Rather than doing the industry in, cause-washing might just save corporate sustainability. Although consumer trust is worse than we thought, the anecdote has the potential to alter the way companies do business and consumers shop. Less than one percent of people (surveyed recently by BBMG in partnership with B Lab) trust company advertisements or statements […]
Tag Archives: sustainability
I Like Companies That Make Me a Better Person (the smart companies know this)
In the last four days that I’ve been back in the states I’ve had to pay for bags three times (at CVS, Ikea and Trader Joe’s). It’s a surprising and welcome development, particularly as I’m not in California or Boulder, but in Washington, D.C. My reaction to the pay-for-bag-system has also evolved in step with […]
Cause Capitalism Goes to Washington
I came to the whole idea of social impact and business after several frustrating experiences–working for a business lobbying organization that (not shockingly) ran against my values, becoming privy to the status quo inefficiencies of traditional international economic development and suffering alongside my nonprofit clients as they focused more on fundraising and philanthropic realpolitik than constituent […]
Creating High Impact Through BoP Business–with Unmesh Brahme
There’s a market at the bottom of the economic pyramid valued at $5 trillion dollars. But the real allure of this market, at least for me, is the opportunity to help its 4 billion people access healthcare, educational and basic living services. How can businesses access this market and how can they do it without […]
Vote4GoodBusiness: Creating More Companies That Get The Value of Sustainability
There are some myths about social responsibility and business that I need to dispel. There’s too much potential innovation, human fulfillment, environmental and social degradation and dollars at stake to let them linger. You–reader of this blog and likely social entrepreneur–can spot their untruths. But what about the millions of business in the United States that […]
A Zinger: CSR Now Seen As ‘Potentially Dangerous’
I’m stymied by another article from The Wall Street Journal challenging the plausibility and benefit of corporate social responsibility. In “The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility” Aneel Karnani takes the Friedmanite view that companies are primarily responsible for maximizing shareholder profits. To make his point that profit trumps social good, he focuses on the relationship between company […]
Make Sustainability Personal–and 12 Other Tactics To Engage Employees
How do you engage employees in your company’s sustainability efforts, particularly when you’re just starting out? It can be trickier thank you’d think. In Strategy for Sustainability Adam Werbach reminds us that, Just as sustainability does not work for businesses unless it serves business needs first, sustainability does not engage individuals unless it first and foremost […]
8 Fallacies About CSR That I’ve Heard This Week
This past week I’ve run into a lot of misconceptions about social responsibility and business. Taken from conversations with professionals “outside the sector” to those influencing it, from articles, blog posts and comments, here are this week’s top-eight fallacies about corporate social responsibility (CSR). .. It’s a new movement, so there’s time before my company […]
How I Would Fix Neenah Paper’s Eco-Publicity Ploy
The offer: As part of a publicity push for its carbon-neutral ENVIRONMENT Papers line, Neenah Paper launched a sweepstakes to win an eco-trip for two to the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica and a chance to “go hard core and experience conservation in the heart of some of nature’s most fragile environments.” The lucky winner is […]
I'm Olivia Khalili. I created Cause Capitalism to show you how to grow your business by incorporating a social mission. I've worked extensively with both nonprofits and for-profits. I found that when you combine the two, you grow your profits, impassion all your stakeholders and do good in the world. Read more.
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