By Kate McClaskey

A recent study conducted by Vikas Mittal of Rice University [PDF] found that Americans now more than ever, expect corporations to not only be profitable, but sustainable and socially responsible. But even with high expectations, CSR can get caught in the PR net, becoming labeled as nothing more than a stunt. The British research firm Business Planning & Research International recently found that 44 percent of the British public and 67 percent of members of Parliament find CSR to be more about creating a good image than corporate responsibility. This is still a troubling pattern for CSR.

A recent example of what some are calling a CSR publicity stunt comes from the restaurant chain Hooters, who announced last month that they are collecting torn Hooters girl’s pantyhose from all over the country and donating them to be used in boons in an effort to help absorb the oil spilt in the Gulf of Mexico. The effort, called Project Pantyhose, could ultimately absorb 1 million gallons of oil.

This and other such corporate endeavors have made the CSR effort even more confusing. In a 2007 article in the Journal of Communication Management, it was found that CSR initiatives are not really taken seriously by a lot of the media. That CSR is criticized as being a PR stunt is unsurprising, bearing in mind that many CSR workers in companies sit in the communications and PR departments.

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By Melissa J. Anderson

Have you heard about the behavioral economic idea of the “nudge”?

Popularized by economists Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, a nudge is basically an arrangement that points people in a certain direction when they are given a choice. For example, in Thaler and Sunstein’s book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, the two authors explain how putting fresh fruit, rather than desserts, closer to eye level in a cafeteria serving line influences students to make healthier lunch choices. The placement of the fruit doesn’t take the choice of dessert away – it just “nudges” students toward the healthier decision.

A new report by Ecoalign, an energy and environment marketing agency, details how businesses can employ nudges to help consumers improve energy conservation. The report, prepared by Dean Karlan, Professor of Economics at Yale University, explains that nudges do not change behavior. They serve as helpful reminders for an individual, of what he or she, in theory, wants to do – making it easier to overcome a short-term moment of weakness or laziness in the face of a long-term decision, for example, to eat better or recycle more.

Here are four ways that you can use nudges to help make your office more environmentally sustainable.

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By Kate McClaskey

In a time when companies are rebuilding their business models to include a more diverse workforce, financial corporations are paying attention. Black Enterprise magazine recently released its list of the best companies for diversity, a list which consists of companies that the magazine believes have achieved a high level of inclusion of minority individuals – including race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. The Best Companies for Diversity list was made through surveys of the top 1,000 publicly traded companies, focusing on technology, sales, marketing, and human resources. Below is a roundup of BE’s five top financial companies in diversity.

Northern Trust

Named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers and one of the top 50 Companies for Executive Women, the Chicago based financial company boasts not only an annual Chairman’s Diversity Advocate Award Program which recognizes employees who make contributions to diversity efforts, but Diversity of Work training to encourage work groups to value their people and their contributions.

Director of Global Diversity and Inclusion Mark David Welch promises progressiveness and training with the support of diversity councils. “Northern Trust has long recognized the invaluable role of diversity, and this recognition is a testament to our belief that fostering a globally diverse and inclusive workforce is fundamental to our success as a business enterprise and community advocate.”

The company also gives priority to programs in diverse neighborhoods while offering a broad variety of business groups including Women in Leadership, the TNTPride (LGBT) Community, and the Black Business Resource Council. All combined, this makes Northern Trust an inclusive culture that enables the company to hire and retain a diverse workforce – which Welch says leads to better ideas and innovations and brings out the best in our employees.

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By Melissa J. Anderson

A report recently released [PDF] by Best Buy’s explains how the company approaches sustainability – from three standpoints: people, technology, and power. The company combines employee engagement and sound environmental practices under the sustainability umbrella – explaining that they are what make the company grow sustainably.

In a bnet article, Carol Tice explains, When Best Buy talks sustainability, it’s not just talking environmental impact — it’s talking about designing the culture of Best Buy so that the company thrives, from worker treatment to supplier and factory relationships.

Of course, Best Buy recognizes that there are challenges ahead – there are always improvements to make. In fact, in many ways, the numbers listed in the report are not stellar – for example only a 75% retention rate or an 82.8 customer satisfaction score (although both of these numbers have risen over the past year). Brian Dunn, Chief Executive Officer, writes, in the report:

“For me, unleashing the power of our people captures the core idea that has always driven Best Buy, and, in my opinion, every great human organization: that a group of ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things when they work together. In fact, it’s the only way anything extraordinary ever happens.”

At the same time the company is working to energize its employees and improve working conditions across the chain, Dunn says that the company is also cognizant that technology and energy use go hand in hand. Best buy is working hard to increase recycling efforts and build more energy efficient stores.

It’s a looming task, but, Dunn says:

“optimism isn’t just my genetic set-point; it comes from my objective observation that once people understand a set of challenges, they are capable of creating solutions that eventually surpass anything we can imagine.”

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By Kate McClaskey

What’s new in CSR? Here’s what we have been reading this weekend.

What does Malta and theology have in common?
Justmeans examines the new program being offered in Malta that offers a master’s in CSR. The brainchild of the Reverend Professor Emmanuel Agius, dean of the Faculty of Theology, and Saviour Gauci, dean of the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy, at the University of Malta, the Master’s degree in Business Ethics will offer CSR executives and other professionals the opportunity to debate the responsibility of business on society.

Smithfield Foods releases its ninth annual CSR Report and commits to reducing energy, and water use, and solid waste 10 percent by 2016
Environmental Leader discusses Smithfield Foods, http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/ who has committed to meet several new environmental goals. In 2009, Smithfield Foods has reduced greenhouse gas emissions at its plants by four percent since 2007. The company also cut its processing emissions per 100 pounds of production by 62 percent compared to 2007 and its first-processing emissions per animal by 41 percent. These improvements have helped decrease company costs by an estimated $100 million over that time period. This is just another example of the win-win outcomes CSR creates for companies.

A Louis Vuitton Bag With A Side Of CSR
Hana Alberts of Forbes.com looks at a new study, which finds that corporate social responsibility matters – especially if you want to sell luxury brands in China. The most surprising result? There is a strong correlation between a company’s social responsibility policy and the consumer’s desire to buy their products. When asked “Does the social responsibility of a luxury brand affect your purchasing decision of its products,” 68% of respondents said it did, while only 10% said it didn’t. The authors were caught off guard by the strength of the result, according to Ruder Finn Asia Chairman Jean-Michel Dumont, who has helped develop communication strategy for brands such as Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Cartier.

SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Grant More Than $1 Million to Help Protect Animals in Need
Animals and endangered species around the world will benefit from the new initiatives by SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund. This includes preserving the Florida Keys, safe guarding sea turtle nesting sites, sand tiger shark conservation, and conserving the West African Manatee.

By Andrea Newell (Grand Rapids, MI)

Currently women make up about half the U.S. workforce, so more than ever before, retaining women in the workplace is an important issue. Many businesses offer work/life balance, flex time, and other family-friendly incentives to attract, inspire and keep female employees, but a recent survey shows another surprising way to make women happy: do good, and tell the world about it.

A survey conducted by the Simmons School of Management and Hewlett-Packard during the 2009 Simmons School of Leadership Conference reported that female employees who thought their employers were ethical and supported socially responsible initiatives were happier with their jobs, thought less about quitting, and were more likely to champion their company in social settings. However, the findings also showed that since many women were unaware of their company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, employers were missing out on this unexpected benefit.

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By Kate McClaskey

We’ve all heard about the wave of more environmentally friendly automobiles that have been built in the past few years. Hybrids, electric cars, cars that run on bio diesel and ethanol, cars that run on hydrogen, the list goes on. Auto manufacturers across the globe have begun designing these in response to the exploding worldwide concern for the environment. But beyond creating products that are green, car companies are manufacturing them in green ways too, even in this tough economic time.

According to a study conducted by Gartner Research [PDF] in 2009, “sustainability will be a strategic theme beyond the recession.” Automobile companies are proof of this. Even as the recession crippled markets and companies alike, consumers began to demand better and more eco friendly cars. So the automobile companies stepped up to the plate and started investing even more money into making them. This means that they will “increasingly be justified to meet stakeholder expectations, to build trust and compliance, and to manage risk related to the business’s reputation” when it comes to sustainable cars.

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By Melissa J. Anderson

“It’s very easy to be patronizing about emerging market women because we tend to see them as victims. It’s shifting one’s view,” said Sylvia Ann Hewlett, professor at Columbia University and founding President of the Center for Work-Life Policy, on Forbes Women.

CWLP has recently published its report on professional women in emerging markets – entitled The Battle for Female Talent in Emerging Markets – exploring how multinational companies can better cater to “highly ambitious women” in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the United Arab Emirates.

Presenting the data at a recent event at the Asia Society in New York City, Hewlett explained, first of all, that we shouldn’t consider “women in emerging markets” as a homogeneous social group. The women in each of the countries studied were part of distinct cultures, and as a result, had different pulls and pushes, different desires, and lived in different contexts.

Even still, the study revealed some constants – and provides some good advice for how global companies can attract and retain professional women in emerging markets.

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By Kate McClaskey

What’s new in CSR? Here’s what we have been reading this weekend.

BP’s still not on the ball…

Chrystia Freeland from the Washington Post speculates who’s to blame for the oil spill. She says it has taught us that the heart of the relationship between business and society doesn’t lie with the charitable deeds that companies do in their off-hours, but whether they are doing their day jobs in ways that help — or hurt — the rest of us. While BP was winning plaudits for being the first oil company to accept global warming as a scientific fact, the old-school Texas oilmen at ExxonMobil were unfashionably unapologetic about their core mission: to produce oil. Chastened by the Exxon Valdez disaster, however, they also became religious about safety standards. With hindsight, that attention to safety turns out to have had much greater social value than any number of creative CSR drives.

India creates voluntary CSR guidelines

JustMeans writes how for the first time in its history, the government of India, through its Ministry of Corporate Affairs, issued a set of voluntary CSR guidelines. Their intent is to add company value, focus on long-term sustainability contributions and provide benefit to stakeholders and society.

Will colleges soon start teaching CSR in school?

Aman Singh of Forbes.com questions how job seekers and business school graduates view the rising awareness of concepts like triple bottom line, corporate responsibility, and ethical management. Turning to four MBA candidates for some answers whether recent Wall Street shortcomings were redefining MBA curriculum at their schools. Each of the candidates agreed that a complete embedding of corporate responsibility within company cultures across America would require a coordinated push from employees and job seekers as well as students.

The truth about CSR compensation

Leon Kaye writes that more professionals have become interested and passionate about sustainability, judging by the growth in related academic programs and, anecdotally, the surge in networking and other professional events that have a corporate social responsibility theme.  Idealism and the genuine desire to accomplish good, however, may conflict with the reality of paying the mortgage or rent check.

Walmart’s green strategy raises some questions

Bob Lurie explores Wal-Mart’s vow made earlier this year to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gases from its supply chain over the next five years. he says it turns out the promise may be more of a form regulatory vigilantism.