| The New
PR
In many companies, concern for corporate social responsibility
has no home. Large companies in Europe have a CSR office; American
companies have ethics and compliance officers, but for many management
of CSR variables is tossed about on the seas of circumstance. John
Friedman, of Sustainable Business Network of Washington, DC has
come up with a suggestion: communications and public relations offices
and staff should embrace CSR as an extension of their value-added
service to the company. To read John's argument in this regard,
please click here.
Human Nature, Science and Moral Government
Recently, our CRT Fellow, Professor Doran Hunter contributed an
important paper to support our work in improving standards of conduct
in contemporary society. His task was to review recent developments
in the fields of neurobiology and evolution that shed new light
on biological dimensions of human conduct. In short, Prof. Hunter
concludes from his review of recent published research that acting
according to moral standards of mutual concern and socialized dependency
seems “hard-wired” into the human personality. As a
result, human societies and individual humans prosper best when
ethical standards are activated in our behaviors. Please click
here to read Prof. Hunter's paper.
Asprirational Corporate Codes of Conduct
A daunting challenge for ethics enhancement in the United States
legal arena is the risk of litigation where a company's attempt
to achieve higher, aspirational standards of conduct will come back
to haunt it if its employees fall short in the attempt and the company
is sued as a result. Prof. Elizabeth Brown in a draft article takes
an important look at this little examined dilemma at the intersection
of law and ethics. To see her draft article, please click
here.
Caux Round Table Ethical Leadership Profile
The CRT in partnership with a development team from The
Leadership Commonwealth now offers a unique assessment of individual
preferences in taking ethical action in business and government.
The assessment instrument is called the Ethical Leadership Profile,
or “ELP”. You can find your personal preference for
decision-making styles by taking the ELP at www.myelp.org. We have
provided two guides to decision-making – one for actions to
be taken under the CRT Principles for Business and a second for
actions to be taken with reference to the CRT Principles for Government.
Each guide assists individuals in understanding how they can best
take action in furtherance of the CRT Principles for Business and
Government. To obtain a copy of the ELP Guide for implementing the
Principles for Business, please click
here. To obtain a copy of the ELP Guide for implementing the
Principles for Government, please click
here.
Caux Round Table Global Dialogue
For the first time in our organization’s history, this year’s
Global Dialogue was held in the United States in Seattle, Washington.
Our theme this year was “Business Values driving the Value
of Business.” We considered various aspects of the duality
inherent in thinking about the value that business rings to humanity
– what are the tensions and the harmonies among financial
value – the cash returns and the profit so necessary for business
success, humane values that give our lives their higher purposes,
and the value of business to society and the environment?
Fiduciary Duties as a Helpful
Guide to Ethical Decision-Making in Business
The intersection of ethics and responsibility and corporate governance
sits happily right inside the old legal concept of the fiduciary.
But the contemporary relevant of fiduciary duties for business ethics
and corporate social responsibility is quite unfortunately overlooked
by many commentators. Steve Young, CRT Global Executive Director,
argues in a recent essay published in the Journal of Business Ethics
(2007 - 74:1-15), that fiduciary duties can be a very helpful guide
to ethical decision-making in business. Please click
here to view the article.
Caux Round Table Creates Blog
The conversations around the Caux Round Table, its core values and
its Principles for Business and Government, are growing. National
chapters are forming; people seek us out; we seem to have practical
suggestions that others find of interest. So the idea came - one
with the times - of starting a blog to further our net of conversations
and dialogue partners. Please go to: http://cauxroundtable.blogspot.com
to view and post your comments.
Nissan Sustainability Report
Nissan Global has recently published its Sustainability Report for
2007. Nissan's successful integration of corporate social responsibility
with traditional management norms of financial accountability, demonstrates
the viability of the Caux Round Table's recommended process of Moral
Capitalism. Nissan's cutting edge leadership was assisted by the
Caux Round Table's CSR assessment process and by CRT-Japan. To review
the he Nissan 2007 Sustainability Report, please go to the Nissan
website or click here.
CSR for Small and Medium
Enterprises
It has been observed by many that the CSR movement has,
by and large, concentrated on large, multinational enterprises.
In reality, most of those employeed in the world work for small
and medium sized business firms. And, CSR issues do not isolate
themselves by size. Integrity and ethics are applicable wherever
people do business with one another. Thus, the Caux Round Table
has prepared a small guide to CSR for small and medium size businesses.
To review this guide and to download it, please click
here.
Moral Government
The CRT has provided a training handbook in the use of
the Principles for Government. Click here
to read "Moral Government."
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