Today’s business climate is more competitive than ever.  Several highly qualified MBA grads are vying for fewer and fewer corporate jobs.  According to a 2008-2009 survey by the MBA Career Services Council, business schools have experienced a drop in corporate recruiting of more than 10 percent affecting more than half of the 94 top-ranked business schools in the United States, Canada and Europe.  Scary, isn’t it…especially if you’re one of the many contemplating a return to graduate school.  So what would set you apart or give you the competitive edge to land that corporate gig?  Corporate Social Responsibility

The Aspen Institute just released the 2009-2010 edition of Beyond Grey Pinstripes, a biennial survey and alternative ranking of full-time MBA programs that integrate issues of social and environmental stewardship into curricula and research.  Did your school make the list?

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I can’t believe what I read on Bloomberg.com, “International Paper’s ArborGen joint venture with MeadWestvaco Corp. and New Zealand’s Rubicon Ltd. is seeking permission from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sell the first genetically engineered forest trees outside China.”  What?  International Paper?  It can’t be?  The world’s largest pulp and paper maker promotes itself as an environmentally responsible company, but now, it appears the company is following in the footsteps of Monsanto and genetically modified crops.

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Are you looking for a green job?  Or a job in corporate social responsibility and sustainable business?  Well, all you need to do is Twitter.  “Green” recruiters understand the best way to reach the new generation of “green” talent is via social media…Facebook, Linkedin, blogs, Flickr, YouTube and of course, Twitter.  So fire up your laptop and hop on Twitter.  Who knows?  You may find a career that aligns with your life’s passion.

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This column highlights the top economic stories of the week.

While Detroit has benefited from Cash for Clunkers, foreign automakers have gained even more. Some critics of the program warned that because it let consumers buy domestic or foreign cars, Clunkers could end up spending more American tax dollars to help foreign companies than American ones. More on this story here.

With irresponsible banking practices taking the blame for bringing about the global economic crisis, there has been a surge of interest in Islamic finance.Now, a slew of academic courses are springing up to meet the demand of those wanting to break into an expanding market. According to ratings agency Moody’s, the global Islamic finance sector is worth $700 billion and has the potential to be worth $4 trillion. More on this story here.

n an effort to curb solid waste pollution, China banned the import of scrap polysilicon at the beginning of August, an effort supported by its current environmental laws according to its Environmental Protection Ministry. Scrap polysilicon is a low-grade form of silicon not pure enough to use in microchips. However, it can be used as a component of solar wafers, which contain a variety of types of silicon, including up to 30% scrap polysilicon. More on this story here.

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In my work in Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainable business, Whole Foods has always been a company to benchmark against.  They were one of the first major retailers to offset 100% of their energy use with wind energy credits; voluntarily stop using plastic bags company-wide; join the Non-GMO Project’s Product Verification Program; and develop a certification program, the Whole Trade Guarantee, in partnership with non-profits.  Plus, the company has received a plethora of sustainability and environmental awards and recognition.  So I was just wondering…with a track record like that, can a renegade CEO damage the company’s brand reputation as a socially responsible company?  Well, John Mackey, co-founder and chief executive of Whole Foods, is sure giving it the old college try.

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What if you call your HR department or brokerage firm and discover you don’t have SRI options available with your 401(k)?  Does that mean you can’t be a socially responsible investor?  Of course not.  If you own shares in a company, you have partial ownership and certain privileges.  Corporations mail out their annual reports containing proxy statements and voting forms.  With our votes, we have the ability to help shape sustainable business in corporate America.  We can be shareholder advocates.

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When you disagree with a company’s sustainable or lack of sustainable business practices, what do you do?  You contact the company.  You sign a petition.  You boycott their products.  You inspired others to “vote with their feet” or “vote with their dollars.”  You pride yourself in the fact that you don’t shop at Walmart or eat at McDonalds.  You are using your “consumer dollars” to send a strong message to corporate America, but what about your “investing dollars”?  When it comes to 401(k)s, mutual funds and the stock market, do you know where your money goes?

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Last week Greenpeace said it was okay to buy Kimberly-Clark (K-C) products again so I loaded up my shopping cart with Kleenex, Scott paper towels and Cottonelle toilet paper.  After years of fighting, Greenpeace and K-C finally reached an agreement.  The corporation will begin sourcing fiber responsibly, and the NGO will end its Kleercut campaign.  It seems pretty cut-and-dry to me.  Or is it?

Sites such as Treehugger.com and Grist.org applauded the agreement.  Even the environmental organization, ForestEthics told Grist that K-C’s new sourcing policy “is among the strongest in the world … truly impressive.  ForestEthics congratulates Greenpeace and allies for a campaign well run.”  Wow, I’m getting all teary-eyed just reading the accolades.  I think I need a Kleenex.  So why are some folks crying foul?

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It’s a good day for Kleenex.  After almost five years of hard campaigning, Greenpeace promised to end its Kleercut campaign against Kimberly-Clark, the world’s largest tissue-product manufacturer of Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle products.  During a joint news conference in Washington D.C., the large corporation and the controversial non-governmental organization (NGO) announced an historic agreement that will ensure greater protection and sustainable management of Canada’s Boreal Forest.

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Owned by the Taylor family of St. Louis – which also owns and operates Enterprise Rent-A-Car - Enterprise Fleet Management offers businesses with medium-sized fleets services to efficiently manage their vehicle fleet.

The award comes as no real surprise for this blogger, as Enterprise Rent-A-Car has come to our attention on several occasions for their work expanding their low emissions rental fleet, providing van pool services throughout various cities across the U.S., funding alternative fuel research, and acting generally as a good corporate citizen.

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How do you like your eggs? The answer to that question used to be sunny side up, scrambled, or over easy. Now, it’s cage-free and organic, thank you very much.  Since I moved to London recently, I’ve noticed a greater level of public awareness regarding egg production and chicken welfare as compared to the United States.  Most supermarkets and chain restaurants, and even some giant multinational corporations, sell or use exclusively free-range eggs and prominently advertise doing so.

It’s certainly a big change from the United States, where cage-free eggs are generally available but are not as widespread in popularity as in the United Kingdom. It appears to be a slowly growing movement back at home, and it’s great news that some states have begun to pass laws improving living conditions for chickens. Unfortunately, we’ve still got a long way to go before reaching the level of public demand and corporate response for the right kind of eggs that can be found here in the UK.

Here are a few of the differences I’ve noticed with regard to egg production and marketing in the UK and the States.

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The Atlanta metro area is one of the fastest growing urban centers in the country and, according to the Forbes magazine 2008 ranking, enjoys some of the worst traffic in the U.S. 13% of Atlanta-bound commuters spend over an hour commuting to work, with the average commuter spending more than 60 hours every year hassling their way to work on ever more crowded roadways. Atlanta ranks in the top ten cities for air pollution.

Clearly Atlanta is a perfect opportunity to employ all efforts available to reduce traffic. Heather Pastrick, from Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s Atlanta operation, recently explained how one important component of those efforts consists of the 110 vanpools (and growing) provided by the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Rideshare program throughout the greater Atlanta metropolitan area.

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Yesterday I posted here about plastic bag fees and bans being frozen in — or before reaching — legislatures. Supposedly that’s due to economics, though reality seems to be more connected to politics. That, coupled with a post here by Low Impact Living about the green benefits of the stimulus plan signed by President Obama recently, got me thinking about a potential solution to our financial woes.

Maybe we don’t need to argue along partisan lines about small versus big government, or about a trillion-dollar stimulus plan versus whatever it is the Republicans think President Obama should be doing. Maybe instead of tax credits and billionaire bailouts, we need to impose a fresh idea of corporate social responsbility: cost-of-living increases + merit salary increases.

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This latest addition doubles the number of hybrid vehicles available in what is already the nation’s largest fleet of fuel efficient rental cars. Along with its sister companies Alamo and National, Enterprise fields nearly 450,000 cars in their combined fleet that achieve 28 mpg or better, 230,000 cars get 32 mpg or better, and 425,000 cars have earned the Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay certification.

For $1.25 per rental, customers can opt to offset their vehicle emissions for a charge of $1.25 per rental. The fee helps fund certified offset projects with TerraPass. Through their charitable fund, Enterprise will match customer donations dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million annually.

Enterprise also actively supports alternative fuel research through the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (I had the opportunity last October to chat with Dr. Richard Sayre, the Institute’s newly-named director ). An overview of this and other environmental sustainability programs in which Enterprise is involved is explained on their website KeystoGreen.com.

So does all this make Enterprise green - or is it just greenwash?

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When you think of Kenneth Cole, timeless fashion, trendsetting shoes and stylish accessories likely leap to mind.  Their commitment to the environment and their eco-tote likely do not top your list.  But behind the well designed exterior lies a philanthropic soul, intent on sparking social change — and helping others do it, too.

Their recent launch of Awearness supports that mission, showcasing 25 years worth of philanthropy, and creating a place for consumers and businesses to get involved in championing the causes that are important to them.  From a blog to a book to a volunteer link up program, Kenneth Cole shows us it’s possible to look as good as you feel. 

Right down to its name, Awearness is the embodiment of Feelgood Style.

Being the slightly bold journalist that I am, I sought out an interview with this fashion icon to learn more about Awearness and uncover any other hidden gems lurking behind the finely stitched fabric of Kenneth Cole.  It started with some light stalking of their Twitter account, a couple of emails and a few [dozen] phone calls before I finally connected with Robert Genovese, Vice President of Marketing & Media at the West 50th Street headquarters in New York City.  Robert was gracious, responsive, and genuinely eager to share the details of the Awearness program, and happily indulged me in the laundry list of questions that I am thrilled to share with you now.

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What now? Pepsi isn’t sure. According to a report today in the New York Times:

(PepsiCo) figured that as public concern grows about the fate of the planet, companies will find themselves under pressure to perform such calculations. Orange juice seemed like a good case study.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2009/01/22/pepsico-announces-half-gallon-of-orange-juice-produces-375-pounds-of-co2/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/11/11/xerox-2008-global-citizenship-report-proves-efforts-toward-corporate-social-responsibility/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/11/11/xerox-2008-global-citizenship-report-proves-efforts-toward-corporate-social-responsibility/#comments Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:43:41 +0000 Heidi Tolliver-Nigro http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/11/11/xerox-2008-global-citizenship-report-proves-efforts-toward-corporate-social-responsibility/ All companies like to say they are “green,” but Xerox is putting numbers behind it. Its “2008 Report on Global Citizenship” provides a year-over-year look at its progress toward its goals toward corporate social responsibility.

Among the highlights:

• Two additional facilities named members of U.S. EPA National Environmental Performance Track (validating environmental performance beyond regulatory compliance). This brings the total to five.
• Named a National Performance Track Corporate Leader in 2008.
• Recycling rate of 92%—up 1% from 2006.
• Energy consumption down 2% from 2006—total cut of 19% between 2002 and 2007
• Cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5% from 2006—cut emissions worldwide by 21% between 2002 and 2007
• 80% of new products introduced in 2007 met the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s tougher ENERGY STAR requirements

Also, included in the report are sections and key metrics devoted to governance and ethics, customer privacy and satisfaction, employee diversity and development, environmental initiatives, corporate donations and volunteerism, and more.

An interactive version of the report can be found at the following link: Xerox Global Citizenship Report.

]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/11/11/xerox-2008-global-citizenship-report-proves-efforts-toward-corporate-social-responsibility/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/18/base-of-the-pyramid-article-series-continues/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/18/base-of-the-pyramid-article-series-continues/#comments Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:28:38 +0000 Amiel Blajchman http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/18/base-of-the-pyramid-article-series-continues/ Earlier this week we sketched out the Base of the Pyramid protocols versions 1.0 and 2.0. Based on some comments I’ve received via email, today I want to delve a little deeper into version 2.0, and see how we can take this innovative idea, and make it practicable (after all, that’s one of the goals of the Inspired Economist, is it not?).

The protocol retains as one of its fundamental tenets that it is based on a participatory philosophy and process, whereby the multinational company works in partnership with its local partners in order to co-create a new model for doing business locally.

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/18/base-of-the-pyramid-article-series-continues/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/15/the-base-of-the-pyramid-20-a-review-pt-2/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/15/the-base-of-the-pyramid-20-a-review-pt-2/#comments Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:08:57 +0000 Amiel Blajchman http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/15/the-base-of-the-pyramid-20-a-review-pt-2/ (Readers may want to read yesterday’s part one post, which provides a brief description of the concept of the base of the pyramid, and introduces today’s post.)

While articles extolling the virtues of expanding markets to include, and creating brand-new ventures solely for the base of the pyramid proliferated in the early part of this decade, success utilizing this concept was fleeting, and challenging to sustain. In a recent article, Eric Simanis and Stuart Hall from Cornell, argue that the fundamental problem with base of the pyramid 1.0 strategies is that outside companies sought to “target” developing communities with affordable products, rather than questioning whether or not these were products that were appropriate or would be demanded by the community in question.

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/09/15/the-base-of-the-pyramid-20-a-review-pt-2/feed/ http://ecoworldly.com/2007/12/16/voluntary-carbon-standard/ http://ecoworldly.com/2007/12/16/voluntary-carbon-standard/#comments Sun, 16 Dec 2007 13:56:36 +0000 Pem Charnley http://ecoworldly.com/2007/12/16/voluntary-carbon-standard/ Last month was a busy time for the voluntary carbon standard (VCS). Admittedly, it’s not a phrase that rolls smoothly off the tongue.

Like corporate social responsibility (CSR), you find yourself semi-exhausted before the next sentence.

You sense inherent good in each of these phrases – sure – but just want them to make sense in a realer world.

And so to the VCS.

Voluntary carbon offsetting is big business. In 2006, there was a huge surge in this market resulting in a 200% growth.

Big brands were, and are, getting into carbon offsetting in a big way. Google, Nike, Coca Cola, Yahoo! – all are now part of this market.

I don’t think it at all beneficial at this stage to analyse their reasons for announcing green credentials. Whether it really is genuine CSR or in each case a PR exercise is redundant. Don’t muddy the waters. They’re doing it.

So, yes, multinationals are offsetting their carbon within the voluntary sector. Good.

But what’s drawing them to the market? Two reasons.

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