Is CSR past its sell-by date? – London, 15th April 2013
by Tim Willmott : Comments Off on Is CSR past its sell-by date? – London, 15th April 2013
On 15 April, Michael Solomon, Director of Profit Through Ethics, will be part of an expert panel debating this very question in central London. Speakers include:
- Michael Skapinker, Associate Editor of the Financial Times;
- Graham Precey, Head of CSR at Legal & General; and
- Vicky Murray, Head of Sustainability at Neal’s Yard Remedies and Senior Consultant at Forum for the Future.
It should be a lively and fascinating discussion. Please come and join us. A limited number of (free) tickets are available thanks to sponsors KYOCERA and Be Inspired Films. Click here to book.
Event Details:
INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: 11:00-14:00, 15 April 2013
VENUE: The KYOCERA Technology Suite, 41A Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH
This event is hosted and produced by Be Inspired Films, Kyocera Document Solutions and Responsible 100 and is part of Responsible Business Week.
Many of the world’s leading businesses invest considerable resources in demonstrating their CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility. The terms used vary considerably. Some businesses prefer ‘corporate responsibility’, ‘corporate conscience’, ‘corporate citizenship’, ‘social performance’, ‘sustainability’ or even ‘future-proofing’ over CSR. While different terminology may indicate varied approaches or emphasis, core CSR principles are that a business voluntarily commits to embracing responsibility for its actions and to impacting positively on the environment, on society and on consumers, employees and other stakeholders.
However, critics point to the role of business in exacerbating the enormous challenges we face, such as the scarcity of natural resources, an increasingly imperilled environment, faltering prosperity and a widening wealth gap between the winners and the losers. Further, despite the increasing prominence of CSR, corporate fraud and scandal remain commonplace and public trust in business is at an all time low.
So where do we go from here? This expert panel will discuss and debate whether CSR is fit for purpose or whether a fundamental change in expectations and duties on business is now required, followed by questions from the delegates.
PANEL MEMBERS:
Michael Skapinker, Financial Times. Michael Skapinker’s column on Business and Society appears on Thursdays. An assistant editor and editor of the FT’s special reports, he was born in South Africa and educated at Witwatersrand and Cambridge universities. He began his journalistic career in Greece and joined the FT in London in 1986. Michael received the Work Foundation Members’ Award for his contribution to the understanding of working life and was named Columnist of the Year at the 2008 WorkWorld Media Awards and Business Commentator of the Year at the 2012 Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards.
Graham Precey, Legal & General. Graham has been Head of Corporate Responsibility for Legal & General Group Plc for five years. His role is to be the “conscience” of the organisation in the way that it campaigns for social, environmental and economic issues material to its businesses of Risk, Savings and Investment Management. Legal & General is campaigning for important issues as a major player in the Financial Services Industry including: Housing for all, Good Corporate Governance, A Healthier Nation, a Stronger Savings Culture, Sustainable Commercial Property and Alleviating Pensioner Poverty. A corporate view of the world is balanced with Graham’s involvement in leading Third Sector organisations. He is as Chair of Trustees for the charity Sail 4 Cancer as well as being a trustee of the FSI.
Vicky Murray, Neal’s Yard Remedies / Forum for the Future. Vicky spends most of her time with one eye on the future believing that when you bring tomorrow’s challenges into focus, you begin to demand a lot more from today. For the last seven years at sustainable development charity Forum for the Future, Vicky has worked with a number of extremely dedicated people who work hard to help make their companies more sustainable, including Kingfisher, Marks & Spencer and TUI Travel. Vicky now also practices what she preaches 3 days a week as Head of Sustainability at Neal’s Yard Remedies, a leading natural and organic health and beauty brand – independently owned and with a flair for campaigning on biodiversity issues. She enjoys the challenge of simultaneously working for a business and NGO.
Tim West, Matter&Co (panel chair). Tim is the founding director of Matter&Co, the communications company behind Good Deals conferences, the SE100 Index for social businesses and Social Enterprise magazine. He is also founding editor of the Pioneers Post – the new web newspaper and learning platform with a mission to connect social innovators across the globe. He was an advisor to the Cabinet Office Social Enterprise Ambassadors programme, leads Matter&Co’s work as a programme partner for the Deloitte Social Innovation Pioneers, is a recently appointed mentor to the Young Foundation Accelerator scheme, and serves as a trustee for ECT Charity, the UK’s leading transport charity.
Michael Solomon, Responsible 100. Michael is the founder and director of Responsible 100. With a background in publishing, Michael hit upon the basic Responsible 100 concept when asked to launch a new CSR magazine and website. Troubled by the motives for large corporates to engage in CSR and the quality of their CSR outputs, Michael saw the need for an alternative approach which guaranteed credible information from businesses. Responsible 100 includes leading businesses as well as NGO and campaign group partners.
FORMAT:
- 11:00 Registration, refreshments and networking.
- 11:30 Introduction from chair
- 11:35 Panellist #1 presents views
- 11:40 Panellist #2 presents views
- 11:45 Panellist #3 presents views
- 11:50 Panellist #4 presents views
- 11:55 Panel discussion
- 12:30 Q&A, questions from audience and Twitter (#csr #sellby)
- 12:55 Discussions concluded. Chair wraps up
- 13.00 Session ends. Food and refreshments available for those who can stay
The event will be live streamed. A promotional film and an audio podcast will be made available and promoted by our media partners and others shortly after the event.
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Article by Tim Willmott
Tim is the creator of sustainapedia.com and heads digital publisher Treading Lightly. His interests include nature and wild places, cooking, film, sport and music. He is a poet, writer and commentator.
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