Corporate social responsibility, or “CSR”, in the United States has its roots in the sustainability movement that began in the early 1960s, when environmentalists first raised concerns about the use of chemical pesticides by the general public and large corporations. By the end of that...
As with all aspects of sustainability reporting, practices of companies regarding their disclosures relating to community engagement and investment have been evolving as time has passed and stakeholder interest in such activities has increased. Although mandatory reporting requirements have been slow to emerge, the need...
CSR implementation includes develop meaningful reports for internal management and stakeholders that outline the company’s sustainable development objectives and compare performance against them. CSR reporting actually has several dimensions, each of which will require a different form of report, albeit based on essentially the same...
While frameworks and suggestions for implementation of corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) do vary, there is almost no controversy that in order to make informed decisions about the content of a new CSR initiative, or changes to an existing program, the board of directors and members...
Assessment and strategy development are planning stages in the corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) process and the real work begins when the company transitions to making its strategy come alive through action. The first step in that process is the development of CSR commitments, which are...
Writing in the New York Times in April 2020, David Sax suggested that the Coronavirus pandemic and related public health and economic crises should serve as a reminder of the types of entrepreneurship that truly matter in our society. Sax noted that entrepreneurship has frequently...
Companies pursue CSR activities for a variety of reasons including not only contributing to sustainable development and addressing important environmental and social issues but also achieving a competitive advantage that improves their own economic performance and sustainability. Even the largest companies have limited resources and...
I recently had the opportunity to speak to a group of lawyers regarding corporate social responsibility and opportunities that it presents for lawyers to "do good" for their client and the world. I'm sharing the materials that I distributed to the group below. :Download A Brief...
The board of directors is ultimately responsible for the development and implementation of the company’s CSR commitments through appropriate processes and targets. In order to be successful, the board must design an appropriate organizational structure for CSR and assign responsibilities to various groups and individuals...
Regardless of the specific strategic planning processes for corporate social responsibility (“CSR”) initiatives, companies must be sure that they create adequate controls so that activities carried out in furtherance of the strategic, tactical and operational plans can be monitored and evaluated. This serves several important...