The overconsumption of sugar, especially among children, and its long-term health risks re-gained public awareness with the introduction of the British soda tax in 2018. What can we learn for 2019? Food and beverage manufacturers and retailers produce, advertise and sell their products to millions of people every day. We therefore consider them political actors (see for a similar […]
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The year of corporate acting—does business need a new approach to palm oil?
2018 went down as the ‘year of corporate caring’ about the palm oil controversy. A banned TV advertisement promoting a Palm Oil free Christmas by the UK supermarket Iceland went viral on social media with over 5 million views in merely a couple of weeks. Shortly after, on the south bank in London, Iceland responded to the […]
We Need To Pay More Attention To Business Associations
Despite their key role in both national and international affairs, business associations remain strangely absent from academic discourse, teaching and research on corporate responsibility and sustainability. We clearly need to pay more attention to business associations. The prominence of business associations Business associations play an important role in promoting corporate responsibility and sustainability. One need […]
Current issues in Business and Human Rights: report from the 2018 Annual Forum in Geneva
‘Building on what works’ was the key topic for the annual Forum on Business and Human Rights that took place in Geneva on 26. to 28. November. With more than 2000 participants, the Forum has become the world’s largest gathering of practitioners, academics, civil society, governments and just about anyone else with an interest in the field […]
Why Corporate Sustainability is Bullshit (And Why This is a Good Thing)
Corporate sustainability is full of statements, terms, and concepts that are empty, unclarifiable and vague. Instead of rejecting such vagueness altogether, we should embrace it. Bullshit can be productive. Consider the following statement: “The concept of shared value can be defined as policies and operating practices that enhance the competitiveness of a company while simultaneously […]
Corporate contributions to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals
The days of corporate greening are over. Many companies kicked off their sustainability strategies decades ago by picking the low-hanging fruit. But there is nothing left within arm’s reach to pick. Now we expect companies big and small to demonstrate their contribution to broader societal and environmental sustainability challenges beyond firm boundaries. The United Nation’s […]
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 […]
The Government of Business Responsibility
Governments play an important role in shaping the roles and responsibilities of business in society. Promoting responsibility directly and indirectly Whilst I have previously blogged about how business sometimes leads government in helping promote the public good, this in no way means that governments are not actively seeking to shape and promote responsible business conduct. Governments do this in […]
Sustainability’s Infrastructure: Ethnographies of the global value chain of certified tea
Why SUSTEIN? Currently, the world’s tea industry is on a race with time to source tea sustainably before 2020. But what is “sustainable tea” and how do we know if tea is sustainable or not? This project entitled SUSTEIN (SUStainable TEa INfrastructure) will focus on this question by way of looking at localized translations of […]
The Business Model is Dead: Long Live the Organizational Value Model!
An ApPeaRange! Business models are logics of value proposition (Pr), creation (Cr), exchange (Ex) and capture (Ca). When closely looking at sustainability business models, it becomes clear that these ‘value functions’ are not only shaped by a commercial logic, but also by one of sustainability. Many of sustainability business models include further logics of social […]