[Ailist] Corporate Social Responsibility

[Cyber Smtp Mexico]

Regarding Corporations:

I hope you have seen the interview between Bill Moyers and Andrew Bacevich 
or read his book Limits of Power. I hope I can explain the connection to 
this discussion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6HLD5eDeGU

Bacevich's contention is that we are the problem in Iraq not Bush or any 
other president. They are just going out to get what we the american society 
want, constant flow of oil, cheap goods from china etc. We are responsible. 
That is why Bacevich says Obama will not change anything, "no president can" 
so perhaps he (Obama) will shift our efforts to Afghanistan but the 
fundamental goal of maintaining our way of life remains unchanged.

I feel that the same is true of Corporations. The structure is actually very 
beautiful. A publicly, community if you will....owned enterprize with a CEO 
to run things for us the shareholders. The governing board (there are many 
types) guide the CEO towards the goals set by the shareholders. (okay ....so 
this is a bit polyanna-ish but structurally this is the way it works). So as 
long as our stock portfolio is performing, we are happy and don't question 
the Madoffs in the world nor the overpaid CEO's nor the dysfunctional 
"rubber stamp" board. I am hoping we can see the positive potential for 
corporations to become increasingly socially responsible but we must provide 
the "push". Many are working in this direction.

I have been working 80% corporate over the last 15 years with a 1+ year 
break to set up a leadership institute in a university here in Mexico. I am 
now moving into the board governance arena using John Carver's model of 
policy-based board governance and improving board performance through 
transparency and sustainability models. I am hoping this will help 
corporations reflect the broader and perhaps more sustainable interests of 
their shareholders. Not just the ROI bottom line. I am working with board 
members to look deeper into their own interests and desires because I 
believe in the basic goodness of people.

The managers of our investments, our retirement plans etc are just pushing 
(with their investment choices and rating systems) our desire to make money. 
So the "they" is "us" and we are not as helpless in this area as we make 
out. I feel like we are entering into a "victim" phase and my hope is we 
pass through it rapidly so our "investment vehicles" can increase 
transparency and sustainability as we move forward. I don't see the 
corporate structure going anywhere soon because it is designed to protect 
the owners (us) from liability (not responsibility) for the actions of the 
enterprise.

Corporate social responsibility indexes are being established in many 
countries and the ISO is working in this area as well (see iso.org and go to 
ISO 26000)  Wouldn't it be great if there was a comprehensive widely 
accepted ISO like rating in the area of corp social responsibility (CSR) 
that could be used by investors who would tell their brokers to buy only 
"CSR" rated companies with a transparancy index of "X" or higher or with a 
"Sustainable Practices Index" of  "X" or higher.

I understand that being socially responsible doesn't prevent corporate greed 
but I think it is a move in the right direction and will change the dynamic 
that we have been living with for some time.

I have faith and hope that this will happen,

Ron Smith