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."

 

 

What is the Caux Round Table?
The Caux Round Table (CRT) is an international network of experienced business leaders, who work with business and political leaders to design the intellectual strategies, management tools and practices to strengthen private enterprise and public governance to improve our global community.

CRT Email Essays
CRT email essays consider - from the perspective of the CRT Principles implications inherent in and possibilities raised by current events in global business and politics, theories about capitalism and good government, and conundrums, challenges, common sense conclusions related to leadership in our times. Please click here to review.

CRT Principles for Business offer a foundation for dialogue and action for business leaders worldwide and affirm the necessity for moral values in business decision-making. Without moral values, stable business relationships and a sustainable world community are impossible.  Click here to read the Principles.

"Moral Capitalism: Reconciling Private Interest with the Public Good" by CRT Global Executive Director, Steve Young
A book review from ForeWard magazine says that:  "Young persuasively demonstrates the necessity for businesses to elect higher values over unbridled greed…Young has written a most important book.  While it requires careful reading, it is a highly useful addition to the body of work on the struggle of humankind to harness capitalism to the needs of society."  To read the executive summary, please click here.

Summary of Relevant Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics Codes
To assist those interested in taking action to build a more moral capitalism, the Caux Round Table has provided summaries of codes of business ethics and corporate social responsibility compatible with the Caux Round Table Principles for Business. Click here to read

The Caux Round Table Principles for Business: Comparison and Prospect" by Professor Gerald F. Cavanagh, S.J., University of Detroit Mercy is now on our website. Click here to read the paper.

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