Corporate Responsibility

IBM execs say connecting with consumers can bring new market opportunities

Businesses are facing a new question about who owns them. And the answer is that it’s no longer who it used to be. 

A decade ago, the answer was pretty simple for publicly held companies--the shareholders. Senior management and the board of directors had one primary goal: to increase shareholder value by driving revenue and profit, paying bigger dividends and increasing the stock price.

But, today, the shareholders may still own the company, but consumers own the brand.

Awards to be presented at CRO Conference Sept. 10 in Chicago

CRO Magazine introduces its first CEO of the Year Awards Nominees 2008 to recognize the achievements of the all-star CEOs in Corporate Responsibility.

With the exception of the Mid Market Award, all 2008 CRO CEO of the Year Awards will be named live at the CRO Conference Sept. 10, 2008, at the Union League Club in Chicago. The Mid Market Award was named at the CRO Conference in San Francisco June 24.

CROs should help companies 'prune, plant and preserve' 

Some Corporate Responsibility Officers (CROs) have a big problem. In the best of times, many are treated as spin doctors with little authority to make strategic change within their organizations. And now that the economy has headed south, corporate responsibility and sustainability (CR&S) can appear more marginal than ever. After all, who needs to worry about social issues or the environment when the company’s immediate problem is to protect earnings, cut costs and hit the numbers?

July 4 Travel

CECP report finds two-thirds of companies hiked philanthropy in 2007 Corporate philanthropy at many companies rose in 2007 despite an uncertain economy.Research by the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) found that “giving by large, multinational corporations increased by 5.6 percent, from a median of $24.67 million in 2006 to a median of $26.05 million in 2007.”

Is it time to throw in the towel or hunker down and get serious?

The price of oil just hit $120 per barrel, UBS plans to cut 5,500 jobs, and more than a few former CEOs are finding ample time to hone their golf games as the weakening economy takes its casualties. For corporate responsibility aficionados, is it time to cut back on corporate responsibility programs and prepare to do battle again when the economic fog clears? Au contraire, say the people in the trenches on the sustainability front.