CSR News Round Up - October 28

The following is a compilation of some our favorite articles we came across over the past few weeks. Please share any we may have missed in the comments section.

Sustainable Life Media: Social Media Under-Utilized in Sustainability Reporting
Lundquist, an Italian communications company, has found that the majority of companies on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index are failing to utilize the opportunities in CSR reporting and brand communication provided by social media.

The Independent: A clearer future: Why sustainability graduates are in hot demand
It's not a word you would have seen in course titles 10 years ago, but Masters courses in sustainability have been popping up in many universities and business schools over the past few years.

Marketing Magazine: Marks & Spencer describes its journey from corporate social res...
Marks & Spencer's Mike Barry and Lucy Calver discuss some of the important lessons the retailer has learned since it moved away from a CSR approach and started implementing its 'Plan A' strategy in 2006.

Harvard: SuperFreakonomics Ignores the Business Case for Sustainability
Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt's SuperFreakonomics has certainly gotten a lot of people worked up. The point of contention is a chapter about global warming which makes the case that Al Gore and others are getting us way too worked up about the climate problem because the only way to solve it is to convince people to "put aside their self interest and do the right thing even if it's personally costly."

BusinessWorld: CSR needs to be part of company business models
Local firms are ahead of their Asian peers in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs but these have yet to advance to a level where such activities are integrated in company business models, an expert told reporters on Friday.

Harvard: The Awesomeness Manifesto
Innovation: it's the ultimate source of advantage, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the economic ring. Innovation is what every organization should be ruthlessly pursuing, right? Wrong.

SustainableLifeMedia: Consumers Utilize New Media to Influence CSR Activities
A new study by Cone, Inc. reveals that 40% of new media users believe their searching, sharing and discussing of information about corporate social responsibility efforts has a significant effect on company business practices.

CrossBorderGroup: Top companies poor at online CSR engagement
A report published yesterday by Milan-based communications consultancy Lundquist finds that while disclosure of information is usually of a high standard in CSR reporting, communication and interactivity are lacking.

Independent: Not more regulation, more Responsibility
If there is to be real change in this country following the banking crisis, then it's imperative that the UK's big shareholders build a much closer relationship with the companies in which they invest.