Vodafone increases "Corporate Responsibility" score

Along with BP and Shell, Vodafone ranked in the top 3 global companies for putting responsible practices at the heart of their business. http://www.cellular-news.com/story/15608.php But how do consumers perceive these companies? Visit our site in March to find out.

Tesco launch new labels

New Tesco food labelling to promote nutritional awareness and inform product choice. Will we see this initiative extended to ethical sourcing?

Imposing Values

Ethical Corp are hosting an upcoming event entitled "2006 Focus: Ethical leadership in practice. How to get everyone in your organisation to implement your ethical values." Which of course begs the questions:

• Can you actually impose values on others (even your staff)?


• Should the process not involve a period of consultation in which you discover the shared values of your staff (/others) before jointly developing organisational values as a whole?


• How to balance the above with strong leadership?
  

Consulting staff is likely to have the positive benefit of having employees actually buy in to value sets and associated initiatves, rather than presenting a 'corporate guideline' to follow of which staff can become resentful (and often mocking). One of the conference topics is 'Your employees: your greatest CSR advocates'. In order to advocate something you have to believe in it, and being told to believe something is something you just can't do.

Throughout this process it may be that you discover that your (i.e. The Board's) and certain members of your staff's values are at odds, but the question is then, should you be working together at all?

In addition to all this, asking stakeholders for their opinion might actually throw up one or two good ideas you haven't come up with yet!

Links for 30/1/06

Guardian Special Report - Ethical Business

Research encourages M&S switch to fairtrade cloth

Via Guardian Unlimited

"Nearly a third of those surveyed (You Gov) said they had decided against buying an item of clothing because of concerns over where it came from or how it was made. According to the survey, 59% had avoided buying some foods for the same reason. On food, 72% said they were concerned about depletion of fish stocks, an issue addressed by M&S through its sustainable sourcing policy."

More from McKinsey

From a McKinsey article, in relation to anticipating social movements that (invariably) impact on business:

“..It also means that they (executives) need to develop broad metrics or summaries that usefully describe the relevant (social) issues, much the same way that most companies analyse consumer trends.”

McKinsey survey supports responsible business

McKinsey publish Global Survey of Business Executives in 116 countries. Executives around the world overwhelmingly embrace the idea that the social role of a modern corporation goes far beyond meeting its obligations to shareholders, according to the latest McKinsey Global Survey of Business Executives. Yet executives say that their companies aren't adept at anticipating or managing social obligations.

Red @ Davos

Bono launches 'Red' product range to help fight AIDS.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/01/26/better_red_than_.html

It's the comments on this blog that I find the most interesting. Clearly this is a decisive issue confused by prejudice, fashion (cool to knock the Corps), cynicism ('no-one can do anything without being called a sell-out these days') distrust ('the money will just go back to the pharma co.s anyway') and lack of information.

Soft drink manufactures to stop targeting kids

http://media.guardian.co.uk/advertising/story/0,,1695052,00.html

Communications and the feedback loop

Ever wondered if you are actually getting your message across to people?? A few thoughts on the role of the feedback loop in communications and how we need to alter our approach to successfully communicate our intended message

World Economic Forum in Davos

For the first time, The Advertising Community is addressing the delegates of the World Economic Forum in Davos on the theme of Communication and Responsibility. Can responsible advertising change behaviour to benefit business and consumers? No doubt about that. But other forms of communication can be just as influential. Our study of corporate reputation and communications shows how how powerful word-of-mouth communication can be. It can be fuelled by advertising, but also by consumers' personal experience of companies and their business activities. Increasingly, consumers have the power to respond. As well as promoting responsibility through advertising, corporations must make sure their corporate ethics are consistent through all their business practices and communications.