multinationals with more of a CSR/sustainability profile, like BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto? They come in 3rd and 6th.
So what does this say about the importance of CSR/sustainability in the way we view companies? Clearly, it's a mixed bag. To me, these rankings show that "responsible" and "sustainable" companies can be among the most admired, but somewhat depressingly, so can the most irresponsible and unsustainable companies.
What do you think?
POSTED BY WayneVisser.com AT 3/15/2008 8:02 AM
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The Universe Explained
Last week, I was watching a programme on Stephen Hawking called "Master of the Universe", as well as some YouTube videos by him called "Origins of the Universe". Apart from being inspired by his brilliance and tenacity (he types at something like 3 words a minute), it got me reflecting on the current state of thinking about "unified theories" of the universe.
I wrote a slightly tongue-in-cheek poem called "The Universe Explained", which starts:
According to scientists
The world's made of string
That buzzes and fuzzes
Or some such strange thing
The full poem is posted on my website at: www.waynevisser.com/poem_the_universe_explained.htm. Although the poem is a bit of fun (especially the twist in the last stanza), those who know a little about the latest scientific unified theories may spot that it is not as much nonsense as at first it appears to be.
POSTED BY WayneVisser.com AT 3/14/2008 1:59 PM
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CSR International
I set up a new CSR Yahoo group today, which has an explicitly international focus. Postings are moderated to cut out spam, duplication and non-relevant content.
NAME: Yahoo Group: CSR International
DESCRIPTION: Dedicated to promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) around the world. This is a forum for the exchange of CSR ideas and information including: best practices, case studies, conference announcements, courses, research findings, public reports, corporate reports and job advertisements. Postings are moderated to ensure relevance - both in terms of CSR content and international focus and relevance. No spam or commercial advertising is tolerated.
EMAILS:
Subscribe: csr-international-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Post message: csr-international@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: csr-international-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: csr-international-owner@yahoogroups.com
Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/csr-international
POSTED BY WayneVisser.com AT 3/05/2008 5:20 PM
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I Weep For Africa
Anyone who knows me will know that I am a great advocate for Africa. It is where I was born and where I've lived most of my life. I love the land and I love its people. As a result, most of my writing on Africa is in the spirit of appreciation and optimism. However, I cannot deny that sometimes Africa breaks my heart. Sometimes its pain and suffering overwhelms me - whether it is the genocide of Rwanda or the war in Darfur, the devastation of Aids in South Africa or the scourge of corruption in Nigeria, the disaster of dictatorship in Zimbabwe or the resource curse in the DRC. As my latest poem says, I Weep for Africa:
I weep for the invisible:
For all those who still live in darkness
Because the light of the world's media is dim
And poverty's face does not sell
The full poem is posted on my website at:
www.waynevisser.com/i_weep_for_africa.htm
POSTED BY WayneVisser.com AT 2/21/2008 4:30 AM
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MY PROFILE
Name: WayneVisser.com
Location: UK
This is not so much a diary as (in the spirit of blogging) where I share random thoughts as and when I think I have something vaguely interesting to say.
This is also the place where I will flag what's new on my website - www.waynevisser.com - especially new writing, poems and art, as they are loaded.
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CSR at Harvard's top 50 successful domestic companies?
Most Admired Companies, But Are They Responsible?
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