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

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

Friday, April 28, 2023

Strategic CSR - Art

The article in the url below reports on the attempt by an artist, Ben Grosser, to use his work to critique the rise of Facebook, in general, and the role of Mark Zuckerberg in driving that change, in particular:

"When the history of the first decades of this century comes to be written, there will be few more telling artworks than Ben Grosser's film Order of Magnitude. In the 47 minute video, Grosser, a digital artist and professor of new media at the University of Illinois, has spliced together every public instance in which Mark Zuckerberg has talked of 'more' and 'bigger.' The resulting montage of interviews and presentations is a fast forward of the rapid growth of Facebook as, in the chief executive's mouth, thousands become millions then billions. It makes a mesmerising monologue, the story of our times."

By contrast, the equivalent video Grosser made of Zuckerberg saying things related to 'small' or 'decreasing in size' is much shorter:

"The film is part of a double act. Grosser has also spliced together all the moments he can find of Zuckerberg ever mentioning numbers diminishing or things getting smaller. This film runs for 30 seconds, though in a new version for his forthcoming exhibition at the Arebyte Gallery in London, he has slowed those seconds down so it also runs for 47 minutes."

Grosser (as "a teacher of art") uses this work as a foundation for more fundamental activism against the damaging effects of social media. A significant part of that work is trying to alter the perceptions of those who have grown up in an age of social media, which has affected their ability to evaluate its effects, objectively, as well as their notion of what art is:

"Grosser asks his students a question in their first seminar. 'Who here has deleted a social media post within 10 minutes of putting it up, because it didn't have the metric reaction they hoped for?' Every hand goes up. Then he says: 'Now imagine if any of the artists you admire from the past had paid attention to the first 10 minutes of reaction to their work and used that as a guide about whether to throw something away.' If you're going to have original, strange ideas, he suggests, the world might need time to adjust to them."

One interesting innovation he is trying seeks to alter perceptions around the value of each individual post:

"Grosser has been testing a platform that might help with that, too. Minus breaks all the rules of metric-obsessed media. It allows users only a finite number of posts: exactly 100 across a lifetime and there are no likes or follows. The only way you can interact with another poster is by replying. His beta testers have reported some anxieties, which sound a lot like the kind of anxieties that artists have always felt: 'They almost feel like there's so much weight on a post,' he says. 'It's like, 'I'm only going to get 100, what if I blow one on some bullshit?''"

Take care
David

David Chandler
© 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/


How artist Ben Grosser is cutting Mark Zuckerberg down to size
By Tim Adams
August 15, 2021
The Guardian
 
Posted by David Chandler at 12:07 AM

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Strategic CSR - Covid

The article in the url below, from a couple of years ago, discusses the ongoing labor shortage in the U.S. (a challenge faced by multiple economies around the world):

"More than a year and a half into the pandemic, the U.S. is still missing around 4.3 million workers. That's how much bigger the labor force would be if the participation rate—the share of the population 16 or older either working or looking for work—returned to its February 2020 level of 63.3%. In September, it stood at 61.6%."

Clearly, the pandemic had a lot to do with this, with a large percentage of these "missing" workers retiring early, but the situation has not eased much since the lockdown was relaxed. For many, during the pandemic, working was no longer worth the tradeoff:

"The participation rate experienced its biggest drop since at least World War II in the early months of the pandemic. It partly rebounded last summer and since then has hovered near the lowest level since the 1970s, despite sturdy economic growth and the strongest wage gains in years."

While the market is currently adapting to the new reality (increasing pay and other conditions for employees, which is adding pressure in the current inflationary environment), the real story is whether this situation will ever recover:

"Some economists are concerned that worsening worker shortages reflect longer-term shifts, such as the pandemic-driven acceleration of retirements, that won't reverse. Many expect the labor shortage to last at least several more years, and some say it's permanent. Of 52 economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, 22 predicted that participation would never return to its pre-pandemic level."

If not, as many economists suspect, then it forces employers to focus more intently on being a good employer. If they do not value their employees as their most important stakeholder, they will increasingly lose out in the competition for the best employees in the market. And, this is not just an issue of higher compensation, but providing opportunities for more meaningful work. Whether the overall effect continues to be inflationary, depends on whether productivity rates respond in line with better conditions.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© 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/


4.3 Million Workers Are Missing. Where Did They Go?
By Josh Mitchell, Lauren Weber, Sarah Chaney Cambon
October 14, 2021
The Wall Street Journal
 
Posted by David Chandler at 8:59 PM

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Strategic CSR - Bill Nye

For those of you in the U.S. who grew up learning about science from Bill Nye, I have a couple of videos for you that reflect his (public) position on climate change. There is the optimistic Bill Nye, who has been contracted by Coca-Cola to sell the idea that we are just around the corner from a perfect solution to the problem of waste:


This video/ad was reviewed in the article in the url below, with the author denouncing the relationship as a pretty straightforward incidence of greenwashing:

"Bad news for everyone who loved watching Bill Nye the Science Guy during middle school science class: your fave is problematic. This week, Coca-Cola, one of the world's biggest plastic polluters, teamed up with TV's favorite scientist for a campaign to create a 'world without waste,' a joke of a corporate greenwashing campaign."

Needless to say, the assessment of the author is that Bill is, at best, presenting a highly selective element of a much more complicated issue:

"The video is, on the surface, an accurate depiction of the process of recycling a beverage bottle. The problem lies in what recycling can actually do. … Most of those plastics can only be reused once or twice before ending up in a landfill. Nye, for all his talk of science on TV, should know this. Over recycling's 60-year history, less than 10% of plastic that has been produced has ever been recycled. And while in theory, PET—the type of plastic that makes bottles—can be recycled more times than other types of plastic, that's not usually what happens. Virgin plastic is, simply put, cheaper to make into things like bottles than recycled plastic. Less than 30% of plastic bottles are recycled in the U.S., and a lot of that stock is turned not into other bottles, but 'downcycled' into other things, like filler and fabric. These products, in turn, can't be recycled again. The plastic ends up in landfills."

Then, there is the more attention-grabbing (and realistic) assessment of the situation in a short video Bill recorded as part of a John Oliver segment on climate change:


I am guessing that the John Oliver video did not pay nearly as well as the Coca-Cola video, and I'll leave you to determine which one you think is the message we need to be sending from one of the most respected public voices on science.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© 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/


Bill Nye, the Sellout Guy
By Molly Taft
April 7, 2022
Gizmodo
 
Posted by David Chandler at 8:27 PM

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Strategic CSR - Tires

The article in the url below demonstrates to me how basic the current conversation is about environmental pollution, and the layers of complexity we are yet to even consider, let alone begin to tackle:

"The Tyre Collective does not yet have a name for its device. Hanson Cheng, one of the London-based startup's three co-founders, calls it a 'box.' Built to attach behind the wheel of a car, truck, van or bus, it's designed to capture emissions from an oft-overlooked source: tires. Every vehicle sheds tiny bits of its tires as it rolls, but 'where the rubber meets the road' is a bit of a misnomer: The tires on most passenger vehicles contain little natural rubber. Instead, they're made from a stew of petrochemicals, particles of which ultimately wind up in soil, air, waterways and oceans."

And, the amount of pollution tires create is not insignificant (see also Strategic CSR – Eco-activism):

"The International Union for Conservation of Nature pegs tires as the second leading source of microplastic pollution in oceans, and one 2017 study found a global per capita average of .81 kilograms in tire emissions per year, ranging from .23 kg per year in India to 4.7 kg (roughly 10 pounds) in the US. That may seem minor stacked up against the nearly 300 pounds in plastic waste the average American generates each year, but microplastics are tiny by definition — and an insidious source of toxins that researchers are only beginning to understand. 'When we talk about zero emissions, a lot of that conversation is about electric vehicles,' says Cheng, 30. 'But there's a whole world of non-exhaust emissions that also needs to be addressed.'"

We are like cats distracted by a laser pointer – we focus on one thing to the exclusion of other things, thinking we are making progress when we are really not even scratching the surface. The danger of this is that progress is too slow, but also that progress made on one dimension causes problems in other areas where we are paying less attention:

"Switching to electric cars helps to lower carbon emissions — even after accounting for manufacturing and charging batteries — but it actually exacerbates the problem of tire emissions. EVs typically weigh more and accelerate faster than their gas-burning counterparts, both of which add to tire wear. … 'Most of these EVs are big monstrous things, so it's perfectly intuitive that they will be chewing up tires faster,' says Nick Molden, founder and CEO of the UK-based research shop Emissions Analytics. Results from the company's latest road tests, [last year], show that under normal driving conditions a gas car sheds about 73 milligrams per kilometer from four new tires. A comparable EV, the company estimates, sheds an additional 15 milligrams per kilometer, or about 20% more."

The challenge of unforeseen consequences is enhanced when we develop any particular innovation in a vacuum, without investigating the potential ripple effects of the change:

"One landmark study makes the potential stakes clear. In 2020, researchers in Washington state solved a decades-old mystery of why storm runoff was causing mass deaths of coho salmon: 6PPD, a preservative commonly used in car tires. When exposed to sun and air, 6PPD transforms into a chemical called 6PPD-quinone, which turns out to be highly toxic to coho salmon — causing them to circle, gasp at the surface and then die within hours."

The goal for the Tyre Collective is to collect tire residue at the point of emission, by way of the device they have created:

"In the laboratory, Tyre Collective's device pulled in 60% of airborne emissions by mass, but real-world implementation is proving more challenging. The company is currently testing a prototype on a pair of delivery vans in London, where it's so far gathering around a fifth of emissions. The Tyre Collective's plan is to begin retrofitting the devices on delivery and bus fleets and, eventually, for EV manufacturers to integrate the technology into their cars — doing for tire emissions what the catalytic converter did for the tailpipe. Cartridges full of tire emissions could then be emptied at collection points as part of routine vehicle service and reused in new tires, soles of shoes and other products."

But that, in itself, is not a solution. That only happens when we encourage the collection of the waste, widespread adoption of the technology, and an ability to recycle what is collected:

"'There's a need to create a circular loop around this waste,' says Cheng. 'Otherwise, we're going to all this effort to capture it for it to be released back into landfills.'"

Take care
David

David Chandler
© 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/


When Driving, Tires Emit Pollution. And EVs Make the Problem Worse
By Ira Boudway
September 2, 2022
Bloomberg Green
 
Posted by David Chandler at 4:48 AM

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Strategic CSR - Big things

The article in the url below is a review of a book by Bent Flyvbjerg (academic) and Dan Gardner (journalist) about how big projects are conceived and implemented ("How Big Things Get Done"). The underlying point is that, given how inefficient and cumbersome the approval processes for such projects usually are, it is quite remarkable that anything big gets done. In reality, such projects are rarely done according to initial promises, or even done well, let alone exceed expectations. There are lots of obvious human-related reasons as to why this is true (e.g., psychological biases, challenges with sunk costs, general inertia, and so on), but the extent to which it is true is quite amazing:

"Mr Flyvbjerg is the compiler of a database of over 16,000 projects, which tells a grimly consistent tale of missed deadlines and shattered budgets. By his reckoning, only 8.5% of projects meet their initial estimates on cost and time, and a piddling 0.5% achieve what they set out to do on cost, time and benefits."

I wonder what the implications of this phenomenon are for challenges like combatting climate change and creating a sustainable economy, which are undoubtedly "big things."

Take care
David

David Chandler
© 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/


Mega lowdown
By Bartleby
March 18, 2023
The Economist
Late Edition – Final
57
 
Posted by David Chandler at 6:25 PM

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Strategic CSR - Bureaucracy

The article in the url below examines how challenging it can be to build the energy infrastructure in the U.S. that is required to shift from fossil fuels to a renewable future. Of particular importance are transmission lines, so energy can be transported from those parts of the country where it is generated (often sparsely populated) to those parts of the country where it is needed (more densely populated):

"That means using the megawatts generated by Wyoming's winds to charge a Tesla in Los Angeles. But a bureaucratic thicket stands in the way. Both PacifiCorp [the biggest utility in the American West that operates a suite of wind farms in the county] and Mr Anschutz [a businessman who "wants to turn his Wyoming ranch into a sea of turbines"] have spent more than a decade trying to get high-voltage transmission lines that cross multiple states approved. TransWest Express, Anschutz Corporation's proposed line from Wyoming to the Nevada-California border, has yet to break ground."

The reason for the delay is the amount of regulation and compliance that characterizes this still-growing industry. Even though we have been saying we need to build this infrastructure for a long time now, the fact that we are still not close to realizing what is essential is extremely frustrating:

"But the process to get [clean energy projects] approved can be long, onerous and litigious. McKinsey, a consultancy, reckons it can take up to five years to get a permit for a solar farm and seven for an onshore wind farm. An ambitious timeline to build a high-voltage transmission line is at least ten years. … The Rhodium Group, a consultancy, estimates that [the Inflation Reduction Act has] the potential to cut emissions by 32-42% below 2005 levels by 2030. But a recent study … suggests that America would need to more than double its average pace of transmission expansion over the last decade to realise that goal."

And, this is not even considering technologies like "nuclear power and carbon capture" (which can achieve faster gains in emissions reductions more efficiently) that also exist in highly regulated industries that often generate local resistance:

"Legal challenges often revolve around threats to endangered species. In Wyoming, environmentalists worry that wind farms and transmission lines will harm sage-grouse habitat. Native American tribes sue to stop officials from approving energy projects on land sacred to them. A recent study … identified 53 big wind, solar and geothermal projects that were delayed or blocked between 2008 and 2021. A third of them faced permitting difficulties. [Environmental legal] challenges make up the largest proportion of federal climate-change litigation in America."

And, all the delays increase costs:

"PacifiCorp originally budgeted about $1.3bn for a transmission line from Wyoming to Utah. Some 15 years later, the cost has climbed to $1.9bn. For new nuclear plants, which are extremely capital-intensive, delay can mean death."

So, we face a choice – which "endangered species" are we willing to place under greater threat? If we don't move more quickly, it is hard not to conclude that the species under the greatest threat will be our own. We have delayed so long that it seems we have left it too late for the low-hanging fruit, and no longer have any easy choices left. As a result, we need to decide which of the least worst options is the most palatable. Whatever happens, we are going to be unlikely to please all of the people (and sage-grouse) all of the time.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© 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/


Green v green
February 4, 2023
The Economist
Late Edition – Final
21-23
 
Posted by David Chandler at 5:20 AM

Thursday, April 6, 2023

Strategic CSR - Shein + Boohoo

Following on from Tuesday's newsletter, what evidence do we have that, given the opportunity, people will choose to do the right thing? The article in the first url below suggests, to the contrary, that they might not, and may even prefer not to. Specifically, the article profiles the company, Shein ("officially pronounced 'she-in,' though often pronounced 'sheen'"), which is described as a "Chinese fast-fashion company" and is becoming very popular in the U.S., its "most valuable market." Shein is becoming so popular that it "recently surpassed Amazon as the most downloaded shopping app in the United States." What consumers are attracted to is the shockingly low prices for most items ("things like $1 daisy earrings, $4 bucket hats, $12 cable-knit crop tops, $13 faux leather baguette bags and $29 neon PVC mule sandals"). What they are willing to ignore, it seems, is the ethical compromises that come with producing reasonable quality goods at those very low prices:

"… as Shein has grown, so have questions about its practices. Shein frequently makes headlines for its controversies, like selling a $2.50 swastika necklace or copying the work of designers. … Shein has also been accused of working with suppliers that violate labor laws, and failing to make necessary disclosures about factory conditions. … Last year, a CBC Marketplace investigation found elevated levels of lead in some Shein products, like a toddler's jacket and tiny purse."

As the article notes, fast fashion raises a number of issues that many consumers prefer to overlook:

"All of this has contributed to Shein becoming an archetype of a certain genre of supercheap clothing companies: It is the leader of a pack of Gen Z-favored brands, like Fashion Nova and Boohoo, accused by critics (including those from Gen Z) of contributing to overconsumption and waste. … Still, many of the videos on social platforms made about Shein … inspire comments raising these issues: How can a $4 top be made to last, so it doesn't end up in a landfill? How can the workers who sewed and shipped that garment be compensated fairly? Yet this hasn't deterred Shein's devotees, many of whom feel they haven't seen enough evidence to stop shopping with the brand."

In the article in the second url below, the influence of social media stars is explored in the context of the fast-fashion company, Boohoo. The article discusses how much influencers can increase sales, while at the same time encouraging the worst excesses of the fashion industry, even when "sustainability" is promised:

"Good news for people who like being lied to and wearing clothes that smell of petrochemicals: Boohoo, a UK-based online fast-fashion brand that has grown quickly in the US, has announced that they will be partnering with Kourtney Kardashian to embark on a 'sustainability journey.'"

The theory:

"The destination is unclear, but the 'journey'' will involve 46 limited-edition pieces of clothing made from 'recycled fibers, traceable cotton, recycled sequins and recycled polyester' as well as 'transparent practices for shoppers who want to learn more about the apparel.'"

And, the reality:

"It's unclear how sustainable any of the pieces in the upcoming collection – which ranges in price from $6 to $100 – actually are. The official press release includes absurdist statements such as '41/45 contain pieces that contain recycled fibres like recycles [sic] cotton' with no information about what percentage of the materials are recycled (Boohoo did not respond to repeated requests for clarification). Although the collection promises to be 'traceable,' only 2 items are made with cotton from CottonConnect, an agricultural project that promotes sustainable cotton farming practices with specific farms."

Ultimately, the underlying problem is that a small effort (even of questionable quality) often then excuses the rest of operations, which remain unhindered by even the promise of change:

"Even if Kardashian's range turns out to be as sustainable as Stella McCartney, her collection makes up less than 0.1% of the clothes available on Boohoo. Her endorsement, however, will help the whole company, including the 99.9% of their far less sustainable clothing."

And, the underlying challenge for the whole industry remains problematic:

"Anyone who says a company like Boohoo can create sustainable clothing is lying. Fast fashion retailers – from Shein and its lead-filled $1 sunglasses to Zara and their $50 polyester cardigans – are predicated on a system of always wanting more that is at odds with the environment."

As I have mentioned before (Strategic CSR – Jeans), sustainability, by definition, is the antithesis of fashion. Whenever the underlying goal is to get people to throw away what they have currently and replace it with something sustainable, there is a significant disconnect in coming to terms with the core problem.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© 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/


Overlooking Ethical Concerns for a $7 Tube Top
By Jessica Testa
September 1, 2022
The New York Times
Late Edition – Final
D5

Kourtney Kardashian wants to make Boohoo's fast-fashion sustainable. Spoiler alert: she can't
By Niloufar Haidari
September 12, 2022
The Guardian

Posted by David Chandler at 9:28 PM

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Strategic CSR - Fast fashion

The article in the url below highlights that, even the fast fashion companies acknowledge their business model is a threat to their own future success:

"In its 2021 annual report, Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB identified one trend as a 'high' risk to its business for the first time, higher-risk even than increased energy costs or availability of raw materials. Should consumers increasingly prefer 'products and services with low climate impacts from trusted companies that are seen as leaders in sustainability,' H&M wrote, the company might see a negative impact. As recently as 2018, H&M didn't list sustainably-minded shopping as a risk at all."

The reason these companies are growing more wary, the article argues, is that there are plenty of signals that a backlash is possible:

"… the past few years have seen tough feedback for fashion companies that push the limits on how quickly they can churn out clothing and accessories. Retailers like Shein, H&M, Zara and Boohoo have been repeatedly dinged by consumers, activists, the press and public officials for their mounting climate, water, and plastic pollution footprints, for labor conditions and for greenwashing. Meanwhile, report after report shows consumers signaling more focus on the environment when it comes to purchasing decisions. In one 2021 survey, for example, two thirds of US consumers said they would pay more for sustainable products."

The only problem is that, any resource intensive industry characterized by waste (and that is as good a definition of fast fashion as anything else) is only a problem if the stakeholders of these companies (i.e., customers, employees, suppliers, etc.) think it is a problem. If, instead, these stakeholders are quite happy for these firms to continue polluting the environment at a heady rate, then nothing changes:

"Except, people don't always shop their values. And for all the talk about shifting shopping patterns, there is no clear quantitative evidence of any demographic ditching fast fashion en masse — not even environmentally conscious Gen Z. That leaves retailers whose business model relies on fast fashion to size up the threat against it in their annual reports, sustainability reports and climate disclosures, where little consensus exists."

Seen in this light, the conclusion of the article is damning:

"It's clear that shopping habits could change, but no one is sure how, when or if climate-conscious consumers will be good or bad for business."

So, there we have it – an industry that is a heavy polluter; widespread acknowledgement that this is happening and is not good; and the complete absence of change since, ultimately, the stakeholders of these companies don't (yet) care sufficiently to do anything about it. Fast fashion might be the perfect metaphor for our whole approach to the environment and climate change.

Take care
David

David Chandler
© 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/


Where Is the Fast Fashion Backlash?
By Zahra Hirji
March 15, 2023
Bloomberg
 
Posted by David Chandler at 2:54 AM
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