Corporate Social Responsibility

Wolves in Corporate Social Responsibility Clothing

Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman found the Business for Social Responsibility's 2005 conference a sobering experience.

Don't Tell Us To Do What We're Already Doing!

"The Business Council of Australia has come out against Government plans to create legislation forcing directors to meet certain levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR)," reports The Age.

The Corporate Placebo Effect

Corporate social responsibility "may work under certain conditions," writes Deborah Doane, but CSR efforts "are highly vulnerable to market failures, including such things as imperfect information, externalities, and free riders. Most importantly, there is often a wide chasm between what's good for a company and what's good for society as a whole." Although CSR efforts "offer good PR," sometimes they're just that.

RedState Blogger Boosts Wal-Mart For Bucks

PR giant Edelman has hired RedState.org blogger Michael Krempasky "for his ability to connect with conservative audiences," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "Krempasky, on his site, refers to the Edelman gig as his 'day job' versus his blogging hobby.

Wal-Mart's Good Deeds

Wal-Mart Stores "is enjoying its best publicity in years as even its harshest critics laud the retailer's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts," reports Emily Kaiser. And the company is planning a "secret spin strategy to counter a union-backed, anti-Wal-Mart media blitz" that accuses the company of paying poverty-level wages and driving competitors out of business.

Medical Journal Decries Parent's Deadly Interest

The Lancet, a leading medical journal, has requested that its parent company, Reed Elsevier, divest itself of business interests that "threaten human health." The magazine's editor made the request after learning that Spearhead Exhibitions, a Reed Elsevier subsidiary, organised the Defence Systems and Equipment international (DSEi) arms fair, which opens this week in London.

Clarke Under Pressure to Quit British American Tobacco

Kenneth Clarke, a British Conservative Party leadership aspirant, is resisting calls to resign as non-executive deputy chairman of British American Tobacco (BAT) and chair of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee. Clarke's supporters have suggested he would resign the roles only if elected leader.

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