Should businesses consult shareholders before taking a stand on social issues?
In 2017 many businesses took a stand on the Australian marriage equality plebiscite. We saw a comparable trend in recent months, as corporate Australia declared its position on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. This included everyone from the Big Four banks to Wesfarmers, Telstra and Rio Tinto. It was not onl
How to know if your employer is serious about helping you find purpose in your work
Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Paychecks are important, of course, but many people also want their work to “matter”. Whether this means helping people in your local area, or contributing to a global cause like reducing waste and fighting the climate crisis, 70% of respondents to a 2020 survey said their personal
How Australian companies can fudge their numbers to show social and environmental progress
Shutterstock What’s the easiest way to improve a company’s social and environmental performance? The unfortunate answer, from our analysis of Australian public companies, is to change the way you measure it. In particular, by changing what you said last year to make this year’s performance look better. Re
Hypocrisy penalty: Investors especially hate companies that say they’re good then behave badly – unless the money is good
Investors don’t like it when companies do one thing and then say another. Adam Gault/Photodisc via Getty Images The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Stock investors punish companies caught doing something unethical a lot more when when these businesses also have
The ethical values and behaviours of CEOs play a crucial role in attracting new talent
New research has found that CEO ethics are more important to young job seekers than corporate social responsibility acts. (Shutterstock) In today’s job market, where highly skilled workers are scarce and specialized skills are in high demand, employers are facing the challenge of filling job positions. This s
Greenwashing: energy companies make false claims about sustainability – they should be held to account
A farmer walks on a marshy shore of a river polluted by oil spills in Nigeria’s Niger delta, region. Pius Utomi Ekpei/ AFP Companies implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a way to present an environmentally responsible image and therefore gain legitimacy in the eyes of their stakeholders. But som
Blockbuster exhibitions: how France is organising to tackle their mammoth environmental footprint
On the website of the Rijksmuseum, the blockbuster exhibition on Johannes Vermeer (10 February – 4 June 2023) is branded “the largest exhibition ever”. However, visitors’ hopes are soon dashed by a note informing them the show is sold out. “All of Vermeer’s works can still be admired via the online
Corporate social responsibility: Why family businesses get more bang for their buck than non-family firms
While family owners can sometimes be bad for business, they can also be beneficial in many ways. (Shutterstock) When it comes to turning corporate social responsibility (CSR) into profit, research shows family businesses have the advantage. CSR is a form of self-regulation where businesses make concerted effort
No, BlackRock is not leading a Marxist assault on capitalism
shutterstock Five years ago it would have been unimaginable, but today there is a global movement convinced the world’s largest corporations are engaging in stealth warfare to transform liberal democracies into neo-communist dictatorships. At the heart of this corporate-led Marxist revolution, apparently, is
How changing banks’ corporate social responsibility reporting could prevent future financial failures
A company’s internal structure can provide protection from external events. Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock The recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) – the failure of the biggest US lender since the 2008 global financial crisis – has created waves across the global banking system. The subsequent coll