Nestle - Corporate Governance under pressure

The Nestle case is another good example that even on such a big multinational company external pressure is showing impact. Public opinion forms reputation and reputation is intangible but influences the stock prize.

It all started with the Annual Shareholder meeting where CEO, Mr. Brabeck, was succeding Rainer Gut as the board chairman and by doing that was holding a double mandat. A 'sin' according to widely admitted good governance principles. But there was some opposition, a small shareholder - the Ethos Fund and its manager Mr. Biedermann - started to organize the fight for good governance at Nestle. However, it was a kind of David against Goliath play.

Of course the Goliath, Mr. Brabeck, was not worried at all by this small David, Mr. Biedermann. He seemed just furious, arrogant and threatenend to step down if someone dared to contest seriously its double mandate. [Read the summary of the NZZ, 13 April 2005]

In the end, the shareholder assembly accepted - but only temporarily! - the double mandate of Goliath. However, surprisingly, more people in the assembly then expected were backing the fight of David. And it looked a lot as if Mr. Biedermann will get more support next time.

Afterwards, it seems as if there were some people having an open and honest word with Goliath, warning him that being too arrogant with little Davids could end up with some serious problems. And there were changes: Nestle is now surveying its shareholder to get their opinion on good governance!

Bravo David Biedermann! This is a promising start.
Interested readers can find David under ethosfund.ch

Fade, Integrate or Transform ? The future of CSR

A very interesting paper written by Allen White, Senior Advisor, BSR! He envisions three scenarios for the CSR movement by 2015: Fade, Integrate or Transform . In the same times, it gives you the history of CSR in a nutshell.
Up to us and the business leaders to choose which of the scenarios should become reality. At the end he summarizes the core challenge of CSR very well in this words:

The core question facing companies is how to harness the full potential of business to serve the public interest while preserving and enhancing core assets — creativity, innovation and competitive drive.

The 10 pages paper can be downloaded here

CSR - positive signs for the future

No it's not a graphic on my stocks.. just a research result on the last six months using BlogPulse Intelliseek.
The postings are slightly rising - with some peaks - but not really a bullish market trend yet. However, enough to stay optimistic.






Another study hinting also on the more prominent role in the future for CSR - at least that's the results of a study by the Bertelsmann Foundations asking german managers what they consider to be the role of CSR during the years to come: 67% say they think it will become more important. Want to know more? Go here

CSR at Nike: Transparency - A small but important step forward

It's not hot news.. but I thought, I mention it here...

Nike - as part of its Corporate Responsibility Report - released last April its Factory Adresses for Nike branded products. This is a concrete move and "a small but important step forward" as puts it 'NikeWatch', a labour right's campaign sponsored by Oxfam Australia. You can read their comment on this in their May Newsletter

By the way, Nike has put a lot of nice and interesting material online, outlining their approach to CSR. It's worth a look: Nikebiz - Responsibility

Yes indeed, I think public pressure and the constant NGO-campaigning provided some incentive for Nike to move in this direction. Looking forward to discover the next steps...

KPMG survey says CSR entered mainstream in industrialized countries

that's the main result of the

KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2005 - June 2005
[You can download the report as a PDF-File ]

That's good news for a start... will be interesting to find out if the impact of reporting will go beyond reporting and touch future corporate behaviour.

Good start...

" 'To be ethical is profitable, but to be ethical because it is profitable is not ethical.' And, one might add, it is also not profitable in the long run." Peter Forstmoser, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Swiss Re, citing Peter Koestenbaum (Heart of Business, Ethics, Power and Philosophy, Saybrook Press, 1987)

an interesting statement that gives a good start for an interesting read: "Thinking Ethics - How Ethical Values and Standards are Changing", Ed. Beth Krasna, London, Profile Books, 2005.

To find out more, visit www.profilebooks.com

Actually the book was edited on a basis of a 'Thinking Ethics' seminar, held in Geneva in February 2005. The seminar was organized on the initiative of PHILIAS, a swiss NPO describing itself as the SWISS REFERENCE POINT ON CSR - TO PROMOTE AND IMPLEMENT SOCIAL CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

Sorry

In case someone visited corpethics and hoped to find new stuff... SORRY. I am still in the stage of figuring out how to make this best work...
and also looking a bit for more convenient software.. for instance,... if I start putting down my thoughts and reading, I would like to categorize stuff.. and with this blogger, I am not sure yet if I can do this..

anyway, will try to be more consistent and updated..

CSR - marketing or serious business?

CSR - only a marketing tool, or an ethical approach that is really lived by big business. I am still undecided and not sure what to think.

How to decide? What would be credible criterias; how to measure whether it is good PR emphasizing brand/reputation management for the corporation or a genuine ethical business approach?

Isn't any CSR just good.. and more would be better? Where are the problems starting with CSR, and where does it become inacceptablel?

This and more I want to reflect on... and of course, any input will make it more interesting..