Strategic CSR - Scale

Scale matters. Sure, it's nice that Patagonia cares about the environment, but time has taught us that the collective actions of smaller companies are only substantive when they alter the behavior of much larger companies. Among that subset of companies, there are none much larger and more influential than Walmart and, as the article in the url below reminds us, when Walmart acts, the whole country is affected:

 

"Walmart is taking the biggest step yet to overhaul ingredients used in America's food supply. The country's largest grocer said Wednesday that it was working to remove synthetic dyes from all its store-brand foods, including Great Value, Marketside, Freshness Guaranteed and Bettergoods. Walmart also plans to eliminate 30 other ingredients, ranging from certain artificial sweeteners to preservatives."

Whatever the motivating factor and stakeholder influence, and clearly politics is influencing this decision, when Walmart decides to do something there is a ripple effect far beyond the firm and throughout its supply chain:

"Walmart's heft makes its plans likely to trigger further changes throughout the nation's food-supply chain, from ingredient suppliers to other food makers and retailers. Great Value alone is one of the largest consumer brands in the country, with billions of dollars in sales each year."

This influence has grown larger in recent years, as consumers shift to buying more store brands to save money:

"Retailers are boosting investment in their in-house brands, with Walmart last year launching Bettergoods, a food line with trendy flavors and more natural ingredients."

The article also reveals how long it can take shifting stakeholder values to influence corporate decisions:

"For years, Walmart's customer data has shown that more shoppers want simple, natural ingredients, said Scott Morris, senior vice president for food and consumable private brands at Walmart U.S. More than 50% of Walmart shoppers now flip over a food package to look at ingredients, he said."

But, when that decision is made, especially in a company Walmart's size, we have the opportunity to make meaningful progress:

"Walmart plans to tweak more than 1,000 products across its stores gradually, in part to give ingredient suppliers time to meet its volume and cost needs, Morris said. Supplies of natural ingredients are still constrained, but growing."

Have a good weekend

David

 

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

 

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

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In Nod to MAHA, Walmart Ditches Dyes, Other Artificial Ingredients in Its Food Brands

By Jesse Newman and Sarah Nassauer

October 2, 2025

The Wall Street Journal

https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/walmart-ditching-dyes-other-artificial-ingredients-in-its-food-brands-d475076d

 

Strategic CSR - Concrete

I have long known that concrete is a material that is successfully recycled. The article in the url below suggests there is no reason why all concrete (100%) cannot be reused in some form:

"Concrete slabs, beams, columns and other elements from dismantled buildings can be safely reused in new construction, according to a new study. The analysis could facilitate incorporating concrete—currently responsible for as much as 9% of global greenhouse gas emissions—into the circular construction industry and make the building sector as a whole more sustainable."

If we can successfully recycle existing concrete, of course, we reduce significantly the need to produce more of the stuff:

"Building codes generally require concrete to be sound for at least 50 years. When buildings are torn down (even before the 50-year mark, as is increasingly the case) it's usually assumed that concrete's useful life is over. Old concrete either gets landfilled or downcycled into rubble for road construction or aggregate for new concrete production."

Instead, the researchers suggest there is no reason why it cannot be reused for its original purpose (or close to it):

"But until now, there has been no organized method to evaluate the potential of reusing salvaged concrete. The researchers ran thousands of computer simulations to predict the future lifespan of reused concrete, based on measurements of the condition of existing buildings."

There are calculations required in terms of how far into the future recycled concrete can last, depending on what it was used for initially, and under what conditions, but there are techniques to preserve and enhance its usable life:

"For example, a concrete slab that has been exposed to harsh elements for many decades may be best reused as an interior component. Repair and refurbishment techniques—such as waterproof coatings—can also extend the lifespan of concrete."

This is not as exciting as some sustainability topics, but seems essential if we are to make meaningful progress. Concrete is dirty stuff, but essential, so making as little of it as possible would be a big step forward.

 

Take care

David

 

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

 

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/

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There's now hard evidence guaranteeing a second life for old concrete

By Sarah DeWeerdt

February 10, 2026

Anthropocene Magazine

https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/theres-now-hard-evidence-guaranteeing-a-second-life-for-old-concrete/

Strategic CSR - Principles

See if you can spot the intellectual inconsistency in the article in the url below:

 

"ESG funds that recently took the controversial step of dropping restrictions on weapons manufacturers are now reaping the financial rewards of that decision. Defense stocks were among the best performers when markets opened on Monday after war erupted in the Middle East. That adds to a longer stretch of gains for the sector, with the MSCI Europe Aerospace and Defense Index almost doubling in value since the beginning of last year."

 

Clearly, ideological flexibility can be useful, especially when the primary goal is to make money:

 

"For ESG funds, those stocks would traditionally have been off limits. But last year saw a major shift in investor willingness to embrace arms manufacturers, with many casting the move as key to defending democracy. More than half of European funds registered as 'promoting' environmental, social and governance goals were invested in defense assets by the middle of last year, Morningstar Sustainalytics reported in August. That marked a quadrupling since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the research firm said."

 

The money-making opportunities seem unlimited, particularly when there are no principles holding you back:

 

"The shift underscores how ESG investing is adapting to a new geopolitical reality. Other major adjustments are showing signs of paying off. Some money managers have cut their exposure to US Treasuries, which slid on Monday on concern the war in the Middle East may trigger another bout of inflation. At the same time, ESG funds that shun fossil-fuel producers for environmental reasons have missed out as oil and gas stocks rallied during the escalating conflict."

 

Unfortunately with ESG, the goal was never a serious attempt to build a more sustainable economy or society.

Take care

David

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

 

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/

The library of CSR Newsletters is archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/

 

Norway Wealth Fund Says AI Caught Risks That Others Missed

By Frances Schwartzkopff

February 26, 2026

Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-26/norway-wealth-fund-says-weapons-exclusions-are-hurting-returns

Strategic CSR - A.I.

The article in the url below by Sal Kahn (the founder/CEO of the education company, Khan Academy) is interesting because it presents a problem -- an impending surplus of workers:

 

"On my way to meet a friend in Silicon Valley a few weeks ago, I passed three self-driving Waymos gliding through traffic. These cars are everywhere now, moving as if they've been part of the landscape forever. … My friend told me that a huge call center in the Philippines — a center his venture capital firm had invested in — had just deployed A.I. agents capable of replacing 80 percent of its work force. … I believe artificial intelligence will displace workers at a scale many people don't yet realize. … In the coming years, A.I. and robotics are likely to significantly reduce the level of human labor needed in occupations as diverse as warehouse work and software engineering. We've seen economic displacement caused by globalization and immigration lead to frustration and division. The next wave, fueled by automation, will hit faster and cut deeper."

 

The author then presents a potential solution to that problem -- an impending deficit of workers:

 

"The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects nearly two million open health care jobs each year for the next decade. UNESCO estimates a global shortage of 44 million teachers by 2030. The construction industry needs more than 500,000 additional workers annually just to meet demand, and openings for electricians and plumbers are growing faster than average. The hospitality and elder care industries — work rooted in empathy and presence — are expanding, not shrinking. There is no shortage of meaningful work — only a shortage of pathways into it."

 

The disconnect between the two scenarios (the problem and the solution) seems gaping. Or perhaps, as the author suggests (although he is clearly not a disinterested party), it is our lack of awareness of the gap that is the issue, along with our unwillingness to invest in the education and retraining required to fill it.

Take care

David

 

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

 

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/

The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/

 

A.I. Will Displace Workers at a Scale Many Don't Realize

By Sal Kahn

December 28, 2025

The New York Times

Late Edition – Final

SR4

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/opinion/artificial-intelligence-jobs-worker-training.html

Strategic CSR - Shipping + oil

The article in the url below focuses on the "phantom fleet" of ships with dubious ownership that the U.S. reports are shipping "illicit oil" around the world. Due to sanctions on the trade of this oil, since early December the U.S. has seized ten of these ships, while India has seized three and France another one. Unfortunately, those 14 ships do not put much of a dent in the scale of this problem for the global oil industry:

"The phantom fleet of sanctioned vessels now numbers 1,300 ships, according to TankerTrackers.com, a ship-tracking website. ... Many are clustered on routes from Russia and Iran headed to buyers in Asia."

While more than a quarter of the ships have turned off their transponder beacons (to hide their locations), the majority can still be identified and tracked:

"Shadow fleet ships, usually old, sailing under false flags and sanctioned, accounted for 6% to 7% of the global crude oil flows in 2025, according to ship-data firm Kpler. Russia last year relied on the fleet to transport around 80% of its crude and oil products, analysts estimated."

Of particular interest, the article contains a map showing where all these ships are located, as of February 10. I find this interesting because the red dots clearly delineate the major shipping routes across the globe, highlight how daunting it is for the U.S. to try and police this illegal trade, as well as how fossil fuels remain the driver of such massive amounts of human activity:

 

 

Take care

David

 

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

 

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/

The library of CSR Newsletters is archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/

 

The U.S. Is Hunting the Shadow Fleet. This Is What It's Up Against.

By Daniel Kiss, Ming Li and Rebecca Feng

February 21, 2026

The Wall Street Journal

https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/the-u-s-is-hunting-the-shadow-fleet-this-is-what-its-up-against-0feba9bb

Strategic CSR - Coal

The article in the url below contains a statistic that suggests society can move quickly on seemingly intractable issues, when there is sufficient political willpower in place:

"16%: [the amount of] U.S. power generation coming from coal in 2024, [down] from 40% in 2014."

Take care

David

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/

The library of CSR Newsletters is archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/

The cost of bringing back coal

By Leslie Kaufman, Eric Roston, and Jeff Green

February 14, 2026

Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-02-14/cost-of-trump-s-coal-push-plays-out-in-dollars-noise-and-health

Strategic CSR - Share buybacks

There is a good chance the motivation is distorted but, among all the noise and activity emanating from Washington DC, the announcement included in the article in the url below caught my attention: 

"President Trump lashed out at U.S. weapons manufacturers Wednesday, announcing new restrictions on executive pay and stock buybacks while also threatening to cancel contracts with one of the country's largest defense contractors."

I like it because it discourages an emphasis on shareholder value, while also addressing the mildly corrupt nature of government contracting in the defense sector:

 

"An executive order posted Wednesday evening said companies 'are not permitted in any way, shape, or form to pay dividends or buy back stock, until such time as they are able to produce a superior product, on time and on budget.'"

And the intention behind the executive order is specific:

"Earlier Wednesday, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he would limit executive pay to $5 million, but the dollar figure wasn't included in the executive order. … Trump also singled out contractor RTX in a separate social-media post, saying that the company 'has been the least responsive' to the Pentagon's needs and 'the slowest in increasing their volume, and the most aggressive spending on their Shareholders rather than the needs and demands' of the U.S. military."

While enforcement will be a challenge (and limiting pay will not amount to much unless stock options are also capped), the intention responds to a real issue: 

"Saying that he was addressing defense contractors and the defense industry, Trump wrote, that '…Defense Contractors are currently issuing massive Dividends to their Shareholders and massive Stock Buybacks, at the expense and detriment of investing in Plants and Equipment. This situation will no longer be allowed or tolerated!'"

Again, I am not confident that the issue is fully understood or that the order will be systematically implemented, but the story was still encouraging to see.

Take care

David

 

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

 

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/

The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/

Trump Lashes Out at Defense Firms, Buybacks

By Marcus Weisgerber and Drew FitzGerald

January 8, 2026

The Wall Street Journal

Late Edition – Final

A4

https://www.wsj.com/business/trump-defense-industry-executive-order-9cc2c42e

Strategic CSR - Water

I thought this quote, from the article in the url below, is interesting (and alarming):

"Three-quarters of the world's population—about 6.1 billion people—now live in countries where freshwater supplies are insecure or critically insecure. Four billion people face severe water scarcity for at least one month a year."

The chart that accompanies the article illustrates how quickly water consumption, worldwide, has increased:

 

 

Take care

David

 

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

 

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/

The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/

The era of water 'bankruptcy'

By Danielle Bochove

January 20, 2026

Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-20/water-bankruptcy-era-has-begun-for-billions-scientists-say

 

Strategic CSR - Privacy

The article in the url below contains interesting research about the ability of A.I. to read a person's personality from their face:

"Personality assessments are an accepted part of recruitment processes. … Yet previous research suggests that personality types can be encoded in facial features, and that artificial intelligence (AI) can spot them."

 

Although "it's not obvious what the AI is seeing," if this is true, then it raises the interesting question of whether it should be allowed:

"If your face could tell a prospective employer something [about your probable performance at work], without discriminating on grounds of protected characteristics, then firms would have a strong incentive to analyze it."

The article makes a compelling case that subjective assessments made on physical characteristics already happen naturally:

"There is a height premium in hiring, for example, which makes it more likely that a taller person will get chosen than a shorter one. Some might argue that face-based analysis is more meritocratic than processes which reward, say, educational attainment. [Researchers] are now looking at whether AI facial analysis can give lenders useful clues about a person's propensity to repay loans. For people without access to credit, that could be a blessing."

 

There are also plenty of causes for concern that revolve around perceptions of fairness and the ability of someone to overcome any natural 'disadvantages' to become a productive colleague. There is also the concern that "aggregate patterns do not tell you how an individual will perform." Nevertheless, the article provides another glimpse into what is coming our way, whether we like it or not.

 

Take care

David

 

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

 

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/

The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/

Face off

By Bartleby

November 8, 2025

The Economist

Late Edition – Final

64

https://www.economist.com/business/2025/11/06/should-facial-analysis-help-determine-whom-companies-hire

Strategic CSR - Cognitive dissonance

I enjoy reading Bloomberg's Green Daily newsletter. It is backed by a great deal of expertise and insight into the evolving environmental crisis we are imposing on the planet. My only suggestion would be that, more often than not, it reads like an extreme weather forecast — guess what, it is hot out there (except when it is cold)!

The newsletter sent on January 19 is notable because it clearly highlights the juxtaposition that is so often prevalent in sustainability discussions — we know what is happening and that we need to do something about it, but guess what … we are not acting nearly as quickly as is required.

This dissonance is highlighted initially by the headline article in the newsletter, which focuses on the market-driven costs to companies that ignore climate change:

"This month, a paper published by the European Central Bank found that banks with the greatest so-called transition risks now 'face significantly higher borrowing costs' in funding markets. That followed a December paper by analysts at the Central Bank of Ireland, which showed that companies facing physical climate risks are in a similar predicament, and will need to provide more collateral."

So far, so good. Unfortunately, a graph further down the newsletter, in a separate article about China's annual coal production, highlights the countervailing forces that, more often than not, cancel out any progress that is being made. Specifically, in spite of its amazing progress in generating electricity from sustainable fuel sources, China's demand for energy is such that it takes it from whatever source it can get it:

Oh well, half right.
Take care
David
 
David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)
© Sage Publications, 2023
 
Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
 

Banks Ignore Transition Risk at Their Own Peril, ECB Warns
By Alastair Marsh and Laura Millan
January 19, 2026
Bloomberg Green Daily
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-01-19/ecb-warns-banks-should-heed-transition-risk

Strategic CSR - China

The article in the url below conveys the extent to which China is expanding its electricity generation capacity:

"China is undertaking an energy-building boom unlike anything the world has ever seen, as Beijing seeks to ensure supply for power-hungry facilities that are key to dominating emerging industries of the future."

The scale is staggering. In the last year alone, China has added more capacity than India's electrical grid:

"The nation added 543 gigawatts of new capacity across all technologies last year, according to data from the National Energy Administration on Wednesday. That's 12% more than all the power plants combined in India as of the end of 2024."

And, in the last 4 years, China has added more electrical power than the U.S. is able to generate:

"The generation China has added since the end of 2021 is also larger than the entire US system."

It is doing this across a wide-range of fuels and technologies (fossil and renewable), and it is doing it year-over-year.

Take care

David

 

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

 

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/

The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/

 

China's Four-Year Energy Spree Has Eclipsed Entire U.S. Power Grid

By Dan Murtaugh

January 27, 2026

Bloomberg

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-28/china-s-four-year-energy-spree-has-eclipsed-entire-us-power-grid

 

Strategic CSR - Good intentions + bad outcomes

Appreciating the prevalence of the unintended consequences of good intentions is central to the counterintuitive nature of strategic CSR. Along these lines, the article in the url below made me laugh and rings true, in the very human sense that we often can't get out of our own way. Specifically, the article deals with promotions in companies:

"Many congratulations on your promotion. It's probably downhill from here. This deflating prognosis is not true of every job, person or organisation. But too often, a promotion is a precursor to problems."

Specifically, the article cited academic research that was designed to test the Peter principle:

"… developed by Laurence J. Peter, a 'hierarchologist'—that people are promoted to the level at which they are no longer competent."

In other words, people are promoted based on past performance (not future potential), and stop being promoted once they reach a level in a job they can no longer do very well. Taken to the extreme, this means that most people who are 'stuck' in a position at work are probably there because they are no longer performing at a high level, which might explain why so many organizations are dysfunctional:

"The [research] examined data on sales transactions and job moves across a panel of more than 50,000 workers at 214 America firms between 2005 and 2011. It showed that being a good salesperson increased the probability of being promoted into a management position, but was a negative predictor of managerial quality. In other words, the performance of a sales hotshot's new subordinates tended to go backwards."

These results reminded me a little of academia, and mirror prior research using a simulation to theorize the same principle:

"An organization where promotion depends on competence in a previous role and where the new job requires different skills will indeed end up elevating people to a position they do badly. Random promotions would be a better system, the researchers concluded." 

 

The article concludes that, where a promotion requires skills different to the dominant skills in a person's current role, then performance should not be used to assess whether the promotion is awarded.

Take care

David

 

David Chandler

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Sustainable Value Creation (6e)

© Sage Publications, 2023

 

Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e  

Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/

The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/

 

The problem with promotions

By Bartleby

January 10, 2026

The Economist

Late Edition – Final

55

https://www.economist.com/business/2026/01/08/the-problem-with-promotions