Europe’s new sustainability regulations such as the Taxonomy and CSRD come with a risk: they may turn corporate sustainability into a “numbers game” with compliance being the main (and sometimes only) goal. We risk ending up with lots of reporting but too little actions. European companies face a wave of sustainability regulations, most notably the […]
CSR
Are we asking the wrong questions in corporate social responsibility (CSR) research?
The sustainability contributions of business are under increased scrutiny in society. Observations of greenwashing, blue-washing, corporate hypocrisy, and decoupling suggest the existence of an intentional or unintentional gap between espoused CSR strategies and actual sustainability outcomes at the societal level. In other words, there seems to be more “talking” than “walking”. This has inspired a growing concern […]
Responsible to whom and for what? Contestations of CSR across time, space, and experience
It is well known that globalization of business has thrown up a host of new governance challenges and new governance solutions. Conspicuous in this regard are the various ‘responsibility remedies’ for challenges posed in the supply chains of multinational corporations. The growth and transformation of supply chains, particularly in agricultural products and garments has reflected a […]
Making Corporate Sustainability More Sustainable
For too many firms corporate sustainability is itself not a sustainable endeavor. Corporate sustainability initiatives are blossoming around the world. While some firms have built robust infrastructures around their efforts, other firms struggle to do so, making their engagement a short-lived endeavor. In other words, corporate sustainability is itself often not sustainable enough to create […]
Making the case for and against and beyond Friedman in 2020: On the anniversary of Friedman’s “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”
September 13th marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of Milton Friedman’s famous New York Time Magazine essay entitled “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”. This has occasioned a slew of testimonials and opinion pieces on Friedman’s legacy in general and the legacy of this free market manifesto in particular. Not surprisingly, […]
The problem with CSR: Why companies need to listen to their activist employees
The current pandemic has exposed blatant social injustices and inequalities around the world, prompting businesses to face their societal impact. Before the crisis, however, a rising wave of employee activism had already started to call into question the extent to which companies had managed to meet their moral obligations. Employees at Wayfair, Microsoft, Google, Twitter […]
Fake news and what it means for discussions about CSR-related issues
There is a saying on online forums that “about 78% of all statistics shared online are made up to prove a point – including this one.” This has become particularly relevant lately, where we have seen many discussions about fake news. And while it is often discussed in relation to politics, in particular during political […]
Is CSR effectively altruistic?
CSR is the part of a company that focusses on doing good. Interestingly enough, business is all about impact and effectiveness when it comes to the core of the business, but when strategies of doing good are developed and implemented there is often more concern for what sounds good than for the effectiveness and impact […]
Corporate Criminal Liability in Germany – An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Siemens, Volkswagen, Deutsche Bank … and now Airbus. What is wrong with German companies? It seems that German firms are disproportionally exposed to corporate irresponsibility. Of course, this is more of a subjective assessment than a statistical fact, and to be fair Airbus SE is a European company. Corporate irresponsibility appears in all jurisdictions, for all […]
When Good CSR Intentions With Communities Go Bad
In this post I reflect on the past ten years of working as a practitioner and researcher on the issue of CSR, company – community relations and conflicts. Overall, it is striking to see the gap between the optimism held by practitioners and the pessimism of those affected in communities when it comes to the […]