The press release in the url below contains the announcement for the first annual “Corporate Citizenship Film Festival” organized by Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship. Rather than criticizing corporations, the Festival’s goal is to celebrate the social value they add. On the surface, this appears to be a good idea:
“Since so much media focus has been on the negative, it's easy to overlook the positive contributions business makes to society," said Bradley K. Googins, executive director of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship. "We've launched this annual film festival to provide the public another dimension of business.”
Too often, the CSR debate fails to recognize that the relationship between business and society is symbiotic—society needs and benefits from business in the same way that business needs and benefits from society. Both sides have value to add; both sides also fall short in some respects. The way the Festival is currently structured, however, indicates that it is likely to fail to live up to its potential. I am trying not to be too cynical, but by allowing firms to submit their own films (rather than have a Festival for independent film makers, for example), my sense is that the films will largely be social responsibility ads:
“Each video is between 1 and 3 minutes in length and captures how each company is having a positive impact, typically in partnership with nonprofits, customers and employees, on social and environmental challenges.”
Those firms willing to commit the most money to the project will produce the best infomercials. What will be lost in the process is an objective evaluation of the net value added by any given firm.
This year’s competition was won by FedEx (http://www.csrwire.com/News/14981.html).
Have a good weekend.
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
http://www.sagepub.com/Werther/
CSRWire Press Release
Press release from: Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship
March 12, 2009
Caught on Video: Companies Doing Good
Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship sponsors Film Festival; vote at www.BCCorporateCitizenship.org/filmfestival
http://www.csrwire.com/News/14806.html
Showing posts with label FedEx. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FedEx. Show all posts
Friday, May 1, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Strategic CSR - FedEx
I will be traveling over the next two to three weeks. I intend to continue sending the Newsletters during this time, but am unsure of my internet access. As such, apologies in advance for any missed Newsletters. Regular service should return by the middle of April!
The article in the url below provides an update on FedEx’s 2003 plan:
“… to replace the company's 30,000 medium-duty trucks over the next 10 years.”
According to the article, FedEx operates the largest fleet of hybrid electrical trucks in the world:
“The vehicles get about 40% better gas mileage and emit 96% less "particulate pollution" than FedEx's regular medium-duty trucks.”
This achievement is not as impressive as it sounds, however. Rather than closing in on its target of 30,000 trucks, FedEx had only 172 on the road at the end of last year. In spite of the best of intentions, FedEx’s commitment to the market has not encouraged other firms to invest in the technology (which would lower unit price across the board):
“[Mitch Jackson, FedEx's director of environmental affairs and sustainability], 44 and a FedEx lifer, figured that other companies would realize the ultimate cost savings and start placing orders for test vehicles. They didn't -- in large part because of the initial sticker shock. Priuses and other passenger hybrids carry a 20% to 25% price premium over comparable nonhybrids; the engines that Mercedes and the Cleveland-based Eaton Corp. produced for FedEx upped costs 75%.”
In addition, in spite of initial promise, the federal government has refused to provide additional incentives, with fuel economy standards for commercial trucks only being introduced last year.
FedEx’s goal of replacing all its 30,000 delivery trucks with hybrid vehicles is still in place. Its timeline, however, is being revised upwards.
Take care
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
Green Business: FedEx's Hybrid-Truck Program Stalls
Why FedEx's ambitious goal of putting 30,000 hybrid vehicles on the road by 2013 has stalled.
From: Issue 129
October 2008
Page 101
By: Melanie Warner
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/129/green-business-truck-stop.html
The article in the url below provides an update on FedEx’s 2003 plan:
“… to replace the company's 30,000 medium-duty trucks over the next 10 years.”
According to the article, FedEx operates the largest fleet of hybrid electrical trucks in the world:
“The vehicles get about 40% better gas mileage and emit 96% less "particulate pollution" than FedEx's regular medium-duty trucks.”
This achievement is not as impressive as it sounds, however. Rather than closing in on its target of 30,000 trucks, FedEx had only 172 on the road at the end of last year. In spite of the best of intentions, FedEx’s commitment to the market has not encouraged other firms to invest in the technology (which would lower unit price across the board):
“[Mitch Jackson, FedEx's director of environmental affairs and sustainability], 44 and a FedEx lifer, figured that other companies would realize the ultimate cost savings and start placing orders for test vehicles. They didn't -- in large part because of the initial sticker shock. Priuses and other passenger hybrids carry a 20% to 25% price premium over comparable nonhybrids; the engines that Mercedes and the Cleveland-based Eaton Corp. produced for FedEx upped costs 75%.”
In addition, in spite of initial promise, the federal government has refused to provide additional incentives, with fuel economy standards for commercial trucks only being introduced last year.
FedEx’s goal of replacing all its 30,000 delivery trucks with hybrid vehicles is still in place. Its timeline, however, is being revised upwards.
Take care
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
Green Business: FedEx's Hybrid-Truck Program Stalls
Why FedEx's ambitious goal of putting 30,000 hybrid vehicles on the road by 2013 has stalled.
From: Issue 129
October 2008
Page 101
By: Melanie Warner
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/129/green-business-truck-stop.html
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Strategic CSR - Sustainability
The article in the url link below from BusinessWeek mounts a direct attack on the business case for environmental sustainability by exposing much corporate action on this issue as PR greenwash (Issues: Environmental Sustainability, p171):
“Companies continue to assess most green initiatives with the same return-on-investment analysis they would use with any other capital project. And while some environmental advances pay for themselves in time, returns often aren't as swift or large as competing uses of corporate cash. … many major initiatives simply aren't money-savers. They come with daunting price tags that undercut the conviction that environmental salvation can be had on the cheap.”
The problem surrounding ‘renewable energy credits’ (RECs), or carbon emissions off-sets, exemplify the extent of greenwash that is occurring:
“RECs are a type of financial arrangement that companies increasingly use to justify assertions that they have reduced their net contribution to global warming. But the most commonly used RECs, which are supposed to result in a third party's developing pollution-free power, turn out to be highly dubious (BW—Mar. 26).”
The ambitious sustainability claims of large firms followed by erratic implementation are typified by the Fed Ex example presented:
“Hailed as an environmental pioneer, FedEx (FDX ) says on its Web site that it is "committed to the use of innovations and technologies to minimize greenhouse gases." With 70,000 ground vehicles and 670 planes burning fuel, the world's largest shipper is a huge producer of heat-trapping gases. Back in 2003, FedEx announced that it would soon begin deploying clean-burning hybrid trucks at a rate of 3,000 a year, eventually sparing the atmosphere 250,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually from diesel-engine vehicles. "This program has the potential to replace the company's 30,000 medium-duty trucks over the next 10 years," FedEx announced at the time. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the effort a Clean Air Excellence prize in 2004. Four years later, FedEx has purchased fewer than 100 hybrid trucks, or less than one-third of one percent of its fleet. At $70,000 and up, the hybrids cost at least 75% more than conventional trucks, although fuel savings should pay for the difference over the 10-year lifespan of the vehicles. FedEx, which reported record profits of $2 billion for the fiscal year that ended May 31, decided that breaking even over a decade wasn't the best use of company capital. "We do have a fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders," says environmental director Mitch Jackson. "We can't subsidize the development of this technology for our competitors."”
Take care
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
http://www.sagepub.com/Werther
Business Week Online
Insider Newsletter
Friday, October 19, 2007
********************
LITTLE GREEN LIES
The sweet notion that making a company environmentally friendly can be not just cost-effective but profitable is going up in smoke. Meet the man wielding the torch.
http://newsletters.businessweek.com/c.asp?678258&c55a2ee820194f0f&2
“Companies continue to assess most green initiatives with the same return-on-investment analysis they would use with any other capital project. And while some environmental advances pay for themselves in time, returns often aren't as swift or large as competing uses of corporate cash. … many major initiatives simply aren't money-savers. They come with daunting price tags that undercut the conviction that environmental salvation can be had on the cheap.”
The problem surrounding ‘renewable energy credits’ (RECs), or carbon emissions off-sets, exemplify the extent of greenwash that is occurring:
“RECs are a type of financial arrangement that companies increasingly use to justify assertions that they have reduced their net contribution to global warming. But the most commonly used RECs, which are supposed to result in a third party's developing pollution-free power, turn out to be highly dubious (BW—Mar. 26).”
The ambitious sustainability claims of large firms followed by erratic implementation are typified by the Fed Ex example presented:
“Hailed as an environmental pioneer, FedEx (FDX ) says on its Web site that it is "committed to the use of innovations and technologies to minimize greenhouse gases." With 70,000 ground vehicles and 670 planes burning fuel, the world's largest shipper is a huge producer of heat-trapping gases. Back in 2003, FedEx announced that it would soon begin deploying clean-burning hybrid trucks at a rate of 3,000 a year, eventually sparing the atmosphere 250,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually from diesel-engine vehicles. "This program has the potential to replace the company's 30,000 medium-duty trucks over the next 10 years," FedEx announced at the time. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the effort a Clean Air Excellence prize in 2004. Four years later, FedEx has purchased fewer than 100 hybrid trucks, or less than one-third of one percent of its fleet. At $70,000 and up, the hybrids cost at least 75% more than conventional trucks, although fuel savings should pay for the difference over the 10-year lifespan of the vehicles. FedEx, which reported record profits of $2 billion for the fiscal year that ended May 31, decided that breaking even over a decade wasn't the best use of company capital. "We do have a fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders," says environmental director Mitch Jackson. "We can't subsidize the development of this technology for our competitors."”
Take care
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
http://www.sagepub.com/Werther
Business Week Online
Insider Newsletter
Friday, October 19, 2007
********************
LITTLE GREEN LIES
The sweet notion that making a company environmentally friendly can be not just cost-effective but profitable is going up in smoke. Meet the man wielding the torch.
http://newsletters.businessweek.com/c.asp?678258&c55a2ee820194f0f&2
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Strategic CSR - Executives
The article in the url link below is taken from the August edition of Strategy+Business, a magazine produced by the consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. The article proposes an interesting idea for a non-profit organization, ‘Executives without Borders,’ that would be modeled on the successful medical non-profit, ‘Medecins Sans Frontieres’:
“Like MSF, Executives Sans Frontières (ESF) would be run by an international board of directors, who would be in charge of recruiting a group of volunteer, adventurous business executives and rotating teams of committed members into regions like the Sahel to help establish businesses and develop untapped markets. Based on their background and expertise, these managers from the developed world’s corporate elite and recent startups would be parachuted in for several months to several years to address such critical issues as transportation of goods, sustainable harvesting, and international trade practices. ESF’s success would be predicated on its ability to locate, mentor, and, in some cases, underwrite local entrepreneurs. The overarching goal would be to teach people to run ventures themselves.”
The idea has much to recommend it and is potentially more effective than the uncoordinated similar actions some firms have already initiated:
“Although some businesses have tinkered with sending salaried consultants to developing countries on pro bono projects, such projects tend to be temporary and focused at the higher levels of government. The ESF, however, would be far more adventurous, appealing to executives’ altruistic instincts while giving them an opportunity to apply real business learning in exciting, uncharted settings. ESF would target mid-career managers with experience, drive, and a sense of joie de vivre. There could also be an opportunity for companies to get involved directly; for example, FedEx might donate 15 employees a year, who would each serve four years with ESF while remaining on FedEx’s payroll.”
Take care
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
http://www.sagepub.com/Werther
Executives without Borders
by Jonathan Ledgard
August 14, 2007
A novel proposition for saving driest Africa from total collapse.
http://www.strategy-business.com/li/leadingideas/li00038?
“Like MSF, Executives Sans Frontières (ESF) would be run by an international board of directors, who would be in charge of recruiting a group of volunteer, adventurous business executives and rotating teams of committed members into regions like the Sahel to help establish businesses and develop untapped markets. Based on their background and expertise, these managers from the developed world’s corporate elite and recent startups would be parachuted in for several months to several years to address such critical issues as transportation of goods, sustainable harvesting, and international trade practices. ESF’s success would be predicated on its ability to locate, mentor, and, in some cases, underwrite local entrepreneurs. The overarching goal would be to teach people to run ventures themselves.”
The idea has much to recommend it and is potentially more effective than the uncoordinated similar actions some firms have already initiated:
“Although some businesses have tinkered with sending salaried consultants to developing countries on pro bono projects, such projects tend to be temporary and focused at the higher levels of government. The ESF, however, would be far more adventurous, appealing to executives’ altruistic instincts while giving them an opportunity to apply real business learning in exciting, uncharted settings. ESF would target mid-career managers with experience, drive, and a sense of joie de vivre. There could also be an opportunity for companies to get involved directly; for example, FedEx might donate 15 employees a year, who would each serve four years with ESF while remaining on FedEx’s payroll.”
Take care
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
http://www.sagepub.com/Werther
Executives without Borders
by Jonathan Ledgard
August 14, 2007
A novel proposition for saving driest Africa from total collapse.
http://www.strategy-business.com/li/leadingideas/li00038?
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