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Simon Moss
Joined: May 7, 2002
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Promoting CSR
January 6, 2004 - 03:52 AM
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How can we, as consumers, best persuade companies to adopt more socially responsible practices?
Some ideas that I've heard before - shareholder activism, consumer boycotts, direct action, supporting NGOs, lobbying for governmental policy change.
What's your take?
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Simon Fulber
Joined: Feb 15, 2003
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Vote with your dollars...
January 6, 2004 - 03:22 AM
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The best way to support/promote CSR?
Invest with companies that are socially responsible (there are lots out there), but more importantly, use your personal income to make the strongest impression. Look for companies that are progressive in their CSR initiatives and deal with them exclusively.
To me, that is the best way of promoting CSR.
One thing that has been a great way to support CSR has been the ever increasing popularity of SRI (socially responsible investing).
Mutual Funds and shareholder advocacy has been a great way to support CSR.
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Robbie Allan
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Easy
January 8, 2004 - 04:31 AM
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Even simpler - buy products from socially responsible companies. It is, in essence, voting with one's wallet.
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Jim Freeburg
Joined: Sep 19, 2003
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put it in their best interest
January 9, 2004 - 06:34 AM
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I think as consumers, we do have an active role to play in ensuring that companies are socially responsible-by becoming shareholders of socially responsible companies and buying products from such companies. However, I think there is room for even greater change by working directly with these companies and get them to see that this is in their best interest-by showing them the growth opportunities within the socially responsible market and encourage them to use fewer resources and be more efficient (which is what they do all the time) less resources used=less cost. Anyone have ideas on this? Anyone work for such a company that does this sort of consulting?
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Robbie Allan
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"Prosumers"
January 10, 2004 - 06:13 AM
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What exactly is a "Prosumer"? Obviously it's a nice buzz-word and it's sounds great to bridge the gap between manufacturers / producers and consumers, what does this entail?
What, may I ask, is the problem with the current setup? As is, both consumers and producers profit whenever a transaction is made. If the item wasn't worth more to you than the asking price, you wouldn't buy it. Thus, the inhernet beauty of capitalism, everyone profits from every trade. I pay $X for a loaf of bread because I know that in terms of all the ingredients, and my time etc. it's better value to buy the bread than grow the wheat itself. Say I'm a barista, you're a sharebroker. As opposed to you making your own coffee, and me trading my own shares, I let you do what you're good at, I do what I'm good at, we trade goods and services at a mutually agreeable price and everyone wins. Naturally, if I'm a slightly better bargainer, I can get a larger share of the net benefit.
However, this benefit changes ie, if I'm flying overseas, $Y for a ticket is, let's say, about the top end of what I'm willing to pay. Perhaps the airline is getting a greater chunk of the profit. However, if my parents are dying and I want to get across the other side of the world, I value the plane ticket at $10Y, ie I'd pay anything under $10Y, so paying only $(1)Y is super-cheap. I get most of the profit.
As it stands, I totally agree with Signor Freeburg, in terms of working with Corporations to point out the benefits of sustainable / CSR business, in terms of productivity and such.
Problem is, many of these things are intangible, like goodwill and long term benefits.
I'd tend to suggest that for CSR and other social aspects to be embraced by business, Government spending needs to be slashed. Globally, we're moving towards 40% net tax rates, and people, quite rightly expect the Government to address social issues. With less government intervention (getting Govt budgets back down towards 20%ish of GDP) then the free-market does provide a certain level of social amenities - look at the Carnegie Public Libraries in America, Rockerfeller donating the land for the UN Compound etc. etc. etc.
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Jim Freeburg
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sounds too good to be true....so...
January 16, 2004 - 07:58 AM
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I'm a little cautious of a scheme like this. Are you saying that you MAKE money by buying products that you would normally buy because you pay less for them? That doesn't sound right to me.
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Terri Willard
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CSR in the Middle East
April 19, 2004 - 11:01 AM
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I found an interesting article this morning regarding a conference in Dubai last weekend about CSR in the Middle East Region - http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0419/p16s01-wmgn.html
Kind of cool. There's a LOT of work to be done on understanding how the concept might apply in the region, though.
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Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler
Joined: May 18, 2003
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Capitalism: the swiss cheese of political ideology
April 19, 2004 - 12:29 PM
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Robbie, your logic is but a pipe dream though rest assured you have a good friend in Adam Smith ;-)
To use your example of a loaf of bread, look at the method of production. A loaf of whole grain bread made at your local bakery with ingredients from local producers will inevitably cost more but what you're getting is an ethically made and nutritious product. This is in contrast to buying the mass produced bread from your nation-wide grocery chain that isn't opposed to the use of GM products coming from farms bent on making a profit, not caring for the land (plus they refuse to label such products).
In that one, relitively trivial, example there are two issues at stake. Ethically, do you want to support a brand that will suck up the earth's nutrients irresponsibly while mixing who knows what gene into their crop? And in terms of your health, what do you think about serving your family the emptyness of Wonderbread? Yet with capitalism, many people aren't given the choice to eat in a healthy and ethical manner that everyone deserves (sending your children to school with a piece of processed cheese between two pieces of white bread because you can't afford a real meal is something no parent should be faced with).
But far, far more importantly is the commodification of a service like health care in your beloved capitalist paradigm. Health care just cannot be commodified in any reasonable circumstance. Simply put, the capitalist logic works on something as insignificant as a t-shirt since it's easy for anyone to tell if it's of good quality, what colour it is and whether the size fits (though it would be real nice to know if the shirt was made in a sweatshop). With health care only a qualified doctor can tell you what's wrong, how bad it is and what needs to be done. You can get a million second opinions but eventually you're going to have to invest your trust and money in one person's word that your liver is blue and needs the rarest surgery known to humankind (exaggerated of course but apply it to any situation you like, medically anyone but a doctor can't make an informed decision, which is an integral part of the capitalist ideology). As you use the example of Rockefeller donating libraries, what's clear is there aren't the resources to publicly fund these essential social services. The danger is a service like health care, because it is so expensive, will not get the "goodwill" (also known as tax exemptions and PR) of such estates and thus leave gaping holes in the social safety net since the people most vulnerable to illness won't have medical coverage.
-Adam
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