In their recent contribution to the Harvard Business Review, Doing Well By Doing Good? Don’t Count on It, Joshua Margolis and Hillary Anger Elfenbein rekindle the venerable debate on the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and financial performance. Since its inception, CSR has struggled to build legitimacy against forces pressing corporate social and environmental strategies to demonstrate a direct, causal relationship with stock performance. ...

Historically, investors pursuing socially responsible investment (SRI) strategies have been forced to choose among imperfect investment solutions.  An evaluation of current investment products which incorporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria reveals some seeming contradictions.  Are SRI funds truly meeting the needs of socially conscious investors by excluding Starbucks – a company respected by many for its sustainable supply chain practices and strong employee relations – because the company licensed its brand to promote an alcohol product?  Should CSR ranking ...

While holiday shopping is a tradition for many Americans, our awareness of the causes associated with seasonal spending, seems to impact how we shop. Sites like the NewAmericanDream.com have created a Conscious Consumer Marketplace that suggests fair trade and environmentally friendly gifts. “The environment is increasingly on consumers' radar screens," according to the 22nd Annual Holiday Survey of retail spending and trends, commissioned by Deloitte. ...

According to Grant Thornton’s 15th Survey of U.S. Business Leaders, 77% of executives say that corporate responsibility will have a major impact on their business strategies over the next few years, and 76% agree it can enhance a company’s profitability. Read the survey report, Corporate responsibility: Burden or opportunity?, conducted in partnership with BusinessWeek Research Services, to find out how business leaders are answering such questions as: ...

 A study produced this month shows 82% of the largest global companies produce social responsibility reports, but the reports lack comparable quantitative measures. The study was led by 3 financial management firms: WestLB AG, Walden Asset Management, and Trillium Asset Management. ...

A number of our clients have recently been working with us to push into the next frontier of measurement - beyond merely collecting data how do we operationalize outcomes data within the organization to improve decision making?  We've referred to this as "Applied Measurement".  The areas of Applied Measurement include: inform ...

The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) held their annual conference in Chicago, IL earlier this month. I had the chance to attend the entire conference and will be sharing some of what I learned over the two days of plenary sessions, breakout groups and casual conversations with philanthropic colleagues. ...

Corporate Responsibility Officer magazine recently released its list of 100 Best Corporate Citizens for 2007. The list is developed through extensive analysis that measures companies against social and environmental characteristics of a good corporate citizen. Read more at: http://www.thecro.com/?q=node/304 ...

Philanthropy is fast becoming one of the hottest business strategies of the decade. Hung over from drinking too much CSR KoolAid (and wary from writing fancy reports that no one reads), companies are finding that philanthropy is a more strategic instrument. While CSR at best disproves a negative ("honestly, we're not bad, look, we're complying with all the rules..."), philanthropy is more pro-active and controllable. The subject is getting surprisingly high billing in the mainstream business press. Here are the latest headlines and research that we've seen in recent weeks: ...

Todd Cohen of the Philanthropy Journal has got his finger on the pulse. His recent article on "outcomes planning" approach taken by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta is spot-on-the-mark. ...