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We at the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative would like to close the academic year by sharing with you an update of our activities from the Spring 2007 semester. We also would like to thank you for your interest and participation which helped us to produce rigorous and useful research, create experiential learning opportunities for our students, and support innovative and effective public policies.
Core Programs News
Other External Engagement
Events
Publications
The CSR Initiative’s research focuses on two main areas: (1) Governance and Accountability – to explore new multistakeholder models of accountability in addressing issues such as human rights and the environment, and (2) Business and International Development – to explore how business, working with others, can mobilize resources for development, with a focus on expanding economic opportunity and strengthening public health systems. Over the past semester, we achieved significant milestones in each area.
GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY
- On March 28, 2007, CSRI Faculty Chair John Ruggie presented his report, “Business and Human Rights: Mapping International Standards of Responsibility and Accountability for Corporate Acts,” to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Prof. Ruggie is the UN’s Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. To see a video clip of Prof. Ruggie's presentation, click here. Since the inception of his mandate, Prof. Ruggie has undertaken human rights consultations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, drafted an interim report, and prepared working papers that supported his final recommendations. His work for the UN was recently profiled in Ethical Corporation Magazine. For a comprehensive account of his human rights activities, go to the Business & Human Rights Resource Center.
- On April 11-12, 2007, CSRI hosted a multi-stakeholder workshop as part of a new project led by Caroline Rees, CSRI Research Fellow, and Dr. Simon Zadek, CSRI Senior Fellow, entitled "Corporations and Human Rights: Accountability Mechanisms for Resolving Complaints and Disputes." The workshop brought together a broad group of expert stakeholders to explore enhancing the effectiveness of complaints or dispute resolution mechanisms in the business and human rights arena and was co-convened with the Kennedy School's Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations. A report from the workshop is now available.
BUSINESS AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- CSR Initiative director Jane Nelson completed a major report, "Building Linkages for Competitive and Responsible Entrepreneurship," for UNIDO. The report explores the potential of innovative partnerships to foster small enterprise, promote economic growth, and reduce poverty in developing countries.
- On March 14, 2007, CSRI, led by Beth Jenkins, CSRI Director of Policy Studies, co-hosted a small group of leading practitioners from the corporate, donor, and intermediary communities to discuss emerging opportunities and challenges in the practice and scale-up of linkages between large companies and small-medium enterprises in developing countries. The meeting was a joint activity of CSRI, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF). One result of the meeting is the publication "Business Linkages: Lessons, Opportunities, and Challenges."
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- Jane Nelson has been named as a board member to the World Environment Center (WEC). WEC establishes and promotes partnerships among industry, government, and non-governmental organizations
- Jennifer Nash, CSRI Executive Director and Director of the Regulatory Policy Program at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, was appointed as co-chair of the stewardship workgroup of the U.S. EPA’s advisory committee for environmental policy and technology, NACEPT.
- CSRI Senior Fellow David Grayson has recently been named head of the new Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility at Cranfield School of Management in the United Kingdom.
Grayson’s work on CSR was also profiled recently in Australia's The Age.
- Holly Wise has been named as a CSRI non-resident Senior Fellow. Holly was the founder and first Secretariat Director of the Global Development Alliance, USAID’s business model that forges strategic alliances between public and private partners in addressing international development issues. She currently runs a consulting practice, Wise Solutions LLC.
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Spring 2007 was a busy time for the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative. We sponsored and co-sponsored 14 seminars by leading CSR scholars and practitioners. Several of these events were organized by the student-led Corporate Responsibility Council. Agendas, PowerPoint presentations, and research papers are now available for many of these gatherings.
- Halina Szejnwald Brown, Professor of International Development, Community, and Environment, Clark University, on The Rise of Global Reporting Initiative: Institutional Entrepreneurship in the Age of Shared Governance
- Mandy Cormack, former Vice President Corporate Responsibility/Head Corporate Relations London for Unilever, on Mapping Impacts and Influence of International Business in Development
- Alnoor Ebrahim, Visiting Associate Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government, on Creating Accountability: What do Business, Government, and Nonprofits have in Common?
- Daniel C. Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, Yale University, on Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage
- Elizabeth Fleming, CO2 Integration Manager, Former Director, Shell 'Coming Home' Project (New Orleans), Shell Exploration and Production, The Private Sector's Role in Disaster Response and Recovery: Lessons from New Orleans
- David Grayson, Senior Fellow, CSRI, at the Kennedy School of Government, and Chair and Founding Director, Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility at the Cranfield School of Management, UK, on Mobilizing Responsible Business: Lessons from Europe
- Stuart Hart, S.C. Johnson Chair of Sustainable Global Enterprise and Professor of Management, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, on Capitalism at the Crossroads
- Chris Jochnick, Director of Private Sector Engagement, Oxfam America on Corporate Agitator or Collaborator?: The Oxfam Approach to Corporate Engagement
- Michael L. Michael, Chief Compliance Officer, IXIS Asset Management Global Associates, Inc. and Senior Fellow, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, on Business Ethics: The Law of Rules
- John Ruggie, Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on business & human rights, on Business and Human Rights: Mapping International Standards of Responsibility and Accountability for Corporate Acts
- Graham Sinclair, Adjunct Visiting Professor, Center for Sustainable Enterprise, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina, on Investing in CSR: From Wall Street to Main Street
- Michael Toffel, Assistant Professor of Business Administration,
Harvard Business School, on Coming Clean and Cleaning Up?: Examining the Effects of Self-Policing
- Simon Zadek, Senior Fellow, CSRI, at the Kennedy School of Government, and Chief Executive, AccountAbility, on Advancing Public Governance through Mutual Accountability Compacts
- A panel on Green CSR: What’s the Role of Corporations in Addressing Environmental Challenges? with Dan Fiorino, Director of the National Environmental Performance Track at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Bob Langert, Vice President for Corporate Social Responsibility at McDonald’s, and Gwen Ruta, Director of Corporate Partnerships for Environmental Defense
For a list of all our Spring 2007 events and the presentations, please visit our website.
For news on upcoming events for the 2007-2008 academic year, check our website calendar at the end of the summer.
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Since January, the CSR Initiative has completed three reports and four working papers. All of our publications are available to download on our website.
Reports
Working Papers
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