Corporate Social Responsibility
In the post-Enron global private sector, pressure is on public corporations to actively embrace responsible behaviors in environmental, labor, and social practices. Speakers describe how social-purpose businesses have made social responsibility part of their mission, while mainstream companies have found it good for both their image and their bottom line to sponsor marketing partnerships that encourage donations to a cause or adherence to corporate social responsibility standards.
Stanford multidisciplinary approach benefits: 
Video File, (3:51 minutes, RealPlayer® format)
Recent Conferences and Speakers
Criticism May Produce Innovation, Wal-Mart CEO Scott Says
Wal-Mart’s innovative approach to environmental sustainability and its addition of health care services to stores were partly triggered by critics of the company in other areas. CEO Lee Scott spoke with Sloan Fellows. (March 2008)
Socially and Environmentally Responsible Supply Chains Inaugural Conference: Making the Business Case
On the day after the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision allowing the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, more than 200 corporate and academic supply chain management experts gathered at the Stanford Graduate School of Business to exchange ideas and best practices aimed at making the global supply chain more sustainable. (April 3, 2007)
Lens of Sustainability: Andy Ruben and Jib Ellison, Wal-Mart
In 2005, Wal-Mart's CEO announced a corporation-wide strategic initiative to go green. The company would take drastic measures to cut down on the waste, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emission, thus saving money, which would be passed on to the customer. This new perspective was named the Lens of Sustainability, and a new chair was appointed to spearhead the effort. Andrew Ruben, VP for corporate strategy and sustainability, and Jib Ellison founder of Blu Skye Sustainability Consulting, Wal-Mart's sustainability partner, explain why Wal-Mart is engaging in sustainability. 
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The Climate of Capital Change part I: Social Entrepreneurs, Personal Pathways
What do these people have in common: a leader of a multi-billion-dollar private equity fund, a dot-com carbon cowboy, and one of the original Schwab social entrepreneurs? They are all harnessing business to build a better world. Paul Fletcher, senior partner of Actis; Dan Whaley, founder and CEO of Climos; and Nic Frances, founder and chairman of Easy Being Green, give us glimpse of what it takes to be a social entrepreneur. Listen Now
The Climate of Capital Change part II: Funding a Cleaner World
What is the single most important change we will see in business and capital markets? Join Paul Fletcher, Nic Frances, Divesh Makan, Robert Rubenstein, Toni E. Symonds, and Bryan L. Martel as they share their perspectives on climate change and the role of entrepreneurs and the private sector in building a better world. Listen Now
Let My People Go Surfing: Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia
Patagonia Inc. founder and owner, Yvon Chouinard, offered his Stanford audience a slew of counterintuitive business practices that have helped make his apparel company a success. (October 2006) Listen Now
Global Warming: Carole Browner, formerly with EPA
If we fail to halt global warming, we'll be the first generation that bequeathed to the next generation a problem that can't be fixed, says Carol Browner, former chief of the Environmental Protection Agency. In this presentation from the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford, she warns that no engineer in the world could reverse the rise in sea levels once it starts to happen. She urges her audience to seek nonpartisan, business-friendly solutions to the looming crisis. Listen Now
Starbucks Reinvents International Coffee Trade: Dennis Macray
How is Starbucks, the United States' leading coffee retailer, reshaping its business practices and reinventing the international coffee trade? Dennis Macray, Starbucks' vice president of corporate social responsibility, describes the company's sustainability practices to Stanford MBA students who were preparing for a service-learning trip to Guatemala. Listen Now
How Do You Take Your Coffee? John Sage, Pura Vida
You will never think about your cup of coffee the same way again after hearing John Sage speak. Combining his idealism with a genuine love of business, Sage co-founded Pura Vida, one of the largest distributors of Fair Trade organic coffee in the world, to improve the lives of people in coffee-growing regions. Pura Vida works at the intersection of the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, showing how the two can be blended to generate both revenues and social good. Invited by the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford, Sage tells his story to an audience of MBA students. Listen Now
Businesses and Social Responsibility
KQED's Forum, November 10, 2005
Michael Krasny interviews Kriss Deiglmeier, executive director at the Center for Social Innovation, about the issues covered at the Net Impact Conference.
Audio File
Living Your Values and Effecting Change through Tempered Radicalism
Debra Meyerson, associate professor in the Stanford School of Education, is the author of the book Tempered Radicals as well as other research on incremental and bottom-up change strategies to advance social justice and social responsibility within organizations. Video File, (1:22 hour, RealPlayer® format)
Corporate Philanthropy: The Benefits and Challenges of Giving
Issues include how corporations can integrate philanthropy with a core strategy and what expectations a community has when a corporation donates funds or in-kind products to help a societal need. Speakers: Atlanta McIlwraith, Timberland; Doug Sabo, McAfee, Inc.; and Steve Wright, Salesforce.com/Foundation. Audio File, (1:19 hour, RealPlayer® format)
Assessing the Success of International CSR Standards
Panelists explore the effectiveness of current efforts to monitor and improve labor conditions abroad, the role of verification groups such as Verite, and practical challenges faced by companies in implementing guidelines. Speakers: Allison Devore, Verite; Monica Oberkofler, MD, Gap Inc.; and Chip Pitts, Stanford Law School. Video File, (1:08 hour, RealPlayer® format)
When Disaster Strikes, United Chain Efforts Can Enhance Relief Work
With the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina fresh on everyone's mind, members of humanitarian relief organizations, along with corporate and academic supply chain management experts, recently gathered at the Stanford Graduate School of Business to exchange ideas and best practices aimed at improving the effectiveness of major international disaster efforts. Details
Agenda and PowerPoint presentations
Adele Martz, General Motors: Business Continuity Planning Improving GM's Risk Profile
Gail Neudorf, CARE Canada: Disaster Relief Challenges
Ludo Oelrich, "Moving the World," A Partnership Between TNT and World Food Program: A Public-Private Partnership That Works
Audio programs, from IT Conversations
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Braungart |
Simply Reducing Waste Is Not Good Enough
Green design advocate Michael Braungart calls on manufacturers to eliminate environmentally harmful materials altogether. "Less bad is no good," he told a Stanford Business School audience. Details Audio Program, (1 hour, RealPlayer® format)
Presentation Slides
Research Links
MBA Graduates Want to Work for Caring and Ethical Employers
A survey of more than 800 MBAs from 11 leading North American and European schools found a substantial number were willing to forgo some financial benefits to work for an organization with a better reputation for corporate social responsibility and ethics. Details