Friday, September 17, 2010, the Paley Center for Media hosted “The Role of CSR in Business Today – a Spirited Discussion,” in conjunction with CSRWire and Fenton, a public interest communications firm.

The event was produced by Susan McPherson, Senior Vice President, Fenton, and moderated by Christina Arena, author, blogger and Founding CEO of “sparkUp.”

Arena and Fenton conceived the idea to produce this broadcast in response to an editorial by Dr. Aneel Karnani’s essay which appeared August 23, 2010 in the Wall Street Journal, “The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility.”

I described my view of the impact of this post in my editorial on Vault.com where I reported, “The post was positioned with a question: Can companies do well by doing good? By the end of the week, there were 252 responses and several dozen blog responses that left me spinning from information overload.”

While I chose not to debate point counterpoint Dr. Karnani’s editorial, I saw this article had pushed the boundaries of how people think about CSR to a degree I had not observed before.

This broadcast brought to its audience a clarification of what is implied by CSR and how the CSR agenda has expanded since it inception to respond to the growing complexity that has emerged at the intersection of business’ relationship with citizens and government. To simplify or narrow any CSR discussion today negates the opportunity for any person in any sector to understand how market and material decisions can potentially cause harm to the environment, health and economy.

The entire 1 ½ hour broadcast will be available in archive for the next 90 days. In addition to McPherson, Arena and Karnani, the stellar line up of panelists included

Matthew Bishop, U.S. Business Editor and New York Bureau Chief,
The Economist
Bob Corcoran, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship, President & Chairman, GE Foundation
Aron Cramer, President and CEO, BSR
Chrystia Freeland, Global Editor-at-Large, ThomsonReuters
Georg Kell, Executive Director, UN Global Compact
Dave Stangis, Vice President, CSR and Sustainability, Campbell Soup Company

All the panelists contributed to clarifying a perspective of CSR as it cuts across issues of business, society, emerging new markets, and the intersection of CSR with government and non governmental organizations.

My own experience of this discussion led me to expand my own thinking:

1. On how narrow and generalized focused discussions arguing the value of CSR can create more confusion than good?

2. Today’s CSR success can be attributed to companies e.g. Campbell’s Soup and General Electric that have integrated principles of corporate citizenship and social responsibility into strategy that directs responsive actions.

3. The founding of the UN Global Compact has accelerated through a chain of learning by business regarding the impact of their core business strategies, participation in emerging markets, branding to accelerate the authoring of regulation or to address corruption influenced by 70 countries for which there is no regulatory framework to address corruption.

4. A corporation like General Electric can find value in providing resources to author new global legislation, e.g. The Transparency International Index that is beneficial to their core business strategy.

5. The words Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have influenced a state of confusion with a chaotic response. This provokes the question as to whether or not this chaotic response accelerated the work needed to integrate platforms of corporate citizenship and sustainable practices into 7700 companies that now comprise the UN Global Compact or slow it down.

6. CSR is demanding a reshaping of perspective of the long-term for investing that is challenging the short-term view fueling the crisis in today’s financial markets.

7. Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, spoke to how CSR has implied examination of practices relative to marketing, branding and building of new emerging markets, which do not address the more complex issues of material use. Examination of material use is a manufacturing agenda that is complex and impacts some of today’s most challenging societal issues as it relates to production of materials and the resources used that are now pushing a clean tech and chemical agenda that is exceptionally complex.

This final issue in my mind speaks to the courage and tenacity held by Hazel Henderson, founder of EthicalMarket.com, for her years of advocacy and pragmatic work to promote and identify new emerging markets for clean tech and the application of new economic principles that extend beyond how the GDP is currently calculated to address societal need to address poverty, health, the acceleration of global warming. And just as important to embed a practice of transparency that calls oversights by companies not exercising precaution where the recent BP Oil Spill and Pacific Electric and Gas safety oversights cost lives, human health and destroyed local economies.

Lavinia Weissman is a respected CSR & Sustainability Journalist and Practitioner. Her work passion for Sustainability emerged from her work experience in investments, health care and organizational behavior. Her past career included following trends in investments, health care, downsizing, virtual work practices and knowledge management. Lavinia is a Sustainability Leadership Coach and mentor through the EthicalMarkets.com Sustainability Research Group. As a passionate writer examining and questioning the intersection of business on society and health, she offers her lively analysis and thinking her blog AboutWorkEcology. Her passion is to influence change in society and business to inspire youth to see a future of opportunity and healthy living.

Jeana Wirtenberg, Ph.D. is co-founder and Director, Institute for Sustainable Enterprise (ISE) www.fdu.edu/ise  in the Silberman College of Business at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and president of Jeana Wirtenberg & Associates, LLC www.whenitallcomestogether.com.  Her work at the Institute focuses on bringing people together to learn how to develop and lead thriving, sustainable enterprises that are “in and for the world.”  

Jeana is lead editor of The Sustainable Enterprise Fieldbook:  When It All Comes Together, published in summer 2008 by Greenleaf Publishing and AMACOM. www.TheSustainableEnterpriseFieldbook.net  She is a designer and lead author on the worldwide study Creating a Sustainable Future:  A Global Study of Current Trends and Possibilities 2007–2017 sponsored by the American Management Association (AMA, 2007).  She is currently editor of “Transitioning to the Green Economy” an upcoming Special Issue of People & Strategy Journal to be published by the Human Resource Planning Society (HRPS) 1Q 2010.

Formerly, she was HR director at Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), where she was responsible for a variety of functions to transform the firm and build organizational capacity. Previously she held positions in AT&T and led research programs in the U.S. federal government at the National Institute of Education and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Jeana serves as articles editor for the organization effectiveness knowledge area for People and Strategy (HR Planning Society’s Journal) www.hrps.org .  Jeana received her Masters and Ph.D. with honors in Psychology at The University of California at Los Angeles. 

Contact info:  jwirtenberg@optonline.net  or jwirtenb@fdu.edu

Websites: www.whenitallcomestogether.com;  www.transitioningtogreen.com;  www.TheSustainableEnterpriseFieldbook.net;  www.fdu.edu/ise; www.SustainableEnterprise.Ning.com (ask for invitation and I will send)

Areas of interest:  Sustainable enterprise, green careers, leadership, organization effectiveness, culture change

Current projects: 

* Numerous projects at Institute for Sustainable Enterprise www.fdu.edu/ise including our Graduate Program in Managing Sustainability launching in September with INCAE. http://cms.fdu.edu/page_preview.aspx?id=34033  

* Just launched new business Transitioning to Green www.transitioningtogreen.com

Calendar of events:  See my website and events at www.TheSustainableEnterpriseFieldbook.net. Just ran major conference at www.Jumpstartgreen.org

Suggested readings:  

* Peter G. Brown and Geoffrey Garver, Right Relationship:  Building a Whole Earth Economy, San Francisco:  Berrett Koehler, 2009

* John Ehrenfeld, Sustainability by Design, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2009

* Gus Speth, The Bridge at the Edge of the World, Yale Univeristy Press, 2008

Links:

*AMA study: Click on these online links to access the complimentary report, slides and Webcast:

 “Creating a Sustainable Future” report  http://view.fdu.edu/files/amawebcastreport.pdf

 “Sustainability: An Evolving Business Paradigm” slides http://view.fdu.edu/files/amawebcastppt.pdf

 “Sustainability: An Evolving Business Paradigm” Webcast http://www.amanet.org/editorial/webcast/2007/sustainability.htm

To students:  Happy to speak with you and support your contributions and transition to new green economy.

Rosalinda Sanquiche,  Exec Director of Ethical Markets Media

Contact Info:  PO Box 1590, Saint Augustine, FL, 32085; rosalinda.sanquiche@ethicalmarkets.com

Work in Sustainability: We focus on promoting a green economy by using media wisely.

Student Interaction: 

*  We actively mentor students looking for guidance with the definition of sustainability and how to apply sustainable practices from a media perspective. 

*  We are regularly looking for interns with webskills and outreach skills.

Current Projects:

Calendar:

Suggested Readings:

Hazel, right, with Christina Carvalho Pinto, president of Mercado Etico, Ethical Markets’ affiliate in Brazil

Hazel Henderson,  President of Ethical Markets Media LLC author, futurist, alternative economist - see full bio at www.hazelhenderson.com

Contact info: PO Box 5190, Saint Augustine, FL  32085; admin@hazelhenderson.com

Work in Sustainability:  Hazel is a visionary who has been promoting sustainability before the term was even applied within an environmental context.  She has worked with the United Nations, NGOs, academia, and businesses around the world to futher sustainability.  Her current focus is on growing the green economy.

Interaction with Students: Hazel delights in talking with students one-on-one and in groups, connecting them with her vast network of contacts from all parts of the globe for research into sustainability.  As a practitioner, she has mentored many individuals.  For Ethical Markets, she has taken on interns.  In 2008, she welcomed a team of students working toward their MBA from the Presidio School of Management in furthering the EthicMark(r), now awarded by the World Business Academy.

Calendar:  June 1, 2009   Sustainable Brands ’09, discussing “Economy at a Crossroad” with Woody Tasch

June 17, 2009  SAE 2009 Sustainable Mobility: A Practical Applications Approach for Engineers Symposium, panelist for “LCA and Accounting.”