‘Greenwashing’ is a new term that describes the actions of companies whose corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities prove to be more window-dressing than action. Two Michigan Ross professors, Jun Li and Di (Andrew) Wu used a set of databases as proxies to answer a complex and important question: Does corporate social responsibility really benefit society? […]
Subject: Values
How to Create Shared Value for the Firm and Society
In a seminal 2011 Harvard Business Review article, Michael Porter and Mark Kramer urged companies to abandon the ‘old narrow view of capitalism’ in which the sole purpose of companies is to make profits. Instead of focusing exclusive on share value, they argued, corporations have a duty to also address the challenges of society — […]
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CEOs Can Galvanize Public Opinion-and Help Business
When Indiana passed its Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in March of 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook’s response was swift and unequivocal. “Apple is open for everyone. We are deeply disappointed in Indiana's new law,” he tweeted. While supporters insisted that the law was only intended to allow business owners and others to make decisions […]
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We Trust People Who Believe in Absolute Moral Rules
Most people make moral judgements intuitively: we feel what is right or wrong. For example, imagine a dilemma in which a runaway trolley is racing toward five people, who will be killed if the trolley is not stopped. A man named Adam stands on a footbridge overlooking the trolley tracks. In an effort to save […]
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Ten Steps for New Executives: Understand the Culture before Implementing Change
Implementing change is never easy, but for a newly hired executive working with new people in a new culture, the challenge is even greater. Understanding the current culture of the company is an important first step. What are the norms, values and beliefs of the company? Who are its informal leaders? Dissecting the company’s organizational […]
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Effective Risk Management to Secure Change and Growth
Sceptics of enterprise risk management believe that the 2008 financial crisis proves their point: risk management practices do little to prevent risks. Instead, according to these sceptics, focusing on potential risks only leads to a fear of innovation and initiative. Companies stay in their safe zones, becoming sitting ducks for competitors who are not afraid […]
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Quotas to Gender-Balance the Board: Norway’s Drastic Action Worked
In December of 2005, Norway passed a quota law requiring that women make up a minimum of 40% of corporate boards. Corporations had 2 years to comply with the law. As a result of the law, the fraction of women directors went from 5% in 2001 to 40% in 2008. Opponents of the quota argued […]
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How Corporate Governance Impacts Human Resources
Corporate governance systems are the systems through which a company is controlled and directed. Public corporations will have boards of directors responsible for ensuring that management is acting in the best interests of the company. Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is based on the belief that human resource decisions must be aligned with the strategy […]
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How a Daughter Might Shape the CEO
Parents will naturally have an impact on their children’s values. New research, however, is showing that the opposite is also true: children, and in particular daughters, are impacting their parents’ values and beliefs. The surprising influence of daughters was previously revealed in studies that compared the decisions of members of Congress and (in a separate […]
Reusable Grocery Bags: How Green Customers Help the Environment-and Your Business
When people do good things, they reward themselves. This is the conclusion of a number of previous studies into the psychology of doing good deeds. Two researchers from Harvard Business School and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business explored through their own series of studies the business implications of this previous psychological research. The researchers […]
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