Corporate Social Responsibility : Center for Social Innovation (CSI)

Articles : All | News Articles | Stanford Social Innovation Review Articles | Blog Posts

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2009

Maria Yee established her eco-friendly, high-end furniture company long before going green was the done thing. Two decades later, her company’s environmentally sound practices not only reflect a planet-friendly ethos, but also drive a market-friendly creative edge. Here’s how and why Yee stays green in a brown industry.

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Healthcare

In Africa and at Home, Supply Chains Are Getting Kinder and Greener

Solutions to supply chain problems from motorcycle parts in Africa to grocery delivery and solar power in the US were shared at the Advancing Socially and Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains Conference presented by the Stanford Global Supply Chain Management Forum and the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Entrepreneurship

Q & A: Judith Rodin

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2009

The Rockefeller Foundation is staying at the forefront of new and big ideas and funding new innovation processes like crowdsourcing and collaborative competitions.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development

Just Say “No”

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2009

DEAD AID: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo Review by Jane Wales

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Greening the Corporation

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2009

STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY: A Business Manifesto by Adam Werbach Review by Amory Lovins

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Entrepreneurship

Making a Profit with Ethically Sourced Diamonds

The cofounder of online jewelry retailer Brilliant Earth explains how she built her business.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Healthcare

Companies Emphasize the Environment Over Employees

A professor of organizational behavior argues that "human sustainability" may pay off too.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Rights

Increasing Companies' Safety & Gender Equity

A study of oil rigs shows that a different approach to male-dominated environments can change corporate culture.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Patagonia Keeps a Close Eye on Its Supply Chain

Seen as a leader in sustainable business practices, Patagonia tracks every step in the manufacture of its products to be sure there are "no unintended consequences of our actions," says founder Yvon Chouinard.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Government, Human Rights, Leadership, Nonprofit Management

Japanese Alumni Test Their Post-Disaster Leadership Mettle

As Japan shifts from disaster relief to rebuilding, GSB alumni see opportunities for change and renewal.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

Rediscovering Social Innovation

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2008

Social entrepreneurship and social enterprise have become popular rallying points for those trying to improve the world. These two notions are positive ones, but neither is adequate when it comes to understanding and creating social change in all of its manifestations. The authors make the case that social innovation is a better vehicle for doing this. They also explain why most of today’s innovative social solutions cut across the traditional boundaries separating nonprofits, government, and for-profit businesses. —By James A. Phills Jr., Kriss Deiglmeier, & Dale T. Miller

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility

Smoke and Mirrors

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2008

British American Tobacco Malaysia has won the favor of the Malaysian government and people by making donations to cultural institutions, funding scholarships, and developing youth smoking prevention programs. But can a tobacco company ever be socially responsible?

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Social Entrepreneurship

Microloan Sharks

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2008

Commercial microfinance institutions (MFIs) must calculate two bottom lines: alleviating poverty for clients and also generating profits for investors. To achieve the latter goal, some MFIs charge their impoverished clients exorbitant interest rates. The recent Banco Compartamos IPO in Mexico raises a red flag, demonstrating how easily well-intentioned MFIs and their investors can shift from microlending to microloan-sharking. —By Jonathan C. Lewis

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Education, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

C-Level Diversity

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2008

How to get more racial minorities into corner offices. —By John Rice

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

Baked Goods

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2008

Dancing Deer Bakery helps most when it keeps its eye on the bottom line. —By Abby Fung

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility

When More Mission Equals More Money

The more a business focuses on it’s social mission, the more revenue it will generate.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Nonprofit Management

Speaking of Nonprofit Retirees…

Nonprofits need to think seriously about helping their employees’ with post-work survival.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility

Selling Vs. Selling Out

The author warns that selling a company or organization should not mean selling out as social missions will prove to contribute to long term success.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Why I Like Fair Trade… And What it Needs

Good Capital invests in socially responsible Adina.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Government

Despite Joining Bailout, BB&T Says it Prefers Free Market

BB&T decides to help with the bailout of the financial market.

Resource: Blog Post

Video/Audio : All | Audio | Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Rights

Nike Efforts to Empower Young Girls

Nike has taken pains to clean up its act since the media brought public attention to human rights violations in its supplier factories in the 1990s. Through the Nike Foundation, the sports and fitness giant is taking a proactive approach to some of the world's most challenging social problems. In this audio lecture, Nike Foundation president Maria Eitel talks to a Stanford MBA audience about how the organization is focusing on creating economic opportunities for adolescent girls around the world as a means of alleviating poverty.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development

Promoting Sustainability in the Coffee Industry

Starbucks has developed guidelines for creating and maintaining a sustainable supply chain, which it calls Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices. These coffee-buying guidelines help the company establish equitable relationships with farmers, workers, and communities. In this audio lecture recorded at Stanford during the 2007 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, Willard Hay explores what's making C.A.F.E. Practices successful.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Inspiring Environmentally Friendly Supply Chains

Environmental sustainability is now an imperative for supply chains, and buyers and procurement professionals have more power than ever to exert pressure on suppliers to provide green products. Businesses are also partnering with government and nonprofits to create change in this arena. How do you communicate with suppliers on environmental innovation? At the Stanford 2007 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, executives from an HMO, a government agency, and an entrepreneurial company share successes in greening the supply chains.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Collaborations on Sustainability in Electronics

[photo - L. Commike, G. Blanchette, Edna M. Conway, Judith Glazer, Danielle Harder]

The electronics industry is on the forefront of the movement to improve social responsibility and environmental sustainability across manufacturing and supply chains through collaboration. Industry experts gathered at Stanford for the 2007 Responsible Supply Chains Conference to discuss the business case for such collaboration, review the challenges, and explain why this industry has been particularly successful in this regard.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Responsibility as Innovation Engine

Nike has traveled the full range of the corporate social responsibility movement, from the campaigning days when it was a poster child for all things to do with poor working conditions through the era of multistakeholder partnerships. It has now moved into the next phase where corporate responsibility becomes part of the business model. Speaking at the Stanford 2007 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, Nike's VP for corporate responsibility, Hannah Jones, looks at the future of corporate responsibility as the focus shifts upstream.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility

When Corporate Responsibility Means Going Local

McDonald's has migrated to India, and with it, a commitment to corporate social responsibility. In this university podcast, executive Abhijit Upadhye discusses how the introduction of the "golden arches" into the subcontinent over the past six years has resulted in the creation of local opportunities in the areas of agriculture and food production, storage, and transportation.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Opportunities In Environmental Area

How do environmental challenges create growth opportunities, new markets, and innovation? Two Goldman Sachs managers discuss how their investment firm is making the financing of corporate deals contingent upon the incorporation of increasingly stringent environmental criteria.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Academic vs. Real World Ethics

Dilemmas such as selling other nations scanners that can tell the sex of an unborn child or kerosene heaters without safety features were debated during a discussion with Stanford's Professor David Brady.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Environment

Stanford's Guatemala Service Learning Trip, 2008-8

Global Management Perspective: According to Tom Mercer, the trip "gets you out of the classroom" and into practical situations. It also "... gives perspective of how to deal with global management."

Resource: Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Stanford's Guatemala Service Learning Trip, 2008-5

The trip embodies the goals of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. For Joseph, the global trip "helps me put face and story for my passions."

Resource: Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Opportunities In Environmental Area

How do environmental challenges create growth opportunities, new markets, and innovation? Two Goldman Sachs managers discuss how their investment firm is making the financing of corporate deals contingent upon the incorporation of increasingly stringent environmental criteria.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Academic vs. Real World Ethics

Dilemmas such as selling other nations scanners that can tell the sex of an unborn child or kerosene heaters without safety features were debated during a discussion with Stanford's Professor David Brady.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Environment

Stanford's Guatemala Service Learning Trip, 2008-8

Global Management Perspective: According to Tom Mercer, the trip "gets you out of the classroom" and into practical situations. It also "... gives perspective of how to deal with global management."

Resource: Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Stanford's Guatemala Service Learning Trip, 2008-5

The trip embodies the goals of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. For Joseph, the global trip "helps me put face and story for my passions."

Resource: Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Stanford's Guatemala Service Learning Trip, 2008-4

The experience brought back to the GSB: It was a proud moment when a classmate raised his hand and said, "In Guatemala we saw this as an example of what you just said."

Resource: Video

Case Studies : All | Academic Cases

No Results Found

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Social Entrepreneurship

Gardenburger

The CEO of Gardenburger, a seller of veggie burger products and other food alternatives to meat, considers the company’s advertising strategy. He aims to take the company from the small health-food niche to the consumer mainstream.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Healthcare

Exubera and NICE

This case details the 2006 decision by the United Kingdom to deny coverage for a new form of inhaled insulin. In doing so, it highlights the challenges to innovators in managing conflicts over the costs, benefits, and risks of new technology.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Disclosure Dilemma: Financial Reporting of Contingent and Environmental Liabilities

The case discusses U.S. and international accounting guidance regarding the disclosure of contingent and environmental liabilities.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Entrepreneurship

Overstock.com and Worldstock

Worldstock, Overstock.com’s socially responsible initiative, which marketed handicrafts produced by developing nation artisans to the United States, was suffering losses. Some stakeholders wondered if Worldstock would be shut down or spun off if the situation did not improve.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Government

San Diego Padres: PETCO Park as a Catalyst for Urban Redevelopment

The San Diego Padres’ ballpark was the first integrated sports facility/development project ever attempted. While it proved to be a huge success for the Padres, San Diego, and taxpayers, there were many obstacles that had to be overcome.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility

The Nonmarket Environment of Google

With Google's rapid international growth, came a number of nonmarket challenges including privacy issues in both the United States and European Union, the spectrum auction, intellectual property, corporate social responsibility, and business practices in China.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Models of Corporate Governance: Who's the Fairest of Them All?

This case explores the various corporate governance systems that have been adopted in the United States and abroad. It examines issues of control, director and auditor independence, board structure, and more.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Healthcare

Gilead Sciences (A): The Gilead Access Program for HIV Drugs

Gilead Sciences designs a strategy for delivering an AIDS drug to developing nations in Africa. This first part of the case describes the organization's initial considerations.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Healthcare

Gilead Sciences (B): Implementing the Gilead Access Program for HIV Drugs

Gilead Sciences designs a strategy for delivering an AIDS drug to developing nations in Africa. This second part of the case explores the company’s experience with a distribution program.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Industrial Products AG Thailand (B)

A shipment of industrial products gets waylaid by customs in Thailand, with a charge of smuggling. When the project manager refuses to pay an extortionary fee and is reported to officials, the company manager must figure out how to defuse the situation.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Anatomy of a Corporate Campaign: Rainforest Action Network and Citigroup (A)

In 2000, the Rainforest Action Network launched a campaign to get Citigroup to stop financing destructive activities in endangered ecosystems. Three cases trace the development of that campaign starting with the initial launch and tentative negotiations.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Corporate Philanthropy

What are the motivations for corporate philanthropy, and what forms may such philanthropy take? Is philanthropy good business, and can corporate efforts result in effective philanthropy?

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Nonprofit Management

TransFair USA

TransFair USA, the fair trade labeling arm of the Fair Trade Labeling Organization, faced strategic challenges in 2003. The founder needed to convince uninformed mainstream consumers and skeptical large-scale coffee roasters to buy Fair Trade Certified coffee.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Healthcare

Adiana, Inc., and the Development of a Female Sterilization Device

Adiana’s new female sterilization catheter had proven to be successful in preliminary trials in Mexico. The company president had to make decisions about subject consent and Adiana’s responsibility to participants in further trials.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Healthcare

Merck's US. Managed Distribution Program for the HIV Drug Crixivan

Merck was grappling with how to distribute an HIV drug in limited supply. The decision team had chosen to manage distribution from one source, and was meeting to review the progress and success of its plan.

Resource: Academic Case

Research Papers : All

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Building Sustainable Organizations: The Human Factor

Although most of the research and public pressure concerning sustainability has been focused on the effects of business and organizational activity on the physical environment, companies and their management practices profoundly affect the human and social environment as well. This article briefly reviews the literature on the direct and indirect effects of organizations and their decisions about people on human health and mortality.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility

Who's with Me? False Consensus, Brokerage, and Ethical Decision Making in Organizations

Organization members overestimate the degree to which others share their views on ethical matters. That is, a high level of "betweenness centrality" increases an individual's estimates of agreement with others on ethical issues beyond what is warranted by any actual increase in agreement.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Business, Socially Responsible Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Don't Tweak your Supply Chain - Rethink It End to End

The article examines environmental issues related to supply chains and supply chain management. Attempts to introduce sustainable practices into supply chains often meet with unexpected financial or environmental costs.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Socially Responsible Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Modern Management: Good for the Environment or Just Hot Air?

Establishments in better managed firms are significantly less energy intensive. Better managed firms are also significantly more productive. These results suggest that management practices that are associated with improved productivity are also linked to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Government, Nonprofit Management

Morally Motivated Self-Regulation

Self-regulation is the private provision of public goods and private redistribution. This paper examines the scope of self-regulation motivated by altruistic moral preferences that are reciprocal and stronger the closer are citizens in a socioeconomic distance.

Resource: Research Paper

Courses : All

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility

The Business World: Moral and Spiritual Inquiry through Literature: POLECON 349

This course uses novels and plays as a basis for examining the moral and spiritual aspects of business leadership and of the business environment. The literature covered illuminates the character of business people and the cultural contexts of values and beliefs in which commercial activities take place in a global economy.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility

The Paths to Power: OB 377

Understanding the processes of power and influence in organizations is critical for leaders. This course aims to teach students how to to diagnose and analyze power and politics in organizational situations, show students how to exercise power effectively, and help students come to terms with the inherent dilemmas and choices involved in developing and exercising influence.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility

Leadership Perspectives: OB 363

This course examines the concept of principled leadership and the various ways leaders try to institutionalize values within their organizations. Through assigned readings, interactive lectures with visiting executives, and weekly small group discussions, students learn how leaders implement their principles, and reflect on their own values and career aspirations.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility

Ethical Issues in Biotech Industry: GSBGEN 522

This course focuses on the bioscience industry (biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, genomics, and vaccine). The emphasis is on the ethical and social challenges of running companies in these areas.

Resource: MBA Course

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility

Work and Family: GSBGEN 376

This course examines the strategies that highly educated women and men use to combine work and family. It also explores how managers can help others achieve balance in these two areas.

Resource: MBA Course

Innovators : All

Topic :

Government Programs, Nonprofits, Social Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Government

An interview with Jeremy Sokulsky (MBA '04)

Jeremy Sokulsky is working with government land managers, environmental regulators and private conservation investors to restore Lake Tahoe clarity.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Education, Human Rights, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Dave DeForest-Stalls (EPNL '07)

Dave DeForest-Stalls wants to help kids stay out of gangs. He's providing mentorship and hip ways to keep youth on the straight and narrow.

Resource: CSI Affiliates

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Environment, Government, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Court Gould (EPNL '06)

Court Gould is pushing for Pittsburgh to grow sustainably. He's working hard to inform decision makers about to accomplish that most effectively.

Resource: CSI Affiliates

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Philanthropy & Responsible Investing, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Education, Environment, Government, Healthcare, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Ruth Bolan (EPNL '06)

Ruth Bolan is giving voice to indigenous peoples of the Pacific Island. She funds documentaries that bring their culture and challenges to millions of viewers.

Resource: CSI Affiliates

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Education, Human Rights, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Daniel Grossman

Daniel Grossman's Wild Planet creates toys that parents love as much as kids. His aim is to inspire learning and inventiveness.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Business, Socially Responsible Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Don't Tweak your Supply Chain - Rethink It End to End

The article examines environmental issues related to supply chains and supply chain management. Attempts to introduce sustainable practices into supply chains often meet with unexpected financial or environmental costs.

Resource: Research Paper

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility

Investing at the Bottom of the Ladder

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2011

Companies that invest in their lowest-level employees are more productive and more profitable.

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Socially Responsible Business, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment

Modern Management: Good for the Environment or Just Hot Air?

Establishments in better managed firms are significantly less energy intensive. Better managed firms are also significantly more productive. These results suggest that management practices that are associated with improved productivity are also linked to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Resource: Research Paper

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Government, Nonprofit Management

Morally Motivated Self-Regulation

Self-regulation is the private provision of public goods and private redistribution. This paper examines the scope of self-regulation motivated by altruistic moral preferences that are reciprocal and stronger the closer are citizens in a socioeconomic distance.

Resource: Research Paper

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Healthcare

Disaster Response: Lessons Learned from Haiti

When disaster strikes somewhere in the world, what kind of leadership, nonprofit management, and supply chain expertise are needed? In this university podcast, Stanford professor of surgery, Paul Auerbach, shares lessons learned from the Stanford Emergency Medicine rapid response team's deployment in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake. His experiences provide a glimpse in to how relevant groups may prepare themselves to better assist in future global catastrophes.

Resource: Audio

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