New England CSR Review

Who says green business is not profitable?

2009-02-25T18:19:00.002Z

MediaPost is reporting that “Reverse Vending Machine” maker TOMRA will be offering advertising opportunities on their automatic recycling machines.

The company says its gives advertisers a unique opportunity to communicate their green message to eco-conscious consumers nearly at the point of the sale.

So while customers are lingering at the bottle recycling machines at the entrance of a grocery store mindlessly inserting bottle after bottle into the machine, they become a captive audience for posters, videos, and coupon offerings – all in the moments directly before they go into the store to shop.

Tomra says studies have shown that consumers who return their empties before shopping generally spend more than 50% more once inside the store.

Green minded consumers are where retailers may want to focus their marketing efforts as recent study (PDF)found that consumers are budgeting for green products even in the midst of the recession.

Stimulus Package is Bricks and Mortar for Green Building Industry

2009-02-22T18:23:00.004Z

The President’s new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act outlines a significant investment plan in renewable energy production, as well as, renovating public buildings to make them more energy efficient.

One of the hardest hit industries recently in the midst of this recession is the construction industry. The new housing market has dried up, money for development projects has disappeared mid-way through a build, which has led to builders hanging on to their jobs by a thread.

However a niche part of the industry, green building is growing. As companies, individuals, and now the government is realizing the economic benefits in an energy efficient building, people are seeking trained professionals for retrofitting buildings.

And the new stimulus package looks to shift the green building niche into the mainstream. It includes $20 billion aimed at green jobs to make wind turbines, solar panels and improve energy efficiency in schools and federal buildings. It also includes $6 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects as well as tax breaks or direct grants covering 30% of wind and solar energy investments. Another $5 billion is marked to help low-income homeowners make energy improvements.

For a closer look at what the package has provisioned for energy efficiency look here.

While some in the know fear the bill may have trouble reaching the designated recipients due to the lack of earmarks , most see this as a positive step towards a green economy.

New Hampshire Business Hopes to Ride the Green Business Wave

2008-12-01T02:27:00.002Z

While studies are popping up everywhere saying that the current economic downturn is the prime opportunity for governments to reinvest in green infrastructure and avoid a severe recession, a new local business on the coast of New Hampshire is not waiting for the green economy to come to them, The Portsmouth Herald reports.

Greenland Bioplastics and Green Option of Greenland, NH offers green products for home or office and are part of a growing number of businesses offering such products in an effort to attract the growing number of eco-shoppers in the region, as well as lowering their own carbon footprint.

Managers of the seacost's most recent green business chose the location as a strategic move in entering into a burgeoning eco-market. "We looked at the demographics of the Seacoast, and found that folks here are very educated and environmentally conscious," says Green Options manager Mark Loomis. "They want these choices and they understand the importance of reducing their environmental impact on all fronts."

Greenland Bioplastics/Green Options, is offering 100% biodegradable and compostable packaging for its industrial customers, but is also offering unique green products for independent consumers. "We know that businesses and manufacturers need this sustainable packaging, but we also wanted to make sure our store was useful for individuals," Loomis said. "That is why we offer many innovative green items that can be found nowhere else — like shoelaces made from recycled bottle caps, pencils and ice scrappers from recycled currency and disposable plates from recycled paper that can be washed again and again."

A recent study about the state's Green economy, by the University of New Hampshire, found there is a promising green business sector in the region."About 3% of jobs in New Hampshire could be qualified as being 'green jobs,' and while this is not largely under the national average, it does show incredible economic potential," the report says"(The state) needs to encourage and stimulate the growth of more sustainable industries."

Green Business Bringing New Jobs to MA

2008-11-25T19:21:00.001Z

Lowell based Konarka Technologies announced recently the opening of the largest flexible thin film solar manufacturing facility in the world.

Located in New Bedford, the 250,000 square foot building was previously the location for Polaroid Corporation’s advanced printing technologies which makes useful equipment and knowledge available to Konarka.

“This facility has state-of-the-art printing capabilities that are ready for full operation, with the future potential to produce over a gigawatt of flexible plastic solar modules per year,” says Howard Berke, executive chairman and co-founder of Konarka.

Not only has the company been able to utilize the equipment, but it has also been able to leverage skilled workers as well. The company has hired the leading technology and process engineering teams from Polaroid, and has plans to hire over 100 additional employees as production increases toward capacity over the next two to three years.

In addition to global and national interest, the project has been assisted by various Massachusetts departments and quasi-public agencies, including the Massachusetts Governor’s Office, the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Renewable Energy Trust Fund and Green Energy Fund.

One Year on...

2008-06-04T15:00:00.001Z

Well almost one year to the day I am back writing about trends I see on Corporate Responsibility. Excuse me for my absence but I've taken this year to move to another country, have a baby, and reflect on CSR in the US as opposed to CSR in the UK.

When I first moved I noticed a huge gap between the commitment of companies in the US and the UK on tackling CSR issues: community relations, energy efficiency, labor practices, etc. The UK takes it very seriously and uses CSR work effectively in attracting customers as well as talent. It is common to see vacancies for CSR Officer or Corporate Responsibility Manager advertised on an job board. Whereas companies in the US had not reached the point of full committment in hiring someone solely dedicated to helping the company do good. The US, as believed by many around the world, was focused money, money, money, and could not see the profit in CSR.

Or so I thought.

True, companies in the UK have followed identifying efforts under the Corporate Social Responsibility umbrella, but this doesn't mean the US is as far behind as one might think. Many companies in the US are just as committed to going green, supporting the communities in which they operate, and encouraging their employees to do so as well. The difference is companies in the US do not identify their efforts as Corporate Social Responsibility. Many companies have corporate giving programs, employee volunteer programs, many even have serious initiatives working to lower their emissions and source ethically. The difference is that these programs are hidden within larger business initiatives. Though unfortunate that these programs are not publicized as CSR, this could be a tactical way of doing good, while avoiding fear from investors that the company is veering away from their main goal of making money. Who knows I'm just speculating.

The point is, is that if you look hard enough you can find US corporate efforts at doing good. It's evident US corporations are recognizing their part in improving our society. Hopefully in the year to come we wont have to look as hard.

The Importance of Measurement in CSR

2007-06-08T15:03:00.000Z

Having met with the Director of Corporate Giving at C&S Wholesale Grocers in Keene, NH last week(http://www.cswg.com/pages/comunty1.htm), I have been thinking a lot about the challenge of measuring the impact a CSR program has on its stakeholders and more importantly, quantitatively marking the value added to the company. How do you convince the board that there is an ROI in community affairs programs, or in factory evaluation processes?

Every CEO wants to make a difference in people’s lives and I’m sure they all would love to donate thousands or millions of dollars to worthy causes, but the buck stops at the name of their game: business. These people are in the business of making money for their investors. Understandably they would be a little hesitant in dishing out a lot of money without being confident that it will have beneficial affects for the company.

Green initiatives and supply chain ethics monitoring processes, though not without their opportunities for debate, seem more straightforward. A company wants to lower their Co2 emissions over the course of five years. The company gets an initial estimate of their current emissions rating, implements green programs and measures emissions annually. But what if your CSR focus is on corporate giving? This could be a very important aspect especially for larger companies with a high community exposure. How do you measure the increase (or decrease) of social capital to your stakeholders?

This question has been bouncing around the CSR world since probably the term CSR began. Many consultants have developed high tech matrices for reporting and accounting for community impact. But with more and more guidelines for measuring and reporting there is a risk that companies will report for reporting sake and then call it a day.

Each company has their own strengths which it can give back to the community. The secret to a strong corporate giving program is to understand those strengths and philanthropically exploit them with all of your stakeholders.

Though difficult to quantify the impact a donation to a local charitable group will have on the community, there are systems that can be put in place to show a planned, thought out program has been put in place, and to show that a company can seriously integrate CSR into their overall business plan.

1.Identify you corporate giving stakeholders. They may be similar to the company’s business stakeholders and will definitely include staff and clients, but this list of stakeholders will also include members of the community where the company operates.
Align corporate giving aims within the company’s mission, and develop a corporate giving mission.

2.Develop a Corporate Giving Strategy which clearly outlines the company’s goals in developing the program. Goals can and should be not only to give back to the community, but also to empower staff to feel as part of a community leader, to increase public awareness of the company’s dedication to the community, etc.

3.Outline areas of focus for the company. No one expects one firm to fix the world. By concentrating on a few areas to which you know the company can contribute, it can make a much stronger impact.

4.Include all internal stakeholders! Staff, Management, Directors, etc. The more people involved the stronger the message will become.

The biggest factor in developing a strong corporate giving program is dedicated leadership. Most firms that are known for their CSR are companies that have CEOs who set out in business to improve social capital. It is embedded in their corporate culture. Though you may not have the ability to change that, by setting out a serious plan for developing a program, you have more of a chance to create change in your company.

You are What you Eat

2007-02-15T11:31:00.000Z

I had a bowl of cereal this morning and I could tell you exactly how much of each nutritional element I consumed - how many calories, grams of sodium, carbohydrates, etc. But ask me what’s gone into the clothes I’m wearing, I’d need to phone a friend on that one.

What is even more frustrating to me is I consider myself a quasi-ethical consumer. I buy fairtrade whenever I can, I have a compost bin in my back yard, I’m looking to invest in a hybrid, and all of my lights are equipped with energy saving bulbs.

New Hampshire based shoe and clothing manufacturer, Timberland, http://www.timberland.com/, must have realised that I am not the only consumer struggling to avoid purchasing items which leave a heavy footprint on the environment and the communities in which the items are produced. The company has stepped up to the CSR plate to be one of the first to provide a nutrition label on every shoebox.

Now when I purchase a pair of Timberland shoes I will know the impact the production had on the environment and the community. I will also know where the shoes were manufactured.

To find out more about Timberland's Nutrition Lable click on the image above.

Admittedly, the environment information is much more quantitative than the community information (reporting that over 119,000 hours of community service were served directly relates to the manufacturing of the shoes seems like a stretch), but it’s a very clever way of getting the information to the consumer.

The nutrition label on clothing could be a great way of empowering consumers to make their own informed choices on purchases, if only a standardized labelling system could be agreed. When used independently, confusion around reporting techniques is inevitable.

It is important to include that this is not by far the crux of Timberland’s CSR program. The company is clearly passionate about inviting all stakeholders to become involved in their communities. With a volunteer ‘classifieds’ section on their website, and helpful guides on how visitors to the website can organise they’re own voluntary event, it’s clearly not about bragging about what employees do, for Timberland.

Timberland have clearly taken they’re role as a community leader seriously, which is obviously why the company continues to be at the top of lists highlighting good employers and also why global sales aren’t slouching either.

Should Managers Be Convinced to Recruit an Ethics Officer?

2006-11-08T15:46:00.000Z

In September the magazine CIO published an article entitled, Three Reasons to Recruit and Ethics Officer, by Joe Malec (02.09.2006 SearchCIO.com). The reader rides along quite nicely through the rolling hills of the article’s over all, predictable, yet common sense advice. That is, until the last paragraph, where the article throws a doozie of a sharp bend, and leads the reader right off the path to tick box –ville, where everyone appears to be doing good all for the sake of ticking a box.

In case one decides to read the article, I feel it is my duty to direct one around the hazard to avoid any future ethics officers being recruited in vain.

As the article describes, ethics officers have quickly increased over the last couple of years, as the number of ethical issues that a company must face has increased. An ethics officer should be the organizer and central link for ensuring that a company follows its policies and procedures as it has set out to do.

However, it is the reference (more than once) to relying on the ethics officer to build the culture of ethics within the company which could steer a reader new to corporate ethics on the wrong path.

In the article, Malec writes, “An ethics officer can establish an ethical corporate climate at an organization and back it with specific polices and guidelines that should strengthen the company.”

This thought scares me as I think of all those managers out there scurrying for the Ethical Jobs website to post vacancies for ethics officers. It is important that any CEO not be under any illusion that the recruitment of an ethics officer will get rid of all their problems.

In 1999 research by Linda Treviño1, found that two factors in an ethics program are most important: (1) that ethics is perceived to be important to leadership - from executive through supervisor (2) that employees believed they are treated fairly.

Fundamentally, an ethics program within a company must be led and owned by its Board and/or Senior Management. Without commitment and drive from the top, no ethics program has a chance to embed or be taken seriously.

So the first piece of advice to managers about to recruit a good ethics officer is to look at themselves first. Look at the values and vision of your organisation. What a good ethics officer can do for your organisation is to formalise and communicate these values to staff, and your internal and external stakeholders.

In the end I wonder why practical advice needs to be given on the reasons for hiring an ethics officer. Surely if an enterprise’s senior management team are committed to an ethical culture, they would not need to read an article convincing them it is the right thing to do in the first place. A manager reading an article about ethics, probably already employs an ethics officer!

1 Linda K. Treviño, “Managing Ethics and Legal Compliance: What Works and What Hurts,” California Management Review 41 (Winter 1999): 131-51 at p. 131.

Socially Responsible Companies Rank High With Job Seekers

2006-08-08T12:18:00.000Z

According to a recent survey by progressive community network Care2, 48 percent of employees say they would work for less pay, if they could work for a socially responsible company.And they would work hard; according to the survey 40 percent of employees would be willing to work longer hours for a job at a socially responsible company.Additional findings included:

· 73 percent of workers said it was "very important" to work for a company they believe is "socially responsible".
· 46 percent report their current company is relatively socially responsible.
· 35 percent report having actually left a company because they believed it was not socially responsible.

Companies most mentioned as "socially responsible" by survey respondents were:

· Ben & Jerry's – VT.
· The Body Shop
· Patagonia
· Seventh Generation- VT.
· Starbucks
· Whole Foods Market
· Working Assets

Over 85 percent of respondents from Massachusetts and California responded that it was "very important" to work for a company they believe is socially responsible. In contrast, 65 percent of New York respondents and 44 percent of Illinois respondents ranked social responsibility as "very important."

For more about Care2 and their job seekers search engine, visit their website here: http://www.care2.com/.

The Fine Art of Building Organisational Volunteer Programs really worth the Investment

2006-08-07T11:52:00.000Z

There are many exercises or practices or patterns of thought which fall under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility. Whether it’s how a company invests, or how it sources or manufactures its products, or how it instils the company’s beliefs in its staff.

One particular practice which seems to be more popular in the US than in the UK is having a volunteer programme to encourage staff to volunteer within their communities by providing paid leave to devote time to volunteer projects.

There are numerous benefits to the organisation, but the process of managing such a program is not as easy as allowing an officer to volunteer.

To have a successful volunteer program which actually reflects the ethos of the organisation, there has to be real commitment, from the top, to staff and the community (ies) in which the company operates. In fact, a volunteer program could be considered one of the most important aspects of a corporation’s CSR portfolio because of the dedication it takes in making it work. It is the best way to highlight the company’s recognition for its impact on surrounding communities and its determination in getting its staff to recognise it as well.

There is an art in finding the balance between building a program which is in line with the company’s business priorities and one which provides the flexibility to attract a variety of staff and projects, but when it’s done right, everyone involved will benefit from the program.

State Street Corporation (SSC), based in Boston, has operated a global volunteer program for five years. In its 2005 CSR report, SSC reported, the program, called Global Outreach, has seen tremendous success in involving staff all over the world and involved nearly 6,500 staff members in 2005. The program is clearly defined and offers opportunities in four broad categories:

* Addressing basic needs, such as building homes for low-income families and sorting food donations at hunger relief organisations
* Sharing professional expertise with charitable organisations, such as market analysis, strategic planning, and building databases to track donor information
* Building relationships, such as mentoring children and assisting the elderly
* Conducting donations and fundraisers, such as back-to school drives for children collecting professional attire for low-income workers.

A unique characteristic of the program is that it not only involves current employees but also alumni of the company can get involved in volunteer projects. This provides not only a fantastic networking opportunity, but also provides a simple link for the transfer of knowledge from retired members of staff to newer employees. Employees are able to engage in informal mentoring sessions while helping others in the community at the same time.
As a large multinational corporation with offices in 24 countries, SSC shows the international impact its volunteers can have on the communities in which it operates. This one company was able to donate 34,400 hours of employee time to helping local charitable groups.

SSC has recognised that by dedicating work to building strong relationships with community leaders and organisations where it works, their company works better. It’s proven that CSR practices are not about looking virtuous in the eyes of their customers, though that isn’t ever a bad thing, but about taking a responsibility in the impact that the company has on others. It sounds so simple, why aren’t others following in the steps of SSC?

To read more about SSC’s CSR programme visit their website here:
www.statestreet.com

To read more about steps in setting up a corporate volunteer program, visit the Points of Light Foundation at: http://www.pointsoflight.org/about/

2006-07-14T15:09:00.000Z

A Year On: Poverty is Not History

Last summer a global campaign took over the airwaves, and the web with one focus in mind: to change the world’s 8 top governmental leaders’ minds on global poverty eradication.

The Make Poverty History campaign which exploded all over the world, uniquely did not ask for donations to help the world’s poor, but provoked everyone to learn about the issues around Trade, Debt, and Aid and to demand change from the G8 leaders at Gleneagles. 31 million people from 84 national coalitions around the world united in the Global Call to Action against Poverty.

On the 2nd July, The Observer, in association with the UK Department for International Development, published an eight page special report on what the G8 have achieved. The paper interviewed seven people on the front line of the battle with poverty: from activists, to policy makers, to business owners.

Kurt Hoffman, the Director of Shell Foundation, made a compelling argument for multinational organisations to recognise their role in this battle, and more importantly for the public sector to recognise the private sector’s role. His transcript is below.

One Year On…

Kurt Hoffman
Director, Shell Foundation

The build-up to this week's Live8 and Gleneagles G8 summit anniversaries has seen the Geldofs and Oxfams of this world pressing political leaders to deliver on their barely realised 2005 pledges on aid, debt and trade reform. That's good. But the difficulty is that these campaigners and the G8 leaders have a common problem: all the aid and debt relief in the world won't drag Africa out of poverty. The only proven route to this goal is delivering sustainable economic growth. And that means the private sector - behaving responsibly and soundly regulated - has to play a lead role: from multinationals to Africa's millions of budding potential entrepreneurs.
On the face of it, this is widely accepted. Likewise, it is accepted that African countries need to average 7 per cent economic growth if they are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Yet, bizarrely, the private sector has barely got a mention. Instead, the same old 'aid, debt, trade' record continues to go around. It is time to change. The good news is that the past year has seen a growing acknowledgement among the aid community that the private sector is a huge part of the solution.

The importance of the private sector was echoed by African leaders at last month's World Economic Forum meeting in South Africa, titled Going for Growth. At that meeting, a number of pro-growth and pro-private sector initiatives were launched, including the Investment Climate Facility - a $100m public-private partnership to enhance the business environment in Africa.

This illustrates that the aid community is not only 'talking the talk' - it is beginning to 'walk the talk' too. The challenge for it now is to fully grasp the implications of this ideological nettle and place the private sector at the very heart of the war on poverty.

To read this article in its entirety visit: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/dfid/poverty

Staples' got Soul with its 2005 CR Report

2006-06-28T12:54:00.000Z

In April, the Massachusetts based, office supply firm, Staples, released its second Corporate Responsibility report entitled, Staples Soul. Miles ahead from the 2004 report which was just a page in the Annual Report, the company is clearly putting money and effort into their CR programme.

With numerous environmental and social accolades, Staples is developing an ambitious strategy for improving social and environmental performance, and the report is an honest, robust summary of progress and actions for the future.

Staples CR programme is divided into four themes: Ethics, Environment, Community, and Diversity which comprise of internal as well as external areas of work including corporate governance, internal recycling, to global supplier responsibility, and community education.

The company has introduced a rigorous new social accountability auditing system which is being systematically rolled out to all factories in Southeast Asia and India. Staples’ CR report identifies performance matrices from results of these audits comparing 2004 results with 2005. The report clearly shows where an incline and decline in performance has happened and shares lessons learned regarding these indicators based on consultation with various regional stakeholders and independent auditors.

On the environmental front, the company does not beat around the bush that its business is paper along with other environmentally unfriendly products and services. But it does go on to show how it is doing its part in reducing its environmental footprint in operations and retail.

Staples’ Environmental Paper Procurement Policy has established three major goals which it is measuring its performance. In addition the company is seeking improvement in it energy efficiency, an important area for the company to focus on as energy use increased 17% over the previous year due to growth.

The report highlights that the company is beginning to look at renewable energy, and does not forget to mention its prominent place in the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership, however it avoids providing any performance matrices on the procurement/use of renewable energy. This seems quite a shame as improvement in the use of renewable energy would seem to be an area in which the company could excel.

The report could be better at showing consistency among all the areas of performance measurement. Indicators in the Ethics section look completely different than areas of performance measured in the Environmental section. This does not allow the reader to get a comprehensive picture of the company’s overall year-on-year performance trends in its CR programme.

On the whole this should be classified as Staples first CR report. It is a tremendous move from the 2004 report. It follows the 2002 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, but the company admits, cannot fully comply with the GRI guidelines as it does not have adequate information or mechanisms in place to report. However the report does cross reference indicators in the report with those in the GRI guidelines making it easy to see where the company is following the guidelines.

Staples has taken the first step at identifying priorities and declaring what the company is going to do to meet those priorities. Hopefully in its 2006 report, Staples will report back clearly and consistently on the company’s performance towards meeting the priorities set out in this year’s report. Only then will readers see robust information on how the company is moving its CR agenda forward.

Over 10% of Business Ethics Magazine’s 100 best corporate citizens are from New England

2006-06-08T15:11:00.000Z

13 of the 100 companies that are the crème de la crème in corporate citizenship, according to Business Ethics Magazine, are from New England. An outstanding result which shows more and more organisations in the region are beefing up their CSR practices and taking corporate citizenship more seriously.

Every year, Business Ethics Magazine compiles a list of 100 companies which are assessed according to their services to various stakeholders and rated under a variety of themes including Community, Corporate Governance, Diversity, Employee Relations, Environment, Human Rights, Product, and Total Return.

The list -- now in its seventh year -- puts a numerical rating on service to these various stakeholders. It uses data from SocratesTM, the online social research database created by KLD Research & Analytics in Boston, an independent research firm serving investment professionals.

New England Highlights

Topping the entire list is Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in Vermont. The company’s continuous efforts towards CSR improvement have earned itself a spot in the top 10 of the list for four years running. In its summary of the list the magazine stated, ‘Its meticulous attention to corporate social responsibility conveys well what the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list is about. Companies that aim to prosper over the long term also emphasize good jobs for employees, environmental sustainability, healthy community relations, and great products for customers.’

Other notable mentions come from The Timberland Company (#6) and Pitney Bowes (#15) which have been on the list all seven years.

The list of New England Companies features is below. For more information about the list or to view all the companies visit Business Ethics Magazine’s website, www.business-ethics.com.

1. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., Vermont
6. The Timberland Company, New Hampshire
15. Pitney Bowes, Inc., Connecticut
18. Wainwright Bank & Trust Company, Massachusetts
26. Chittenden Corporation, Vermont
50. United Natural Foods Company, Connecticutt
51. State Street Corporation, Massachusetts
52. Student Loan Corporation, Connecticut
74. Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Inc., Massachusetts
80. Akami Technologies, Massachusetts
88. American Tower Corporation, Massachusetts
89. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Connecticut
99. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., Maine

Dunkin' Donuts and the Basic Pilot Program

2006-05-30T15:19:00.000Z

Massachusetts based Dunkin’ Brands, Inc. which owns the Dunkin’ Donuts chain, has begun notifying its customers of their involvement in the Basic Pilot Program by inviting franchisees to hang signs in their stores stating, “We follow the law! This company hires lawful workers only.”

The program, allows employers to verify a worker’s status using online databases from the Social Security Administration and the Dept. of Homeland Security.

In an article featured on Boston.com on 30th May, reporter Lisa Kocian highlights the features of the program and reasons why the local donut chain has volunteered to join it.
According to the USCIC website, The Basic Pilot removes guesswork from document review and protects jobs for authorized United States workers.
First of all, if a discrepancy between the documentation the employee has and the information the database has, is found, then the employer is required to fire the employee but not report them to Immigration Services. Surely this does not fix the problem of illegal immigration, does it? What then happens to all of those people who have no money and cannot work? I can tell you now they probably won’t go home if that’s what the government wants. They will need support to live; they will seek it from support agencies funded by taxpayers’ money.

Secondly, as a voluntary scheme, how does pilot program “protect jobs for authorized US workers”? A worker could just search for an employer who does not participate in the scheme or do what the majority of illegal immigrants do already and work in agricultural or other labour intensive jobs where payment is often not recorded anyway.

According to the article on Boston.com, Dunkin' joins program to verify if workers are legal, Dunkin’ Brands states that the reasoning behind starting this initiative, to begin on 1st June, is because it sometime receives complaints from customers about concern over their employees being in the United States illegally.

To me there seems to be something fundamentally wrong with this whole scheme and with Dunkin’ Donuts advertising its employees working statuses to appease racist judgements.

These petty quick-fix projects are launched to settle the nerves of right-wing America, when really all they do is make the problem worse. Why not instead take a realistic look at Immigration, the issues surrounding it, and find long term solutions to recognising the benefits of a diverse workforce and how to encourage this?

New England Companies leading on CSR

2006-04-27T17:05:00.000Z

As promised in the last entry, I would like to share some of the responses I've received from New England companies that are members of UN Global Compact.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters - Think Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and ethical best practice immediately comes to mind. With their extensive philanthropic work through the GMCR foundation, their commitment to fair trade coffee, and a certified organic production plant, the company has a greener than though façade. Their commitment is anchored at the top with the work of their Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, Michael Dupee. As a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a global voluntary network of socially responsible businesses, there is no ethical frontier this company has not ventured, bar one: The CSR Report.

Mr. Dupee contacted me last week to share the following news:

"We are a member of the UNGC and fully support it. We have not yet produced a public report, though we have been working on one for four years. We will publish this year and we will use much of that content to drive the web site update as well. We are using the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines in putting together our CSR Report."

I will be talking further with Mr. Dupee next week on the process of reporting. As a first time CSR reporter, the GMCR experience can provide helpful advice for other perspective reporters.

Lucita- A communications company in CT. also responded with information about their involvement in the Global Compact.
"We published one COP thus far, and are now preparing an update."

I will speaking with this organisation as well about a local company’s involvement in the Global Compact. Stay tuned for further information!

UN Global Compact Members in New England

2006-04-22T09:13:00.000Z

The UN Global Compact (UNGC) this week announced further developments to its governance framework with the introduction of the new Global Compact Board.

The Board is made up of 20 business, labour and civil society leaders from around the world who were appointed by the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

Operating under the auspices of the Secretary-General, the Board will help ensure the Global Compact’s continuity and facilitate its further growth. It will provide strategic advice for the initiative as a whole and make related recommendations to the UN Global Compact Office, participants and other stakeholders.

Initiated in 2000, the Global Compact seeks to promote responsible corporate citizenship so that business can be part of the solution to the challenges of globalisation.

With more than 2,500 participating companies in over 90 countries, it is the largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative in the world. Here in New England there are four companies signed up to the Global Compact.

Global Compact Members Based in New England

· Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Waterbury Vermont
· JMW Consultants Inc., Stamford, Connecticut
· Lionbridge Technologies, Waltham Massachusetts
· Lucitá, Milford, Connecticut

The information on each of the companies’ websites about their involvement in the Global Compact varies considerably. Some mention it; others have no information about the membership at all. But one thing that is constant is that not one of these companies produces an annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) report (or anything similar), however, this is not to say that the companies are not active in sustainability or CSR measures.

For example, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters dedicates full sections of their website to the work they do supporting local schools and community groups, and globally ensuring producers get a fair wage for their coffee. The company has invested in Fairtrade coffees and has shown real commitment to ethical sourcing and CSR with the employment of a Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility at the Executive level.

In addition Lucitá and Lionbridge Technologies show real commitment to diversity from their websites, though it was difficult to see this commitment as neither site published company policies on diversity or employment issues.

Overall, the company’s websites showed disappointing results in leading the way in structured CSR success considering they’re membership to the Global Compact. These companies have been contacted for comment, and any responses received will be published in future updates on the New England CSR Review.

However, even more disappointing is the influence and leadership of the Global Compact itself. As is, any CSR initiative a company takes is purely voluntary, but for the measuring of standards, or initiatives to have any weight in being taken seriously they’re must be minimum standards to apply. From the websites of the New England members of Global Compact, this did not seem to be evident at all. Can anyone be a member of the United Nations Global Compact?