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Corporate Citizenship
Scientists predict that we have less than 10 years to sufficiently reduce carbon emissions to avert a total environmental disaster. Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farm "CE-Yo", tells of his company's efforts over the past 25 years to reduce its environmental footprint while increasing profits. Hirshberg shares lessons from his book Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World, in this Stanford Center for Social Innovation talk.
Do you think we can change the world by involving enterprise one hour a week? Al Jisr, and it's founder Mohammed Abbad Andaloussi, are convinced that we can. In this episode of Design for Change, host Sheela Sethuraman interviews Abbad Analoussi about his efforts to improve education in Moroccan schools by involving businesses. So far, over 100 corporations have adopted over 200 schools. They provide volunteers, support, and a real world perspective to students.
What does Wall Street make of the trends in cleantech, corporate environmental strategy, and emerging carbon markets? In this talk, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, two Goldman Sachs managers discuss how their investment firm is making the financing of corporate deals contingent upon the incorporation of increasingly stringent environmental criteria.
Coffee price fluctuations over past decades have created extreme financial crises and long-term poverty for thousands of small-scale Latin American farmers. In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation sponsored talk, David Funkhouser of TransFair USA, details how the Fair Trade movement arose as a market-based approach to poverty alleviation and international development. He discusses Fair Trade's function to offer suppliers fair, above-market prices, and TransFair's role in supporting that movement.
How does an organization not only promote green and sustainable products but also conduct business in a socially responsible way? At the Stanford 2008 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, leaders of three pioneering enterprises talk about how they integrate fair trade, sustainable design, green purchasing, and public/private partnerships into every aspect of their business. They offer advice for other organizations, and share how they are working to promote social responsibility in their respective industries.
The Gap monitors 2,000 garment factories in 50 countries, and conducts about 4,000 inspections annually to make sure its suppliers are operating according to ethical guidelines. Speaking at the 2008 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, Dan Henkle, the executive who oversees this inspection process, as well as the company's community investment and environmental affairs efforts, outlines The Gap's corporate responsibility programs--highlighting progress, challenges, and where the organization hopes to be in the future.
Not a week goes by without a product safety incident splashed across the headlines. As companies face increasing layers of suppliers, the task of monitoring the many links in the chain becomes a formidable challenge. The situation is particularly troubling for social entrepreneurs, who are especially vulnerable. In this panel from the 2008 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, executives who have experienced product safety challenges share what they have done to address these challenges head on.
Companies can indeed make money while operating in socially responsible and environmentally friendly ways. It just takes what supply chain expert Hau Lee calls the Triple-A approach--having agility, adaptability, and alignment. Closing the Stanford 2008 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, Lee describes how small to mid-sized companies in China, India, and Israel boosted profits while shrinking waste and pollution and providing a fair workplace for employees.
Now that global warming is recognized as a real and serious problem, discussion is turning to practical challenges of reducing emissions in the long term. Host of the Center for Social Innovation, Rick Duke, discusses a new report by McKinsey & Company that considers how to address the problem affordably. Duke outlines some of the emerging technologies and public policy changes that will be needed to support such a process.
Timberland, the footwear and apparel company headquartered in New Hampshire, is putting good old New England values to work to integrate socially responsible management practices throughout the value chain. Speaking at Stanford during the 2007 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, Gary Smith demonstrates how in the more than 35 countries where his firm has a business presence, doing good does not have to be at odds with doing well.