Canadians are often ribbed for being too polite, lacking panache, or generally just being nice. Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan even claimed that we lack an identity. Perhaps, but we do have values, and when it comes to CSR, culture and values are what define it.
Are there Canadian companies whose social purpose and CSR have been shaped by our cultural values?
Indeed. In the Forbes blog, The Impact of Values and Culture on CSR, Paul Klein shared the point of view of four remarkable Canadian companies, and the cultural values that have shaped their social purpose ...
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Two great minds. Two great thinkers. Two great leaders. Missing the real point: It’s not about whether businesses are PEOPLE, it’s whether or not they have SOUL that matters.
In an article published on Huffington Post, Tapscott argues that businesses aren’t people and that the conversation around board room tables is solely about maximizing shareholder value—which is the driver of executive compensation.
Welch disagrees. In an interview with the Financial Times on the Global financial crisis of 2008–2009, Welch said, “On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world. Shareholder value is a result, ...
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Have you read the London 2012 Sustainability Plan Summary, Towards a one planet 2012?
If you haven’t yet, you should. Talk about Corporate Social Responsibility best practice!
These Olympics touched all stakeholders in a profound way, the people and the planet, locally and globally. London 2012 totally embraced, and brought to fruition, their claim that these Olympic games were “everyone’s 2012.”
A Games with Sustainability at its core…
The flame has barely been extinguished, yet the impact of the games lives on. Sustainability was woven into every aspect of this event with the goal of leaving a legacy, and indeed ...
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Fluff gets in the way of the bottom line
This common misconception needs a tune-up. Research is showing that healthy organizational cultures are a key component in long-term, sustainable success, and values are the cultural glue that holds it all together. For those that believe investing in the soft side of business is a waste of time, beware: there are significant benefits that come from a vibrant and alive corporate culture.
Shawn Parr’s Fast Company article, Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch, outlines the upside of investing time in culture. He includes:
Company focus on the mission, vision and goals;
Employee motivation and loyalty;
Team cohesiveness;
Consistency, ...
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Who would have ever thought that an engineer would be the one to inspire corporate soul at Google, one of the world’s most dominant tech companies?
When you want to know what a phrase means, what do you do? You Google it.
And if you Google ‘corporate soul,’ links appear on the page however, the true depth of the meaning isn’t revealed unless you dig a little deeper into the company itself.
Google defines corporate soul not only in words, but in its actions as well.
In 2010 Chade-MengTan, one of Google’s early engineers, gave a TED talk that spoke ...
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Passive philanthropy is no longer an acceptable form of ‘doing good’
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