January 2012

Nike wins Best Sustainability Report 2010 at Ceres ACCA Awards (Copyright: Nike, Inc., 2010)

Have you ever sat at a restaurant and wondered what the kitchen looks like? Do they keep all the surfaces clean? Do they use fresh ingredients? Do they follow the “Employees must wash hands” policy to the letter and then some? If only the kitchen had glass walls, the germophobe in you thinks wistfully. Now extend that to knowing what went into any everyday product, where they were made and what happens to them once you throw them out and you have a wonderful, transparent world. With the multitude of information sources on the internet, that scenario is not that unthinkable. Customers, investors, employees or any concerned citizen can find and create searchable information on businesses. What about companies themselves? One way for businesses looking to stay one step ahead and put out accurate, permanently available and third-party reviewed information on their operating practices is to publish a sustainability report. Continue reading →

Patagonia- California's first Benefit Corp (Andrew Hyde/ CC BY 2.0)

Ever heard the words “fiduciary duty”? I hadn’t either, till I looked up Corporate Law for Dummies. Here is what caught my attention, “Unless modified by statute, traditional fiduciary duties require corporate officials to
further the interests of shareholders, and thus require them to maximize corporate profits subject to the obligation to comply with independent legal constraints”. Translating into English, it simply means it is the legal responsibility of a corporate to maximize profits and protect the interests of its shareholders. On the flip side, it is not within the scope of the “fiduciary duties” of a corporate to consider the interests of other stakeholders, including, employees, suppliers, communities and the environment. If they do, a corporate can set itself up for some expensive lawsuits by profit-hungry stakeholders. Craigslist found out the hard way. Ben and Jerry’s, that role model do-good business, lost a lot of its glory in the Unilever buyout and the founders still think it cuts deep. Continue reading →

Month: January 2012

Sustainability Reporting For Small Businesses – Five Questions To Ask Yourself.

6 Reasons To Morph Into A “Benefit” Corporation