tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91435317328571797292024-03-14T13:25:33.182-06:00Strategic Corporate Social ResponsibilityDavid Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comBlogger1298125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-30533067847325128272024-03-14T13:21:00.001-06:002024-03-14T13:25:02.041-06:00Strategic CSR - COP 28<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">I thought Bloomberg's summary of the agreement reached at COP 28, last December, was telling. First, the good news (with an essential qualification, right at the end, my emphasis):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></strong></div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-weight: normal;">"The latest UN climate summit</span></strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif"> ended with an announcement that nations have committed to transitioning away from all fossil fuels. … The deal calls for countries to quickly shift energy systems away from fossil fuels in a just and orderly fashion, <b><u>albeit in a non-binding deal</u></b>."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then, quickly followed by the reality check:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"The history of adherence to such pledges is spotty at best. After a pledge to phase down coal in Glasgow, Scotland, two years ago, consumption has continued to rise and the world remains very unlikely to limit warming to the Paris Agreement's target of 1.5C."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Equally revealingly, the article in the second url below reports Bloomberg's overall score for the final (nonbinding) agreement in terms of "10 key areas" that optimists ahead of the conference were using to evaluate progress and secure gains made in previous conferences:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Overall, COP28 scored a 3.8 out of 10. That was … 0.1 points higher than the score for last year's COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, but 2.2 points below the score for COP26 in Glasgow in 2021."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The chart accompanying the article shows how dire COP 28's final agreement was in light of what is required (and was hoped for):</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmM_bOg5xtJuiczfHiopdDv2aAOB2Jw2pRGGtWgZySk6ZgujBlUxlM64fjjsNGIhWXitrLUMT3i6sZsIYZp1npKExzRGnVn1SEyS0LwdNZ0RWTu12Y5-Tr2C3OxgnbLeCjeXxnk6wrF6iGPDxnzY8T8mpAIDhkepPxodeOdkDKk8MqTmXxTuSJsjtCnvs"><img alt="" border="0" height="279" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_7346301504584110290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmM_bOg5xtJuiczfHiopdDv2aAOB2Jw2pRGGtWgZySk6ZgujBlUxlM64fjjsNGIhWXitrLUMT3i6sZsIYZp1npKExzRGnVn1SEyS0LwdNZ0RWTu12Y5-Tr2C3OxgnbLeCjeXxnk6wrF6iGPDxnzY8T8mpAIDhkepPxodeOdkDKk8MqTmXxTuSJsjtCnvs=w431-h279" width="431" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Oh well, I suppose there is always next year (as no-one I know has said).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>COP28 Nations Reach First-Ever Deal to Move Away From Fossil Fuels</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By John Ainger, Jess Shankleman, and Jennifer A Dlouhy</div><div style="text-align: left;">December 13, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">Bloomberg</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-13/cop28-ends-with-deal-on-transition-away-from-fossil-fuels">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-13/cop28-ends-with-deal-on-transition-away-from-fossil-fuels</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>COP28's Success Marks Just a Tiny Upgrade on COP27 Results</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Olivia Rudgard and Kira Bindrim</div><div style="text-align: left;">December 13, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">Bloomberg</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-13/cop28-s-success-marks-just-a-tiny-upgrade-on-cop27-results">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-13/cop28-s-success-marks-just-a-tiny-upgrade-on-cop27-results</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-81368742626077558362024-03-12T08:05:00.001-06:002024-03-12T08:36:30.446-06:00Strategic CSR - Coal<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">With the newsletters, I am going to start mixing up the level of insight I provide, with some longer in-depth commentaries (as usual), and some shorter, harder-hitting points, like this quote that I read in the article in the url below about the inertial trajectory of coal consumption:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"While coal remains the world's biggest source of electricity, the increase in renewables installations is outpacing rising demand for power. Moving away from coal will be a critical part of the global fight to reduce carbon emissions."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To be clear, this is the point I wanted to highlight:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"… <span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">coal remains the world's biggest source of electricity."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I find it amazing that this statement remains true. Given how, collectively, we have known about climate change as a threat for 50+ years, yet we have in essence sat on our hands (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2022/11/strategic-csr-carl-sagan.html"> Strategic CSR – Carl Sagan</a>). Obviously, there is great variance but, collectively, we have effectively done nothing since the 1970s, with carbon emissions continuing to rise (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2023/11/strategic-csr-2022-2023.html"> Strategic CSR – 2022 (+ 2023)</a>).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Coal Financing Is Still Booming—Led by China</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Tim Quinson</div><div style="text-align: left;">December 20, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">Bloomberg Green</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-20/coal-financing-is-still-booming-led-by-china-lqdnwy4p">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-20/coal-financing-is-still-booming-led-by-china-lqdnwy4p</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-63087678413615408222024-03-07T08:24:00.000-07:002024-03-07T12:37:26.542-07:00Strategic CSR - EVs<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">Following on from Tuesday's newsletter, the data in the article in the url below represent an additional challenge to the wider adoption of EVs:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Americans are keeping their cars longer than ever. The average age of a passenger vehicle on the road hit a record 12.5 years [in 2023], according to data gathered by S&P Global Mobility. Sedans like Holdsworth's are even older, on average – 13.6 years."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Why is this happening?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Blame it mainly on the pandemic, which in 2020 triggered a global shortage of automotive computer chips, the vital component that runs everything from radios to gas pedals to transmissions. The shortage drastically slowed global assembly lines, making new vehicles scarce on dealer lots just when consumers were increasingly eager to buy."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The constrained supply, of course, also contributed to inflation, which is another factor:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Since the pandemic struck three years ago, the average new vehicle has rocketed 24% to nearly $48,000 as of April, according to Edmunds.com. Typical loan rates on new-car purchases have ballooned to 7%, a consequence of the Federal Reserve's aggressive streak of interest rate hikes to fight inflation."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The result?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"It's all pushed the national average monthly auto loan payment to $729 – prohibitively high for many. Experts say a family earning the median U.S. household income can no longer afford the average new car payment and still cover such necessities as housing, food and utilities."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And, this is not just affecting sales of new cars:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Used vehicle prices, on average, have surged even more since the pandemic hit – up 40%, to nearly $29,000. With an average loan rate having reached 11%, the typical monthly used-vehicle payment is now $563. Faced with deciding between making a jumbo payment and keeping their existing vehicles, more owners are choosing to stick with what they have, even if it means spending more on repairs and maintenance."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In order for EVs to be widely adopted, old cars need to be removed and, in order for this to make sense for the environment, the net effect needs to be carbon positive (i.e., replaced with EVs or hybrids). As with everything to do with climate change, it seems, we are doing too little, too late. Of course, the macro economic factors are not working in the planet's favor, but that has always been true. In order to divert from the pathway we are on, an intervention is required (and some leadership would be nice) – and most economists agree that the best intervention would be a revenue neutral carbon tax (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/search?q=carbon+tax">Strategic CSR – Carbon tax</a>).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Repelled by high car prices, Americans are holding on to their vehicles longer than ever</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Tom Krisher</div><div style="text-align: left;">May 15, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">Associated Press</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://apnews.com/article/cars-older-record-age-prices-shortages-supply-6e3273208399803a402e707e1393475c">https://apnews.com/article/cars-older-record-age-prices-shortages-supply-6e3273208399803a402e707e1393475c</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-34483991777677679172024-03-05T07:39:00.001-07:002024-03-05T07:53:12.805-07:00Strategic CSR - Electricity<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the first url below argues that, for all the talk about the shift to electrification, and the focus on producing electrical versions of goods already in existence (e.g., EVs; see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/search/label/EVs">Strategic CSR – EVs</a>), we are not nearly as prepared as we think to transition:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></strong></div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">"It makes sense: Electrification is often the fastest and cheapest way to decarbonize our energy consumption. The technologies to decarbonize electricity already exist and are, for the most part, readily deployable at a large scale by the private sector. But here's a sobering fact about all the talk of the 'electrification of everything': It isn't likely to happen. At least, not soon. We can't go all the way down the electrification road for a host of reasons—nor should we want to. For one thing, it would place unnecessary limitations on other viable solutions to rising greenhouse-gas emissions. It also ignores existing technical, regulatory and strategic constraints on electrification."</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">More specifically, the author presents what she argues are the five major barriers to the electrification of everything:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">1. </span><strong style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Some things can't be electrified</span></strong></div> <h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">2. C<strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">heaper alternatives may be coming for the most difficult-to-electrify areas</span></strong></span><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></h3> <h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">3. <strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Access to land, a surfeit of complaints</span></strong></span><o:p></o:p></span></h3> <h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">4. <strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Difficulty getting the necessary permits</span></strong><o:p></o:p></span></h3> <h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">5. <strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Electricity grids are highly interruptible</span></strong> </span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am not sure these are the only five, or even the most important five (I read a while ago that, if all the cars currently in California became EVs overnight, the electrical system would need to produce 50 percent more electricity than its current capacity – and this is a utility that already has trouble keeping the lights on), but they do convey the complexity of electrification. Perhaps most important, they highlight the extent to which these challenges are not part of the current conversation (and policy making) around electrification, which is proceeding based on false or misleading assumptions. Developing an EV does not mean that every car can be an EV – in short, there are very few easy answers out there.</span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">For a related argument (favoring hybrid cars over EVs), see the article in the second url below.</span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Take care</span></span></h3><h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">David</span></span></h3><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The Five Things Keeping Us From Going All-Electric</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Amy Myers Jaffe</div><div style="text-align: left;">July 24, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Wall Street Journal</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">R1, R4-5</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-electric-energy-roadblocks-68c5f3b9">https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-electric-energy-roadblocks-68c5f3b9</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>We May Not Be Ready for an All-E.V. World</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Peter Coy</div><div style="text-align: left;">July 17, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">The New York Times</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">A19</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/14/opinion/electric-vehicles-toyota-hybrids.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/14/opinion/electric-vehicles-toyota-hybrids.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-76224039347794180162024-02-29T07:29:00.001-07:002024-02-29T07:46:38.780-07:00Strategic CSR - Allbirds<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the url below records the rapid rise and equally dramatic fall of Allbirds – the once trendy "eco-friendly wool sneakers worn by Silicon Valley tech bros." The story also highlights the obvious fact about business (life?), which has always been true – good intentions do not necessarily lead to good outcomes. And, in particular in the marketplace, good intentions do not replace the need to have a great product:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">"It turns out that not everyone wants to dress head-to-toe in merino wool, which </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">although better for the environment<span style="color: #222222;"> than nylon or polyester, isn't as durable. Customers complained of holes in their sneakers months after buying them. And the leggings, which were made from a blend of wool and other fibers, in addition to being see-through, didn't hold their shape, the people said. Allbirds said the sheerness was limited to one light color and that it was a minor issue caught at an early stage."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The case is an insightful story of how to attract a loyal following among customers, and then lose it just as quickly:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"[Co-founder] Zwillinger has a saying: Customers will accept one degree of weirdness, but not two. Iterations of existing styles are preferred over brands pushing too far into new categories. He said in an interview that shoppers who came to Allbirds for its original shoes weren't ready to buy technical gear such as running shoes or workout clothes from the brand. He acknowledged problems with the leggings and other workout clothes. 'You've got to get [the] fit right,' he said."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The ultimate takeaway has implications well beyond the lifespan of a marginal apparel company:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Allbirds said it isn't changing its commitment to sustainability, even though it doesn't always drive shoppers to buy its products. Emails sent to customers touting the environmental benefits of Allbirds shoes and clothing produced fewer sales than messages that prioritized comfort among other attributes. Environmental concerns are among the least important attributes consumers look for when buying shoes and clothing, according to a survey in March of 750 U.S. consumers by Wedbush Securities. Comfort and price are among the most important."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How a Hot Allbirds Lost Its Way</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Suzanne Kapner</div><div style="text-align: left;">July 17, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Wall Street Journal</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">A1, A10</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-allbirds-lost-its-way-a44d5415">https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-allbirds-lost-its-way-a44d5415</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-81470463060637021632024-02-27T07:14:00.001-07:002024-02-27T08:09:23.522-07:00Strategic CSR - Plastic bags<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the url below presents a great example of a well-intentioned market intervention that produced unintended consequences:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">"Almost a decade ago, California became the first state in the United States to ban single-use plastic bags in an effort to tackle an intractable plastic waste problem."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Predictably, the market reacted:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">"Then came the reusable, heavy-duty plastic bags, offered to shoppers for ten cents. Designed to withstand dozens of uses, and technically recyclable, many retailers treated them as exempt from the ban."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But, less predictably, the consequences generated by the adaptation produced the exact opposite of what was originally intended:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">"But because they didn't look much different from the flimsy bags they replaced, lots of people didn't actually reuse them. And though they came emblazoned with a recycling symbol, it turned out that few, if any, actually were recycled."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Ultimately:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">"Last year, Californians threw away more plastic bags, by weight, than when the law first passed, according to figures from CalRecycle, California's recycling agency."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In short, the mainstream CSR discussion in action.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i>Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</i> (6e)</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>California Hopes to Fix Flawed Plastic-Bag Ban</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Hiroko Tabuchi</div><div style="text-align: left;">February 18, 2024</div><div style="text-align: left;">The New York Times</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">p20</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/15/climate/california-plastic-bag-ban.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/15/climate/california-plastic-bag-ban.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-53184859616884299952024-02-23T11:50:00.001-07:002024-02-23T12:02:14.841-07:00Strategic CSR - Sea temperatures<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the url below hints at the extent to which climate change is accelerating:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"The exceptional warmth that first enveloped the planet last summer is continuing strong into 2024: Last month clocked in as the hottest January ever measured. … It was the hottest January on record for the oceans, too. … Sea surface temperatures were just slightly lower than in August 2023, the oceans' warmest month on the books. And sea temperatures kept on climbing in the first few days of February, surpassing the daily records set last August."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The graphic accompanying the article makes the difference from prior years explicit:</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRk-WFKa7iym0P7GYrtb0kHNc7aCQXExNQWYBAcC3Jfrs3SXEVcuGTjm2Y8D-JwQDwWl6J2ZqgBqTk4pdLIHKhoZta6OkyqemG2FKkPGdZcbDzZreKKYh21bX-jOraCq5yg1CmSbAdsZ8U5_8ObySvH3cWMytRZTvfzOEJMyj4ofTri_ZbCzrqxoxciWQ"><img alt="" border="0" height="275" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_7338871752222644018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRk-WFKa7iym0P7GYrtb0kHNc7aCQXExNQWYBAcC3Jfrs3SXEVcuGTjm2Y8D-JwQDwWl6J2ZqgBqTk4pdLIHKhoZta6OkyqemG2FKkPGdZcbDzZreKKYh21bX-jOraCq5yg1CmSbAdsZ8U5_8ObySvH3cWMytRZTvfzOEJMyj4ofTri_ZbCzrqxoxciWQ=w411-h275" width="411" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Tellingly, in terms of how much we now take such headlines for granted, the story was on the back page of the main NYT section (hard copy) – in essence, ensuring that few people see it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i>Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</i> (6e)</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>2024 Begins With More Record Heat Worldwide</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Raymond Zhong and Elena Shao</div><div style="text-align: left;">February 9, 2024</div><div style="text-align: left;">The New York Times</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">A24</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/climate/2024-hottest-january-data.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/climate/2024-hottest-january-data.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-54716475691798907152024-02-20T21:51:00.001-07:002024-02-20T21:59:48.504-07:00Strategic CSR - LGBTQ+<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the url below frames one of the most challenging issues in implementing strategic CSR – how does a company know what their stakeholders truly care about? In other words, how can company leaders better understand the real interests and demands of the firm's stakeholders. There are certainly plenty of examples to demonstrate that what stakeholders say and what they do are different (and potentially diametrically opposed – see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2017/08/strategic-csr-uber.html"> Strategic CSR – Uber</a>, <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2017/04/strategic-csr-united.html"> Strategic CSR – United</a>, and <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2023/10/strategic-csr-accountability.html"> Strategic CSR – Accountability</a>):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Most consumers want brands to support inclusion. But when they do, they face a potentially negative backlash. … Just ask Bud Light."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Social response bias tells us that, when asked, we will say what we think is the socially appropriate thing to say. What we do when the spotlight is off, however, could easily be something completely different. This makes it challenging for leaders to create value for those stakeholders, as noted by the author of the article, the CEO and president of "the LGBTQ advocacy group Glaad":</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">"Reading the headlines in 2023, it may have seemed as if consumer brands lost big when it came to LGBTQ issues. Dozens of companies faced social-media attacks—in some cases boycotts—over their support for Pride month, among other things. And some of those corporations took a sales hit during the furor."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When the reality is quite different:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">"But that's just the headlines. The real picture shows that corporations are continuing their support for LGBTQ inclusion and representation in marketing—despite threats and boycotts. More than 60 companies from a variety of industries, for instance, signed Glaad's </span><a href="https://glaad.org/companies-stand-up-during-pride-month-we-reject-the-harassment-and-bullying-of-the-lgbtq-community/" style="background-color: white;">joint statement of support</a><span style="background-color: white;"> for LGBTQ people at the end of June."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In spite of broad support throughout the U.S. for LGBTQ+ rights, there remains a significant amount of institutional resistance:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">"[In 2023], the </span><span style="background: white;">ACLU reported<span style="color: #222222;"> that more than 500 bills targeting the LGBTQ community were introduced in 47 states. Most of those bills singled out transgender youth."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The other part of this that is so challenging is that, if a leader fails to respond to stakeholders who say they want to see a certain kind of behavior, they are criticized. Equally, if they implement behavior that stakeholders say they want (but really don't), then they get punished in the market. By resisting or parrying all social pressure, therefore, leaders can avoid some of the backlash, but no one was ever rewarded for avoiding a disaster. In our society, we reward people who clean up after a disaster, and we criticize those who don't do what we say – what we do not do is reward someone for preventing a crisis, since we can never be sure the crisis was guaranteed to happen. Much better to stand <u>for</u> something, therefore, rather than against that thing (or attempt to ignore the issue altogether). The danger for firms who misjudge their stakeholders' position on sensitive topics, of course, can be severe – just ask <a href="https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/BUD">Anheuser-Busch</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/TGT">Target</a>. Similarly, due directly to stakeholder criticism:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">"Bud Light dropped from its position as top-selling beer in the U.S. by dollar sales. For the year, Bud Light says, it remains the No. 1 brand in the U.S. nationally by volume. Target removed some items from its Pride selection and in some cases moved the displays from the front of the store. The retailer's sales dropped due to the controversy."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The only answer that makes sense is to build strong, trust-based relationships with all stakeholders, based on genuine commitments by the firm. Doing so ensures that (a) the firm has a better idea about what stakeholders truly care about and (b) if a disaster happens, you have a well of trust for those stakeholders to draw from, so they are much more likely to give you the benefit of doubt. The problem with that, of course, is that building trust-based relationships with all stakeholders takes a huge amount of commitment and runs counter to the way that capitalism has been practiced in the West for so long.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The Challenge Facing Companies When Dealing With LGBTQ Issues</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Sarah Kate Ellis</div><div style="text-align: left;">December 10, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Wall Street Journal</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/lgbtq-challenges-business-2024-868cc7d1">https://www.wsj.com/business/lgbtq-challenges-business-2024-868cc7d1</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-76515976538787792032024-02-15T21:04:00.001-07:002024-02-15T21:10:17.453-07:00Strategic CSR - Child labor (II)<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the url below provides an update on my recent newsletter about child labor in the U.S. (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2024/02/strategic-csr-child-labor-in-us.html"> Strategic CSR – Child labor (in the U.S.)</a>). I think the report reveals a remarkably quick reaction from the companies that were named in <i>The NYT's</i> initial article:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Now, McDonald's says it is requiring private inspectors to review overnight shifts at slaughterhouses that provide some of its meat, where children as young as 13 were cleaning heavy machinery. Suppliers for Ford Motor Company must now scrutinize the faces of employees when they arrive for work. Costco is commissioning more audits with Spanish-speaking inspectors."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The response illustrates the central concept within <i>Strategic CSR</i> of stakeholders holding firms to account for their actions. In this case, the key stakeholders (the media) exposed the offensive behavior, which generated additional backlash from other stakeholders, and a subsequent adjustment by the firms. In this sense, firms are merely the reflection of the aggregated interests of their collective set of stakeholders – they will do what their stakeholders (truly) want, which firms can identify when those stakeholders reward the behavior they support and punish the behavior they do not support:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Along with McDonald's and Costco, Starbucks, Whole Foods and PepsiCo are revising the kinds of audits they require at their suppliers. The changes include enhancing reviews of night shifts and shifts run by outside contractors, such as cleaning companies, and moving away from announcing audits in advance."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, it is up to stakeholders to follow-up and ensure the announced response becomes actual behavior.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Confronted With Child Labor in the U.S., Companies Move to Crack Down</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Hannah Dreier</div><div style="text-align: left;">February 8, 2024</div><div style="text-align: left;">The New York Times</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">A22</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/us/child-labor-us-companies.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/us/child-labor-us-companies.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-4429037623730855162024-02-13T12:58:00.001-07:002024-02-13T13:05:34.026-07:00Strategic CSR - ESG<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the url below updates a newsletter I sent in September about how executives, <span style="background: white; color: #222222;">in the face of growing ideological polarization around ESG-related issues, are engaging in "green-hushing" by</span> mentioning ESG less often on quarterly calls (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2023/09/strategic-csr-green-hushing.html"> Strategic CSR – Green-hushing</a>):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Many companies no longer utter these three letters: E-S-G. Following years of simmering investor backlash, political pressure and legal threats over environmental, social and governance efforts, a number of business leaders are now making a conscious effort to avoid the once widely used acronym for such initiatives."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instead:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">"On earnings calls, many chief executives now employ new approaches. Some companies, including </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Coca-Cola<span style="background: white;">, are rebranding corporate reports and committees, stripping ESG from titles. Advisers are coaching executives on alternative ways to describe their efforts, proposing new terms like 'responsible business.' On Wall Street, meanwhile, some firms are </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">closing once-popular ESG funds<span style="color: #222222;"> as interest fades."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The chart accompanying the article, illustrating the number of S&P 500 firms that refer directly to "ESG" in their quarterly earnings calls, is instructive:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTX7jTj8ufGgWHOfzLv39j3-xXVqrqOH6wlN3veGg6v7JamdniLCQ0jtS3hTKJ9vBltboKJfLhPe56IsQaw8wHCEti48yIGcDoLgKxIcXRKBtSr00q93FLh_6JQ5GlEBV8Xn06RcAdJ6qoXh9HBFip9QLaAHPHPgkjT6CNIcdixDZfwhxC9eAj1PAqHBQ"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_7335178470104722706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTX7jTj8ufGgWHOfzLv39j3-xXVqrqOH6wlN3veGg6v7JamdniLCQ0jtS3hTKJ9vBltboKJfLhPe56IsQaw8wHCEti48yIGcDoLgKxIcXRKBtSr00q93FLh_6JQ5GlEBV8Xn06RcAdJ6qoXh9HBFip9QLaAHPHPgkjT6CNIcdixDZfwhxC9eAj1PAqHBQ=s320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This pattern is replicated within firms, also, including some of the most high-profile advocates for ESG. For example, I saw this chart recently from Bloomberg about Larry Fink's BlackRock:</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8OSZBUllEZPKA_sO9QXWadVdJrXvonDf69weKmA7pMcjZ-_JSP5xJy7AdeatZl-8FxACnv0FJUexvk2BWOQnm9suQLY5EC4fQlDJJ_AlCxPcNs2J4H_7pJapvaBUVG-qDM_qoCx0iPnzcgFF9nwTuxVX51a2m89CXc0IJBPmggpJZBovqSCTVxEVZdsI"><img alt="" border="0" height="227" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_7335178484520779154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8OSZBUllEZPKA_sO9QXWadVdJrXvonDf69weKmA7pMcjZ-_JSP5xJy7AdeatZl-8FxACnv0FJUexvk2BWOQnm9suQLY5EC4fQlDJJ_AlCxPcNs2J4H_7pJapvaBUVG-qDM_qoCx0iPnzcgFF9nwTuxVX51a2m89CXc0IJBPmggpJZBovqSCTVxEVZdsI=w415-h227" width="415" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And, even more dire, in New Hampshire (and a few other U.S. states), the Republican-led legislature has tried to <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/new-hampshire-gop-officials-seek-to-make-using-esg-a-crime" target="_blank"> criminalize ESG investing</a>:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire are seeking to make using ESG criteria in state funds a crime in the latest attack on the beleaguered investing strategy."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My own reaction to this is that the pushback against the ESG 'industry' is justified, but is being motivated by the wrong reasons. Although the partisan rhetoric can be wildly misleading, the lack of consistent definitions and measurements, let alone agreement on what even should be measured, means the ESG industry only has itself to blame (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/search/label/ESG">Strategic CSR – ESG</a>). Moreover, the focus has been almost exclusively on the "E," with little discussion around the huge (and equally essential) areas of the "S" and the "G," which few people understand and even fewer know how to measure. The emergence (and advocacy) of ESG, although no doubt due to good intentions, has been a mess and has set-back the cause as a whole. Because it was so poorly thought-through, the opening was created for those with an ideological agenda (or even for those who just care to exploit the information asymmetry to make money) to wade in, and the result has been both ugly and extremely unhelpful.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Companies Avoid Mentioning ESG, The Latest No-No</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Chip Cutter and Emily Glazer</div><div style="text-align: left;">January 10, 2024</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Wall Street Journal</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">A1, A6</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/the-latest-dirty-word-in-corporate-america-esg-9c776003">https://www.wsj.com/business/the-latest-dirty-word-in-corporate-america-esg-9c776003</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-9245978749542412932024-02-08T14:33:00.001-07:002024-02-08T14:36:46.692-07:00Strategic CSR - Ends vs. means<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the url below wrestles with the proposition that the ends justify the means. Specifically, that when the danger is existential (which is how many understandably frame the climate crisis), then attempting to force change in order to avert the crisis can be justified with extreme action. In particular, the article is an interview with the author (and activist), Andreas Malm:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: black;">"With the 2021 publication of his unsettling book, </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">'How to Blow Up a Pipeline,'</span><span style="background: white; color: black;"> Andreas Malm established himself as a leading thinker of climate radicalism. The provocatively titled manifesto, which, to be clear, does not actually provide instructions for destroying anything, functioned both as a question – why has climate activism remained so steadfastly peaceful in the face of minimal results? – and as a call for the escalation of protest tactics like sabotage."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The interview is fascinating, and I have a lot of sympathy with the points being made. Here is an exchange that is illustrative:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; padding: 0in;">"<b>Is there not a risk that smashing things would cause a backlash that would actually impede progress on climate? </b></span><span style="background: white; color: black;">I fundamentally disagree with the idea that there is progress happening and that we might ruin it by escalating. In 2022, we had the largest <span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">windfall of profits in the fossil-fuel industry</span></span><b><sup><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: red; padding: 0in;"> </span></sup></b><span style="background: white; color: black;">ever. These profits are reinvested into expanded production of fossil fuels. The progress that people talk about is often cast in terms of investment in renewables and expansion in the capacity of solar and wind power around the world. However, that is not a transition. That is an addition of one kind of energy on top of another. It doesn't matter how many solar panels we build if we also keep building more coal power plants, more oil pipelines, and on that crucial metric there simply is no progress. I struggle to see how anyone could interpret the trends as pointing in the right direction."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Equally fascinating/challenging/depressing:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; padding: 0in;">"<b>Could you give me a reason to live? </b></span><span style="background-color: white;">What do you mean?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; padding: 0in;">Your work is crushing.<i> </i>But I have optimism about the human project. </span></b><span style="color: black;">I'm not an optimist about the human project. …</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; padding: 0in;">I'm not joking. </span></strong><span style="background: white; color: black;">Yeah, I'm not sure that I have the qualifications to give people advice about reasons to live. My daily affective state is one of great despair about the incredible destructive forces at work in this world – not only at the level of climate. What has been going on in the Middle East just adds to this feeling of destructive forces completely out of control. The situation in the world, as far as I can tell, is incredibly bleak. So how do we live with what we know about the climate crisis? Sometimes I think that the meaning of life is to not give up, to keep the resistance going even though the forces stacked against you are overwhelmingly strong. This often requires some kind of religious conviction, because sometimes it seems irrational."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Tactics similar to this are becoming more 'acceptable' among environmental activists for some time now (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2022/09/strategic-csr-eco-activism.html"> Strategic CSR – Eco-activism</a>). Whether they will be any more effective is yet to be determined.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How This Climate Activist Justifies Violence</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By David Marchese</div><div style="text-align: left;">January 21, 2024</div><div style="text-align: left;">The New York Times Magazine</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">11-13</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/14/magazine/andreas-malm-interview.html">https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/14/magazine/andreas-malm-interview.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-84507961915166902192024-02-06T15:02:00.001-07:002024-02-06T15:08:09.823-07:00Strategic CSR - Zoom (II)<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">A quick follow-up on my recent newsletter highlighting that fully remote workers are more likely to miss out on promotions and mentoring (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2024/01/strategic-csr-zoom.html"> Strategic CSR – Zoom</a>). The article in the url below suggests they are also more likely to be fired:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">"Workers logging on from home five days a week were 35% more likely to be </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">laid off<span style="color: #222222;"> in 2023 than their peers who put in office time, according to an analysis of two million white-collar workers conducted by employment data provider Live Data Technologies. The analysis showed 10% of fully remote workers were laid off last year, compared with 7% of those working in an office full time or on a hybrid basis."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The argument is that, because managers have less close relationships with remote workers, it is psychologically easier to fire them:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Much of the disparity, he says, is that it's simply harder to build attachments to people you don't see face to face."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And, it seems, leaders are becoming more explicit with their employees about the risk they run by not coming into the office, at least some of the time:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">"Wayfair<span style="background: white;">, the online home-goods retailer, recently told employees that remote workers would be more likely to be affected in </span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">company layoffs<span style="color: #222222;">. Executives also told staff they believe most workers should be in an office most days."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All the commentary I have seen suggests that, while employees prefer to be remote (and have the agency to choose how often they come into the office), the longer term trends suggest the current set-up will not last, simply because of the consequences of remaining remote:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Other managerial perceptions could be at play, too, he adds. A Gartner survey in 2021 found that 68% of executives and managers believed in-office workers were higher performers than remote employees."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have seen reports that CEOs believe most employees will be back at work, five days a week, in about 5 years' time:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">"'If you have a person working in finance who's not coming to the office, why wouldn't you hire that same person in India or in the Philippines?' said Christian Ulbrich, chief executive of real-estate company </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Jones Lang LaSalle<span style="background: white;">, noting that in many cases overseas workers can do the same job for less money."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Remote Workers Feel Brunt of Layoffs</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Te-Ping Chen</div><div style="text-align: left;">January 30, 2024</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Wall Street Journal</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">A9</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/layoffs-remote-work-data-980ed59d">https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/layoffs-remote-work-data-980ed59d</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-11621663253217108652024-02-01T15:51:00.001-07:002024-02-01T16:05:17.865-07:00Strategic CSR - Child labor (in the U.S.)<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">A common conclusion reached by students discussing the Nike (sweatshop) case that I teach in my strategy classes is that firms should be held responsible for the whole supply chain. When I point out that there is a cost to this that many Western consumers are unwilling to bear, the students find the dissonance challenging. But, a significant reason why <i>strategic</i> CSR is more valuable than the mainstream CSR discussion is precisely because it deals with empirical reality – incorporating models of human behavior in line with the decisions people actually make, rather than decisions we might wish they made.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In terms of whether companies are willing to audit their own operations (let alone whether external stakeholders are willing to pay), the article in the url below offers an extensive look at where we are, currently. There is an industry of private auditors that companies use to deflect the suspicion/accusation of transgressions in their supply chain. Companies hire these auditors to audit suppliers, largely because federal government agencies are too understaffed to enforce the legislation intended to protect exploited worker populations:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"In the past two decades, private audits have become the solution to a host of public relations headaches for corporations. When scandal erupts over labor practices, or shareholders worry about legal risks, or advocacy groups demand a boycott, companies point to these inspections as evidence that they have eliminated abuses in their supply chains. Known as social compliance audits, they have grown into an $80 billion global industry, with firms performing hundreds of thousands of inspections each year."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Unfortunately, child workers, who often staff the overnight and cleaning shifts (especially in labor- and machinery-intensive industries), often evade inspections given the limited (day) time inspectors actually stay on site. The article makes it clear that this convenient reality seems to be in the best interests of all involved (apart from, perhaps, the child workers who slip under the radar of every regulation intended to protect them):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Children were overlooked by auditors who were moving quickly, leaving early or simply not sent to the part of the supply chain where minors were working, The Times found in audits performed at 20 production facilities used by some of the nation's most recognizable brands. Auditors did not catch instances in which children were working on Skittles and Starburst candies, Hefty brand party cups, the pork in McDonald's sandwiches, Gerber baby snacks, Oreos, Cheez-Its or the milk that comes with Happy Meals."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Why does this still happen?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Children often use forged documents that slip by auditors who check paperwork but do not speak with most workers face-to-face. Corporations suggest that supply chains are reviewed from start to finish, but sub-suppliers such as industrial farms remain almost entirely unscrutinized."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, what is the solution? How do we fund federal agencies to enforce the legislation that already exists? More specifically, how do we incentivize companies to realize that ensuring a clean supply chain is in their best business interests? The key, I think, is that when abuses like those revealed in articles like this appear, we need to act rather than look the other way. As long as there are no substantive consequences, then this greenwashing will continue until we decide, at some point, that it is no longer acceptable. Ultimately, though, it comes down to a willingness to bear the cost burden. Auditing an entire supply chain is expensive – who is going to pick up the tab?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>An Industry Paid to Find Child Laborers, Doesn't</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Hannah Dreier</div><div style="text-align: left;">December 31, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">The New York Times</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">p1, 14-15</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/us/migrant-child-labor-audits.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-59463767321218275032024-01-30T10:38:00.001-07:002024-01-30T10:42:13.563-07:00Strategic CSR - Davos<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">In general, I find that content generated at Davos should be taken with a handful of skepticism – there is a lot of virtue signaling going on, along with the need to be seen in the right place at the right time. The article in the url below, suggesting that the leaders of the world are now suddenly serious about climate change, appears to be more of the same:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202224; letter-spacing: -0.25pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202224; letter-spacing: -0.25pt;">"Instead of just responding to the business effects of climate change, leaders at this year's World Economic Forum are discussing creating a proactive positive impact."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Apparently, the key to this sudden realization of the need to act is <i>regeneration</i>, "<span style="color: #202224; letter-spacing: -0.25pt;">rethinking and reinventing everything from business models to supply chains, as opposed to tweaking around the edges to mitigate, instead of prevent, risk."</span> The idea that "regeneration" is just now occurring to the global discussion on climate change is laughable, since it has been around for many years. But, beyond the superficiality of the article, there are two points that stood out to me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">First, is the Pew opinion poll showing that individual Americans are more than ready to blame others (corporations, in particular) for climate change, but only 27% see the solution in individual behavior. They don't understand that the two things are the same, since we are all stakeholders and companies merely reflect the collective interests of all stakeholders, as they interact within the boundaries of what we call the corporation.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Second, I have always disliked the concept of "resilience." It is dangerous because it assumes we need to take the status quo as a given, and work from there. While there is obviously an empirical reality to this, accepting resilience without question avoids diagnosing the core problem and identifying why we are in the mess we are in. And, if we do not understand the cause of the problem, we are highly unlikely to solve it. Linking what Patagonia has done with regeneration to the 'excuse' of resilience is a disservice to the pioneering innovation of Yvon Chouinard (and, again, only ensures we continue to bury our heads in the sand):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"<span style="color: #202224; letter-spacing: -0.25pt;">Of course, even getting companies to the stage of resilience – never mind regeneration – is a challenge. … Still, the appetite for change is there – and seems to only be growing. That's not least of all, say some leaders, because there's no good alternative."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Key takeaway – expect nothing to change.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Davos 2024: The future of sustainable business is 'regeneration'</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Amanda Ruggeri</div><div style="text-align: left;">January 19, 2024</div><div style="text-align: left;">BBC</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240119-davos-2024-the-future-of-sustainable-business-is-regeneration">https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240119-davos-2024-the-future-of-sustainable-business-is-regeneration</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-87613036584559133212024-01-25T13:41:00.001-07:002024-01-25T13:56:51.996-07:00Strategic CSR - Zoom<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">As we know, firms are struggling with bringing their employees back to work in the office, full-time. It is obvious why employees might not want to come back (I always heard that it is not 'working in the office' that is the problem, but the 'commute to the office' they do not like), but what are the consequences?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For the organization, I have to believe at some level there is a reduction in productivity. I know there were reports, early in the lockdown, about how the productivity of teams actually increased when they went remote, but my sense is that this is research based on teams that formed their culture in-person, prior to the pandemic, and then moved online (thus reducing the inefficiency of commutes). Now that organizations are starting to form teams from scratch remotely, I have to think that is a more challenging task.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For the individuals, though, I also always thought that being away from the office would likely exclude them from much of the serendipity that characterizes human interaction and career success. The article in the url below confirms this thought by finding that people who work remotely full-time (5 days a week) are less likely to receive promotions and mentoring than those that come into the office, for at least for part of the week:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">"For a while, remote workers seemed to have it all: elastic waistbands, no commute, better concentration and the ability to pop in laundry loads between calls. New data, though, shows fully remote workers are falling behind in one of the most-prized and important aspects of a career: getting promoted."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Specifically:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">"Over the past year, remote workers were promoted 31% less frequently than people who worked in an office, either full-time or on a hybrid basis, according to an analysis of two million white-collar workers by employment-data provider Live Data Technologies. Remote workers also get less mentorship, a gap that's especially pronounced for women, research shows. Of employees working full time</span><span style="background: white;"> in an office<span style="color: #222222;"> or on a hybrid basis, 5.6% received promotions at their organization in 2023, according to Live Data Technologies<strong><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif">,</span></strong> versus 3.9% of those who worked remotely."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And, although the article doesn't cover this directly, it is also likely true that the more someone is in person, the more of these 'benefits' they will likely experience. In terms of fully remote work, however, I was surprised by how prevalent that option appears to be:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">"While many workplaces have adopted hybrid policies or reverted to a fully in-person approach, nearly 20% of all employees with college degrees or higher still work on a fully remote basis, according to December data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What is ironic is that the same survey reports that remote workers feel more engaged and less burned-out than their in-person colleagues. But, this is either not translating into productivity (perceived or otherwise) or is something executives feel less concerned about, since they are increasingly become more assertive (and honest) in the reality of the workplace as they see it:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">"Nearly 90% of chief executives who were surveyed said that when it comes to favorable assignments, raises or promotions, they are more likely to reward employees who make an effort to come to the office."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a generational element to this discussion, as one of the accompanying charts in the article suggests: </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_mrS0nr0HZO9gFM60cQ-z5fSyuvTrpb3r3XVrRrvmkMy-5cZ7czW9YFP4HYauofIfc_ExCfrsOpCzZW_c-Uu06YNGz6J9e2jAk_THUolK7-6PGwPUlITSzjJciz1PYyGJI1KI6hK6lR-76ZcaBw8i8Ztd_aByNc7NLZ67Wi2i1srUaf4F1Jg-844JDUs"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_7328138995197325026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_mrS0nr0HZO9gFM60cQ-z5fSyuvTrpb3r3XVrRrvmkMy-5cZ7czW9YFP4HYauofIfc_ExCfrsOpCzZW_c-Uu06YNGz6J9e2jAk_THUolK7-6PGwPUlITSzjJciz1PYyGJI1KI6hK6lR-76ZcaBw8i8Ztd_aByNc7NLZ67Wi2i1srUaf4F1Jg-844JDUs=s320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">How to manage this issue is clearly going to be something that companies will wrestle with, for a while. Given this, the amount of apparent consensus there is on longer term projections is surprising:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">"In the online survey of 1,325 CEOs of large companies in 11 countries, conducted last year by professional-services firm KPMG, almost two-thirds of respondents said they expect most employees will be working in </span><span style="background: white;">offices full-time<span style="color: #222222;"> in another three years."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Remote Workers Are Losing Out on Promotions</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Te-Ping Chen</div><div style="text-align: left;">January 13, 2024</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Wall Street Journal</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">B1, B5</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/remote-workers-are-losing-out-on-promotions-8219ec63">https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/remote-workers-are-losing-out-on-promotions-8219ec63</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-87757364847062232472024-01-23T08:03:00.001-07:002024-01-23T08:06:09.433-07:00Strategic CSR - Diamonds<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the url below suggests that the producers of lab-grown diamonds are overcoming one of the main criticisms levelled at their products – that they consume large amounts of energy to manufacturer, so are not nearly as <i>green</i> as they are marketed:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"A decade ago, they were relatively unknown in the jewelry industry, but now make up a fifth of diamond sales by value. … Made largely in China and India, lab-grown diamonds are produced using heat and pressure but without any mining. The lab-growing process, however, does require huge amounts of energy, so stones' green credentials depend on where the power comes from."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Having solved the issue of having to dig these things out of the ground (often under appalling conditions), the next step was to remove the emissions associated with the vast amounts of energy required to produce lab-grown diamonds:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Danish jeweler Pandora's diamonds are made using renewable energy and set in recycled gold and silver rings. It said a cut and polished one carat diamond has a carbon footprint of roughly 9.2 kilograms, less than a tenth of the carbon emissions for a natural diamond—106.9kg CO2 based on research from the Natural Diamond Council."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Similarly:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"In 2019, Laura Lambert launched Fenton, an ethical jewelry brand based in London. Three years later the former retail executive started selling lab-grown diamonds produced in a solar-powered factory in Gujarat, India. … She says her own market research indicates currently only about 5% of all lab-grown diamonds are made using renewable energy, but it has been something her customers have been asking for."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As a result of the growing market share of lab-grown diamonds:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Miners' revenues have dropped sharply. De Beers, the world's largest diamond miner, sells its rough diamonds in ten selling cycles during the year. The volume and quality can vary but is a good barometer of appetite for natural diamonds, as well as prices. In the last cycle of 2023, De Beers sold $130 million worth of diamonds compared with $417 million a year prior."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In spite of this progress, lobbyists for real diamonds are still able to question the sustainability of lab-grown diamonds (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2023/09/strategic-csr-diamonds.html"> Strategic CSR – Diamonds</a>):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"'Consumers are being told that lab-grown diamonds are sustainable and that couldn't be further from the truth,' says David Kellie, CEO of the Natural Diamond Council, a diamond mining trade group. The group began airing videos on social media in April as part of what it calls a 'myth-busting' campaign. According to a new report by the group, more than 60% of lab-grown diamonds are made in China and India, where climate-polluting coal is the major power source. The report also touts efforts by the mining industry to cut carbon emissions and boost the economies of countries with major diamond mines such as Botswana and Namibia."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Lab-Grown Diamonds Go Green</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Yusuf Khan</div><div style="text-align: left;">January 11, 2024</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Wall Street Journal</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">B6</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/diamonds-made-with-solar-power-are-offering-fiancees-ethical-fashion-475d1c7b">https://www.wsj.com/articles/diamonds-made-with-solar-power-are-offering-fiancees-ethical-fashion-475d1c7b</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-83834795118817694022024-01-18T08:12:00.001-07:002024-01-18T08:18:06.880-07:00Strategic CSR - Welcome back!<div class="WordSection1"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 418.1pt;" valign="top" width="557"> <div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Welcome back to the Strategic CSR Newsletter!</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The first newsletter of the Spring semester is below.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>As always, your comments and ideas are welcome.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In the aftermath of the consumption and materialistic fueled holiday season, the video in the url below reveals the extent of waste that is embedded in the growing economy of online retail:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://youtu.be/66qOop6J8Q8">https://youtu.be/66qOop6J8Q8</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The video features Amazon, but really applies to all online retail and fast fashion (e.g., see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2022/03/strategic-csr-fast-fashion.html"> Strategic CSR – Fast fashion</a> and <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2020/02/strategic-csr-casper.html"> Strategic CSR – Casper</a>). While the video clearly identifies a problem, however, it also suggests Amazon is fully aware of the problem and, encouragingly, is trying to do something about it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Have a great semester.</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Where Online Returns Really End Up and What Amazon Is Doing About It</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">January 27, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;">CNBC</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66qOop6J8Q8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66qOop6J8Q8</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-42395112586907233352023-12-07T07:42:00.000-07:002023-12-07T07:48:33.325-07:00Strategic CSR - Weather<div class="WordSection1"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 6.65in;" valign="top" width="566"> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"> </span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><b>This is the last CSR Newsletter of the Fall semester.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Happy Holidays and I will see you in the New Year!</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"> </span></div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For this last newsletter of the semester, I thought it worth discussing something that Brits are well known for complaining about – the weather. Historically, complaining about the weather has been futile, since it was thought to be beyond our control. That is, of course, before we invented climate change. Not only can we now influence the weather (if not completely control it), as this chart from the article in the url below reports, we are doing so at great cost to ourselves. Specifically, the chart captures the amount of insurance payouts due to bad weather that have occurred annually, since 1990. Anyone see a pattern?</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6oMdOZt1cwcijsGCQL6E8yg0qyLgYF67L642mL_-IKyqCRQ-SxXKAQVZ9dvRrC_lo22Z3tcfHnffmjPDpSWqIPS8pl66DF3k5YeTNm7yvPy2GIkjNjCEbqrEplMYIKdTi6nEUNeL6whZShyVbcCoVzgYg8h19FLW4TkNbgN8qZ1k_U3ECwUvx2XhRFiM"><img alt="" border="0" height="305" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_7309863363841557826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg6oMdOZt1cwcijsGCQL6E8yg0qyLgYF67L642mL_-IKyqCRQ-SxXKAQVZ9dvRrC_lo22Z3tcfHnffmjPDpSWqIPS8pl66DF3k5YeTNm7yvPy2GIkjNjCEbqrEplMYIKdTi6nEUNeL6whZShyVbcCoVzgYg8h19FLW4TkNbgN8qZ1k_U3ECwUvx2XhRFiM=w392-h305" width="392" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Happy COP 28, everyone. See you in 2024.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>A Punishing Year of Thunderstorms Has Led to Record-Breaking Losses</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By David Smagalla</div><div style="text-align: left;">November 27, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Wall Street Journal</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://risk.cmail20.com/t/d-e-vhdujx-yhdyktirid-r/">https://risk.cmail20.com/t/d-e-vhdujx-yhdyktirid-r/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-82265578444893344892023-12-04T21:18:00.001-07:002023-12-04T21:22:59.039-07:00Strategic CSR - Housing<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">We have long known that humans are far from rational when evaluating risk and calculating self-interest. Along these lines, the article in the url below is not particularly surprising (given that price seems to motivate so much of consumer behavior), but it is still entertaining (and/or depressing) to see how bad humans are at making important decisions:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">"A midsummer quiz: Let's say you read about an area experiencing blistering heat for weeks on end. Heat so hot that in the day, you can't go outside, and at nighttime it's still above 90F. Would you cross that off your list of locations for your dream home? Now suppose a neighborhood experiences regular heavy flooding and was recently decimated in places by a hurricane. Do you want to move there, or perhaps look for somewhere on higher, drier ground?"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Apparently not:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">"Well, many Americans are actually choosing to move to Zip codes with a high risk of experiencing wildfire, heat, drought and flood, according to a new study on domestic migration. … In fact, the nation's most flood-prone counties experienced a net influx of about 400,000 people in 2021 and 2022. That represents a 103% increase from the two-year period before that. The US counties with the highest risk of wildfire saw 446,000 more people move in than out over the last two years (a 51% increase from 2019 and 2020). And the counties with the highest heat risk registered a net influx of 629,000, a 17% uptick."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The chart in the article captures the extent to which we are getting even better at making bad decisions (even while the climate around us continues to provide compelling evidence that we should not be doing what we are doing, and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfire-insurance-e31bef0ed7eeddcde096a5b8f2c1768f"> insurance companies are stopping some forms of emergency coverage</a>):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvub2aVihCH33KVL4VSm2XRnhc-nsXfvTvUFE1SR06Xn4cCaPkdK7gB5D1Ku8vEJAOQMzFQSgIcny5krXI9ip0zAayycPCwdGAegivPTItwOWwAI-Lv8z1sTsNwXmbKjvOnh0GHQPiE9BTDBTovtplkvBRhxSFcqeWiUnTabmoqn9eAeYfl37qtNqdp-w"><img alt="" border="0" height="230" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_7308960244284076530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvub2aVihCH33KVL4VSm2XRnhc-nsXfvTvUFE1SR06Xn4cCaPkdK7gB5D1Ku8vEJAOQMzFQSgIcny5krXI9ip0zAayycPCwdGAegivPTItwOWwAI-Lv8z1sTsNwXmbKjvOnh0GHQPiE9BTDBTovtplkvBRhxSFcqeWiUnTabmoqn9eAeYfl37qtNqdp-w=w445-h230" width="445" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are plenty of examples in the article, if you can get past the firewall. Here is one, just in case you cannot:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">"Popular destinations such as Florida, Arizona, Utah and California's Inland Empire can have cheaper land costs for builders and, in some cases, more forgiving building codes, translating to lower new-home prices, but often the climate risks are higher than for older homes. … 55% of homes built so far this decade face wildfire risk and 45% face drought risk. By comparison, just 14% of homes built from 1900 to 1959 are at risk for fire and 37% for drought."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Somewhat encouragingly, there does seem to be a limit to our poor decision making:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;">"While the macro trend is migration to risky areas, there are two noteworthy exceptions. Hurricane-prone Louisiana and Paradise, California, the scene of the devastating Camp Fire in 2018, both saw a net outflow of residents, proving that perhaps there is a line where enough is enough."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Americans are moving toward climate danger</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Leslie Kaufman</div><div style="text-align: left;">July 24, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">Bloomberg</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-24/americans-are-moving-toward-climate-danger-in-search-of-cheaper-homes">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-24/americans-are-moving-toward-climate-danger-in-search-of-cheaper-homes</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-12111189052640560522023-11-30T08:12:00.001-07:002023-11-30T08:16:54.596-07:00Strategic CSR - COP 28<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">In recognition of the <a href="https://unfccc.int/cop28">COP 28</a> meeting (an attempt to layer binding global policies and targets on top of national regulation and practices), which started today in Dubai, the article in the url below argues that "the biggest obstacle to saving rainforests is lawlessness." The area of ground that law enforcement agents are expected to cover is so great, that illegal mines and logging operations are easy to hide in plain sight. Even when authorities are able to identify an illegal operation, arriving in time without first alerting the perpetrators is next to impossible:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d;">"The pickup trucks left before dawn. Their occupants—six military police and nine agents from Brazil's national parks service—wore bulletproof vests. Their target was an illegal gold mine deep in the Amazon. To save the rainforest, Brazil's new government is trying to catch the criminals who cut it down. First, though, it must find them. Satellite images had revealed the location, 140km from Itaituba, a city in the state of Pará. After seven hours of driving, two men on a motorbike spotted the convoy and sped off to alert the miners. The trucks gave chase, but got stuck in knee-deep mud. Five kilometres from their target, the forces of law and order had to turn back. That gave the wildcatters time to hide their equipment, which the agents would have torched. A follow-up raid is unlikely."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But, given that the article appeared in <i>The Economist</i>, there is a market-based solution:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"The destruction of the world's rainforests is not only a scandal; it is a colossal market failure. Rainforests brim with biodiversity and help regulate the water cycle. Most importantly, the forests are giant carbon sinks. Deforestation accounts for 7% of global carbon-dioxide emissions. … clearing and burning a hectare of the Amazon pumps 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It each tonne causes $50 of harm by accelerating global warming, … then the total damage is $25,000. Set against this, the profits are puny."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thus, the way to prevent the criminal activity is some form of upfront compensation (that exceeds the likely profits, but is less than the likely harm) to incentivize the protection of the forests, rather than their destruction. This is where "lawlessness" reenters the conversation:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"If rainforests were in countries where property rights were clear and the rule of law was strong, it would be straightforward to pay the landowners to conserve them. Where property rights are muddled and the rule of law is weak, however, whom do you pay, and how do you know he or someone else won't chop down the forest anyway? Alas, rainforests are often in the second kind of country."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The article provides examples of how difficult it can be to introduce obvious market solutions in Brazil, Indonesia, and Congo, given the contextual poverty and political instability. The graphic accompanying the article shows the amount of rainforest in these three countries that was lost between 2000 and 2020. There is still a lot left, of course, but the physics of tipping points suggests that we do not have much room for further loss:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWLDN3qfQ-yhMS5b74NozcY1nsh-KdBBMuTghn8Ljp1PiEsFQ_zgT1NpJmsXM7OxR_sfJZV7diZHV31v3CUH4HE4ZAS8FVfeBBPCvZyIveNLL88e2xsaVBdUS5hS_CpwXvg4_Ed_MpGz7_-iCsVn43PsTnXHZSm8EfjAtS-fEDksbFEmk7eor67Sl1QxY"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_7307273443109252546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWLDN3qfQ-yhMS5b74NozcY1nsh-KdBBMuTghn8Ljp1PiEsFQ_zgT1NpJmsXM7OxR_sfJZV7diZHV31v3CUH4HE4ZAS8FVfeBBPCvZyIveNLL88e2xsaVBdUS5hS_CpwXvg4_Ed_MpGz7_-iCsVn43PsTnXHZSm8EfjAtS-fEDksbFEmk7eor67Sl1QxY=s320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The rule of saw</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">March 4, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Economist</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">52-54</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2023/02/27/the-biggest-obstacle-to-saving-rainforests-is-lawlessness">https://www.economist.com/international/2023/02/27/the-biggest-obstacle-to-saving-rainforests-is-lawlessness</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-91673778218955289802023-11-27T13:07:00.000-07:002023-11-27T13:12:07.458-07:00Strategic CSR - Energy subsidies<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">Looking past the hyperbole and faux incredulity that the government would actually try and do something about climate change, the article in the url below from the WSJ's op-ed page makes an essential point that many in the area of sustainability seem unable to comprehend:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"As much wood is burned in the U.S. today as in 1885, when coal surpassed it to become our largest energy source. Wind and hydropower were in use centuries before fossil fuels arrived and never stopped growing. Solar voltaic has grown like topsy since its invention in the 1950s."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The point:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"There's only 'additional' energy and no upward limit on humanity's willingness to consume it except through the workings of price. If energy were cheap enough, we'd have flying cars, supersonic airlines and space travel for the middle class. You would open your windows in the winter to enjoy the benefit of fresh air and heat at the same time. Energy is convenience. Energy is control over our environment. Humans will consume all the energy it makes sense to consume at the available price."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">To emphasize the final sentence of that previous paragraph:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Humans will consume all the energy it makes sense to consume at the available price."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In other words, the price of that energy matters (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2019/09/strategic-csr-carbon-tax.html"> Strategic CSR – Carbon Tax</a> and also <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2021/02/strategic-csr-carbon-tax.html"> Strategic CSR – Carbon tax</a>). The makeup of our energy profile also matters – the more sustainable our energy mix, the better. The trouble is that we do not appear to be making much progress on that front:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Cut to the chase: global CO2 emissions actually grew 12% faster in 2022 than energy consumption did. … [That year] around the world, wind and solar still accounted for less than 2.4% of humanity's total energy consumption. Their annual increase was still a small fraction of the annual increase in fossil-fuel consumption. They remain functionally additive to humanity's energy budget, rather than displacing coal or oil on a global basis."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In short, we cannot escape the laws of fundamental economics – what the author terms "the price effect":</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"When certain consumers are subsidized to use less fossil energy, others in the U.S. and world will take advantage of lower prices to consume more."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thus, our fundamental problem. Even though we are capable of enforcing higher prices of unsustainable energy (ideally through a carbon tax, which is applied worldwide) than the market would otherwise make available, our current track record suggests that is unlikely. In this, and many other ways, we are the architects of our own fate.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Why Are Carbon Emissions Up?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.</div><div style="text-align: left;">August 16, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Wall Street Journal</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">A13</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/carbon-emissions-up-inflation-reduction-act-biden-climate-change-renewable-green-energy-subsidy-b5d90085">ttps://www.wsj.com/articles/carbon-emissions-up-inflation-reduction-act-biden-climate-change-renewable-green-energy-subsidy-b5d90085</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-73452346868698073772023-11-22T09:01:00.001-07:002023-11-22T09:06:18.008-07:00Strategic CSR - Fast fashion<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the url below caught my eye. It focuses on "single-material clothing" and an attempt by the EU to encourage the reduction of waste (and an increase in recycling) in the fashion industry:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;">"Clothes often contain a mix of fibers, including organics, such as cotton grown on farms, and synthetics, such as polyester refined usually from petroleum. Garments with multiple materials—such as a T-shirt made from 99% cotton and 1% spandex—are difficult to recycle because separating the fibers is tricky."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And, clearly, the room for improvement is significant:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;">"Currently, less than 1% of the world's textile waste is recycled into new clothes, with the bulk ending up in trash heaps. The EU wants to change this, and the relatively short time frame promises to challenge the big players in fast-fashion, which may have to retool their design processes and rethink their sourcing."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The underlying motivation is to combat the wastefulness of fast fashion (see <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2022/03/strategic-csr-fast-fashion.html"> Strategic CSR – Fast fashion</a>) and, instead, promote an industry that produces products that are more sustainable:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;">"The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, published a plan in March that aims to put 'fast fashion out of fashion' by 2030, referring to the trend of people buying clothes and throwing them out in less than a year. Clothing should be 'long-lived and recyclable, to a great extent made of recycled fibers,' the EU said."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Given the size of the European trading bloc, a significant change there will affect supply chains and product quality, worldwide:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;">"European Parliament members and the heads of its 27-member states still need to agree on specific laws. But the regulations would cover all clothes sold in the bloc, which imports nearly three-quarters of its textiles. This will affect not only Europe's homegrown brands, but also American multinationals such as sportswear giant Nike</span><span class="company-name-type" style="color: #333333;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;"> Inc.</span></span><span style="color: #333333;"> and jeans-maker Levi Strauss & Co., and Japan's Uniqlo or China's Shein. EU nations have already agreed to collect discarded textiles separately from other waste by 2025."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I didn't realize that the barrier to progress in the fashion industry relies so heavily on this issue of material composition. It is something on which some firms are making progress:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;">"German sportswear maker Adidas AG, for example, launched a line of single-fiber clothes last year including shoes, coats, T-shirts and pants under its 'Made to be Remade' label. 'These products are created with just one material and once they reach the end of their useful life, they can be cleaned, shredded and recycled for use in new products,' an Adidas spokesman said."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But not to the extent or speed that is needed:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333;">"Still, some single-fiber garments may not be durable enough in some cases, a Hennes & Mauritz AB spokeswoman said. The current share of fabrics with a 100% composition constitutes around a third of the total output of the Swedish fashion retailer, better known as H&M. … in fashion, design remains the most important element, said Christina Dean, founder of fashion nonprofit Redress. She said the EU's focus on the makeup of clothes will drive designers to choose single materials. 'That is addressing this cocktail of fibers that is currently being used,' Ms. Dean said."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Happy Black Friday!</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i>Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</i> (6e)</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>EU Regulators Add to Push for Single-Material Clothes</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Joshua Kirby and Dieter Holger</div><div style="text-align: left;">September 7, 2022</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Wall Street Journal</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">B4</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fashion-firms-look-to-single-fiber-clothes-as-eu-recycling-regulations-loom-11662467248">https://www.wsj.com/articles/fashion-firms-look-to-single-fiber-clothes-as-eu-recycling-regulations-loom-11662467248</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-40436659500351780342023-11-16T07:46:00.001-07:002023-11-16T07:51:42.500-07:00Strategic CSR - Cars + parking spaces<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">The article in the url below presents an interesting challenge to addressing climate change – US car size meets urban parking space. The article opens by describing the way architects determine how big they should make parking spaces when designing a building or parking lot – an allowance that is termed a "design vehicle":</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"The design vehicle is a statistical composite of a car, compiled by the Parking Consultants Council, a professional association of parking lot designers. Every five years or so, the Parking Consultants Council analyzes the U.S.'s car sales data. It then calculates the 85th percentile car size. … The design vehicle Schneeman and his industry colleagues use is six feet seven inches wide and 16 feet 10 inches long; incidentally the exact width of a Ford's F-150, the U.S.'s most popular vehicle and a symbol of the country's appetite for larger cars."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The problem is that this method, which has served "the parking industry" well in the past ("<span style="background: white; color: black;">ensuring space sizes accommodate the vast majority of American cars and leaving about 20 inches of space for people to open their doors and maneuver on either side</span>"), is running into a problem. Specifically, there are no longer enough spaces and they are not big enough. The problem is particularly noticeable, of course, in older buildings or parking lots, where the size of the space was determined based on average car sizes from previous generations:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Increasingly, cars are too big for parking spaces, especially in parking garages and other paid parking lots where developers pay close attention to space size. Like the proverbial frog in a slowly heating pot of water, our cars have gotten ever-so-gradually bigger with each passing year, but the parking space standards have barely budged. Now, in the third decade of the growing car size trend, people are starting to notice."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It seems that people put a lot of thought into parking spaces, and they want them bigger – that is until they realize the associated cost:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"When Warren Vander Helm, a partner at Parking Design Group, first meets with a client on a new project, one of the first things they will say is they want the spots to be big. But once Vander Helm walks them through the local zoning regulations that require a certain number of parking spaces, how much more surface area big spots will require to meet that minimum, and how much more that will cost, the enthusiasm for big spots wanes. 'For a surface lot, you're looking at $7,000, $7,500 just to build one parking space,' Vander Helm said. 'For an underground garage, in a city, it can be $200,000 per space, easy. Structured parking above ground is $40,000, $45,000 per space.'"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And, when multiplied by a large number of spaces in a building, "<span style="background: white; color: black;">even a few inches can be the difference between profit and loss.</span>" And, today, car consumers in the U.S. want a different kind of car (SUV instead of sedans) and they want them bigger:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Consider someone who switched from a Honda Civic to a Honda CR-V. This added about three inches in width. A CR-V to a Pilot, a large SUV, would add five more inches in width. This may not sound like much, but repeat for half the cars in a parking lot and it adds up. For example, in a 700-space garage, if each car is four inches wider than its predecessor, that is 233 additional feet in car width—from the goal line to the opponent's 23 yard line on a football field—that needs to be accommodated."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">How are these trends compatible with addressing climate change? Even if all cars become electric (which has massive implications for our electricity generation system that is still driven largely by fossil fuels and, at current capacity, falls well short of what is required), a car-based society is not what we should be aiming for, as anyone who has spent any time living in a European city with functioning public transport can report. We have developed an effective way of allocating scare and valuable resources (in this case, valuable real estate) – the pricing mechanism. In short, if something is in high demand but limited supply, the price should rise to help determine how much of that good any one person should have:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Essentially, parking lot owners will have two choices: Either make spaces bigger and charge more for them or make </span><em style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">some</span></em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> spaces bigger, charge vehicles that park there more, and keep the prices lower for smaller vehicles. Oversized vehicle fees have become popular in dense urban parking lots, especially in New York City, but are rare in the rest of the country. It's easy to imagine the backlash that may ensue from any effort to charge people with large vehicles more for parking, even though the suggestion that people who use more of something should pay more than people who use less is one of the most basic tenets of economic theory and the basis of capitalism. But now, everything with a hint of stifling Traditional American Values is part of the culture wars. And, somehow, big cars have become part of that worldview. But there is nothing traditional about huge cars."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>American Cars Are Getting Too Big For Parking Spaces</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Aaron Gordon</div><div style="text-align: left;">February 8, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">Vice</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3pyzx/american-cars-are-getting-too-big-for-parking-spaces">https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3pyzx/american-cars-are-getting-too-big-for-parking-spaces</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-74578025531430843342023-11-14T11:53:00.000-07:002023-11-14T12:32:47.058-07:00Strategic CSR - Nuclear<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">If you want to understand why nuclear energy has to be a part of our collective solution to climate change, the article in the url below offers one of the most comprehensive and compelling explanations I have seen:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #363636;">"Progressive lawmakers, along with environmental groups like the </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">Sierra Club</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"> and Natural Resources Defense Council, have historically been against nuclear power — often focusing on the danger, longevity and storage requirements of the radioactive waste."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Key to the argument, you won't be surprised to hear, is removing the fearmongering and misinformation that is routinely spread about the byproduct of nuclear energy, nuclear waste:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636;">"So it's no surprise that many Americans believe nuclear waste poses an enormous and terrifying threat. But after talking to engineers, radiation specialists and waste managers, I've come to see this misunderstanding is holding us back from embracing a powerful, clean energy source we need to tackle climate change. We must stop seeing nuclear waste as a dangerous problem and instead recognize it as a safe byproduct of carbon-free power."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">First, the obvious advantages of nuclear energy (other than being carbon-free, of course):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #363636;">"The countries that have cleaned up their electricity production the </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">fastest</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"> have generally done so with hydroelectric power, nuclear, or a combination of the two. The distinct advantage of nuclear is that it </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">requires little land</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"> and can </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">reliably produce lots of power</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"> regardless of weather, time of day or season. Unlike wind and solar, it can substitute directly for fossil fuels without backup or storage. The International Energy Agency believes it's so crucial that global nuclear capacity </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">must double by 2050</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"> to reach net-zero emissions targets."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Next, overcoming the understandable (and arguably misplaced) fears about the waste, which is often presented in popular media as some fluorescent material that burns through anything it touches:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"In reality, nuclear fuel is made up of shiny metal tubes containing small pellets of uranium oxide. These tubes are gathered into bundles and loaded into the reactor. After <span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">five years of making energy</span>, the bundles come out, containing radioactive particles left over from the energy-making reactions. The bundles cool off in a pool of water for <span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">another five to 10 years or so</span>. After that, they are placed in steel and concrete containers for storage at the plant. These casks are <span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">designed to last 100 years</span> and to <span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">withstand nearly anything</span> — hurricanes, severe floods, extreme temperatures, even <span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">missile attacks</span>."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The key takeaway:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;">"To date, there have been no deaths, injuries or serious environmental releases of nuclear waste in casks anywhere. And the waste can be transferred to another cask, extending storage one century at a time."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And, what about all the misinformation about the half-life of nuclear material?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #363636;">"The way radiation works, the waste products that are the most radioactive are the shortest-lived, and those that last a long time are far less dangerous. About 40 years after the fuel becomes waste, the </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">heat</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"> and </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">radioactivity</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"> of the pellets have fallen by over 99 percent. </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">After around 500 years</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;">, the waste would have to be broken down and inhaled or ingested to cause significant harm."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The author compares this to industrial waste that we are much less careful with, even though it tends not to lose any of its toxicity, over time:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #363636;">"Take ammonia: It is highly toxic, corrosive, explosive and prone to leaking. Hundreds of ammonia-related injuries and even some fatalities have been reported </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">since 2010</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;">, and we continue to produce and transport </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">millions of tons of it annually by pipelines, ships and trains</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"> for fertilizer and other uses."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While there may be <i>security</i> reasons for storing nuclear waste in a single location, deep in the mountains, the author argues there is not much of a <i>safety</i> justification for doing so:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #363636;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #363636;">"The waste should really be a chief selling point for nuclear energy, particularly for those who care about the environment: There's not very much of it, it's easily contained, it becomes safer with time and it can be recycled. And every cask of spent nuclear fuel represents about </span><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">2.2 million tons of carbon</span><span style="background: white; color: #363636;">, according to one estimate, that weren't emitted into the atmosphere from fossil fuels. For me, each cask represents hope for a safer, better future."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For interest, the NYT collected reader responses to this article, most of which appear to focus on the storage of nuclear waste, rather than rebutting the core argument (which is that the fears are greatly overblown):</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/04/opinion/letters/nuclear-waste.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/04/opinion/letters/nuclear-waste.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The article in the second url below demonstrates the potential, via a company that has developed a technique that can be attached to existing nuclear reactors to generate hydrogen, at scale. Overall, of course, we need to proceed with caution (and there are all kinds of other issues with nuclear energy, such as how long it takes to approve and build a power station), but our options for significant carbon reduction are limited, and time is running out. Much better to be guided by facts, rather than mythical fears, in plotting the most effective way forward.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Take care</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>We're Thinking About Nuclear Waste All Wrong</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Madison Hilly</div><div style="text-align: left;">May 1, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">The New York Times</div><div style="text-align: left;">Late Edition – Final</div><div style="text-align: left;">A18</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/opinion/climate-change-nuclear-waste.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/opinion/climate-change-nuclear-waste.html</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Billion-Dollar 'Pink Hydrogen' Plan on Hold as US Weighs Rules</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Will Wade</div><div style="text-align: left;">May 30, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">Bloomberg</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-30/pink-hydrogen-plans-hinge-on-fine-print-of-biden-climate-law">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-30/pink-hydrogen-plans-hinge-on-fine-print-of-biden-climate-law</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9143531732857179729.post-31551207441842896002023-11-11T06:47:00.001-07:002023-11-11T07:02:37.019-07:00Strategic CSR - 2022 (+ 2023)<div class="WordSection1"> <div style="text-align: left;">I recently Zoomed into a class where my textbook was being taught to answer questions from the students (which I am asked to do, occasionally). At some point in the conversation, I was asked whether I am hopeful for the future, given that things are beginning to change. There is so much conversation around sustainability and CSR-related topics (although the acronym of the day is now more likely ESG), the questioner suggested, that there should be reason for hope.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are many ways to process that question and begin to formulate a response but, for me, a straightforward answer that cuts to the heart of whether we are serious about doing something on climate change (and that effort can be a proxy for so many social and societal initiatives) is global carbon emissions. As I noted in a prior newsletter, during COVID, when the world that we knew had effectively come to a halt, total emissions only dropped 6% (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2023/03/strategic-csr-covid-19.html"> Strategic CSR – COVID-19</a>), while there is increasing evidence that companies are promising a lot and delivering much less (see <a href="https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/2023/10/strategic-csr-accountability.html"> Strategic CSR – Accountability</a>). And we claim to be serious about net-zero targets in 2050.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Along similar lines, the article in the url below focuses on the sustainability reporting metrics of financial institutions (and introduces the useful term, "financed emissions"). In a related story, it includes a chart of annual total carbon emissions, worldwide, since 1899:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Feel free to draw your own conclusions on whether this graph presents a picture of hope: </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhM1jckSaIJ_-2omiN7QxIPMr7s4qoS4My8LjKb31Y7hncFn8pZIeS_ef3ros5OFfJSSHt3P91GixyCy_QHSKCID34gpQWg6EtaeF709Ran4-DgLUgy1nJmn3qSJN47V5TsSxU5Rc4G-ITOveppeLhqkfJvhkoLdAblK2CDCZKbQ8qlk49Tnb5b-Faa7Ao"><img alt="" border="0" height="221" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_7300200902041924402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhM1jckSaIJ_-2omiN7QxIPMr7s4qoS4My8LjKb31Y7hncFn8pZIeS_ef3ros5OFfJSSHt3P91GixyCy_QHSKCID34gpQWg6EtaeF709Ran4-DgLUgy1nJmn3qSJN47V5TsSxU5Rc4G-ITOveppeLhqkfJvhkoLdAblK2CDCZKbQ8qlk49Tnb5b-Faa7Ao=w365-h221" width="365" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As a result, it is not surprising that 2023 is being predicted by scientists to be the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/2023-on-track-to-be-the-hottest-year-on-record-say-scientists"> hottest year for global temperatures</a>, on record.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Have a good weekend</div><div style="text-align: left;">David</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">David Chandler</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/strategic-corporate-social-responsibility/book278406"><i><span style="color: #0563c1;">Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation</span></i><span style="color: #0563c1;"> (6e)</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">© Sage Publications, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: <a href="https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e</span></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Strategic CSR Simulation: <a href="http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: <a href="http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/"> <span style="color: #0563c1;">https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Oil and Gas Companies Face an Era of Credit Downgrades, Fitch Warns</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Gautam Naik</div><div style="text-align: left;">October 31, 2023</div><div style="text-align: left;">Bloomberg</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-31/credit-downgrades-loom-large-as-fitch-zeroes-in-on-oil-issuers">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-31/credit-downgrades-loom-large-as-fitch-zeroes-in-on-oil-issuers</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> David Chandlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275529983945272609noreply@blogger.com