The CSR Newsletters are a freely-available resource generated as a dynamic complement to the textbook, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation.

To sign-up to receive the CSR Newsletters regularly during the fall and spring academic semesters, e-mail author David Chandler at david.chandler@ucdenver.edu.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Strategic CSR - Lego

The article in the url below demonstrates the potential of stakeholder action:
 
"A 1-minute, 45-second video has ended a long-term relationship between Lego and Royal Dutch Shell. The Danish toymaker said today that it will not renew a co-promotion deal with Shell, after a Greenpeace video linking Lego with the oil company's Arctic drilling program went viral."
 
Whether or not you think Greenpeace's campaign to get Lego to break with Shell is valid, I think, is beside the point (or, at least, beside the point that I would like to make with today's Newsletter). More important is that Greenpeace was willing to act to shape the business behavior it wants to see. And, they used a particularly creative and effective tool in which to advance their goal:
 
 
Given that Lego was the target, using Lego bricks to make the video was particularly effective. Again, irrespective of whether you think their campaign was legitimate, I would like to see a world in which all stakeholders worked as diligently to effect the behavior by firms that we say we all want.
 
Have a good weekend.
David
 
David Chandler & Bill Werther
 
Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: http://www.sagepub.com/chandler3e/
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
 
 
Greenpeace's Arctic Drilling Video Sinks Lego's Deal With Shell
By Carol Matlack
October 9, 2014
Bloomberg Businessweek