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"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King, Civil Rights Leader
Fortune MARC GUNTHER: MAVERICK, JOURNALIST Few have done more for the Good Business movement than Marc Gunther, senior editor for Fortune Magazine. Since his watershed moment with the 2001 cover story “God and Business,” Gunther has reported on the unusual and out-of-the-box trends that define 21st century business. Fortune encompasses both traditional journalism and cutting edge trends thanks to Gunther’s steady inquiry. Gunther writes a regular “Sustainability” column on Fortune.com on the colossal trend of green business. In his columns both online and in Fortune’s glossy print version, Gunther reports on everything and anything in the new business paradigm.
Issues under the mainstream business radar from civil rights, employee discrimination, enslaved labor, the economics of genocide, to environmentally sound and unsound business practices are ferreted out in his reporting. In the last several years, Gunther has become a driving force behind the changing face of business. Marriot Hotel chain and its efforts to protect the Amazon Rainforest, carbon farming, anti-discrimination policies in the workplace, Goldman’s effort to support the world’s women in business, Gunther reports on everything from human rights to environmentally conscious practices. His expose of the energy giant TXU’s plan to open 11 more coal plants forced public scrutiny of greenhouse gas proposal. A few months after the article appeared in Fortune, TXU abandoned 8 of the 11 plants and switched to wind power. This shows how powerful the printed word in the right medium can be. Gunther writes in February 2007, “For whatever reason - the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina, Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," the plight of polar bears in the Arctic, the Democratic takeover of Congress - this is the moment when corporate America has at long last decided to get serious about global warming.” Marc Gunther’s investigative journalism also has something to do with it. READ MORE VALUE DRIVEN COLUMN Another Fortune Writer to take special note of is Geoff Colvin, senior editor at large, who writes the Value Driven Column. In an April 2008 article, Rewarding Failure, Colvin hones in on one of his favorite issues—outsized CEO pay. Colvin writes that CEO pay should be tied to stock performance. If a company loses value, the CEO should experience the loss with shareholders in his or her compensation. Colvin believes that bonuses should be paid in stock and stretched out in payments over a few years. He cites as outrageous examples “the mammoth pay and disastrous performance of Countrywide Financial's Angelo Mozilo, Citigroup's Chuck Prince, and Merrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal.” Colvin claims that outsized executive pay damages shareholders and the economy. He says it serves everyone involved to rein in runaway pay or as Colvin writes to “at least to keep trying.” RETURN TO TOP Business WeekSECOND ONLY TO FORTUNE in its finger on the business pulse is Business Week’s environmentally and socially responsible business trend reporting. A ground breaking cover story in January 2007, "Beyond the Green Corporation" reported on how “eco-friendly and socially responsible practices” can enhance the bottom line. Journalist Peter Engardio reported on the trend of combining purpose and profit in the business community. He cites the practice as more than PR and notes responsible efforts by businesses will separate the “survivors from the dinosaurs.” Adam Aston edits a regular column called “Green Biz” detailing energy saving and environmentally sound practices by companies. In a December 2007 issue, BW’s Alyson Warhurst described how “Human Rights Are a Business Issue.” Warhurst cited the reputation and confidence challenges a company faces when involved in businesses that are complicit in human rights violations. Kelly Bronk reported on an Aspen Institute survey that compared MBA students socially responsible commitment to their bottom line focus. RETURN TO TOP Forbes THE TRADITIONAL BUSINESS JOURNAL The traditional business journal is reporting on current issues like global warming, child labor, passion & purpose in work, and CEO pay. A Forbes April 8, 2008 story by Martha Graybow discusses the need for corporate governance on CEO pay. Quoting regulation advocate, Robert Monks, “every societal interest has basically been subordinated to CEO’s pay” the conservative Forbes moves into new territory. A February landmark article on "Child Labor: Why We Can't Kick our Addiction" by Megha Bahree details the ongoing ugly battle to end child labor. Despite the fact that Steve Forbes called global warming a “myth” in 2006, Forbes Magazine’s January 4, 2008 story, The Old Future is Gone details the global warming as “an emerging reality.” Journalist Renee Kirk writes the stunning un-Forbes like declaration “global climate change is rapidly turning into the defining issue of our time.” This proves that even the old guard is catching the "good" business wave. RETURN TO TOP The Wall Street JournalNEVER THE LEADER in cutting edge views, but stoic and dependable to the end. The Journal still has some of the best financial news reporting around. Yet they haven’t exactly ventured out-of-the-box in their big picture of 21st century business. Over the past few years, an interesting debate has been carried out in the journal pages of global warming debunkers and their emphatic counterparts. Are there still debunkers out there? The answer is yes, there are perhaps remarkably many global warming skeptics in the US unlike their global colleagues. In the global business community outside the US, including Britain’s conservative leadership, Global Warming is accepted as a matter of fact. . In WSJ, skeptics are given plenty of print space to express their disbelief. However, WSJ.com has recently established a column called Environmental Capital covering “daily analysis of the business of the environment by The Wall Street Journal.” RETURN TO TOP Fast Company  FAST COMPANY was reporting on responsible and sustainable long before anyone else. Then in 1995 the magazine was sold to a company owned by Joe Mansueto of Morningstar, Inc. FC doesn’t have the same edginess as before. In fact, it is sometimes hard to get a handle on its genuine focus, yet it does maintain a clear message in its social responsibility and work/life columns. The 2008 Social Capitalist Awards sponsored by Fast Company, 45 Social Entrepreneurs who are changing the world, was an echo of a more progressive past and sounded a clear socially conscious message. Writes FC, “Change the world. Make some money. It's an appealing prospect.” Definitely an appealing prospect and these forty five groups and individuals prove that is also possible. RETURN TO TOP CRO (formerly Business Ethics)BUSINESS ETHICS MAGAZINE may not be missed much by anyone except perhaps former Editor Marjorie Kelly. BE reported on business ethics as if lecturing naughty school children. CEO and founder Jay Whitehead has definitely upgraded the dull cousin with a glossy new version. CRO (stands for Corporate Responsibility Officer) is fast becoming the regulatory source for CSR departments. 100 Best Corporate Citizens 2008 were chosen according to standards set by CRO for the industry. CRO covers environmental, legal, labor, governance, social responsibility, and ethics issues with an informed and enlightened staff of journalists. RETURN TO TOP Harvard Business ReviewOUT OF THE BOX THINKING at Harvard BS? Yes, it’s true. April 2008 issue includes an article by Stew Friedman who teaches Total Leadership at Wharton, how to include your whole self: mind, body, spirit in your work. HB column HBR Green discusses the issues of leadership and caring for the environment. Over the first few months of 2008, HBRGreen “hosted six discussions on the emerging intersection of business and the environment,” to appear in the September 2008 issue. Gregory C. Unruh, director of the Lincoln Center for Ethics in Global Management at the Thunderbird School of Global Management is a frequent contributor to HBR Green copy. RETURN TO TOP Stanford Social Innovation Review THE QUINTESSENTIAL JOURNAL on all matters in socially responsible business. The Review reports on human rights and business, social entrepreneurship, labor, environment, ethics, value, common good and profit issues just to name a few. See “what’s happening” section for detailed highlights on this forward thinking journal. RETURN TO TOP ODE Magazine Ode Magazine, published both in the Netherlands and the US, covers every quality of life issue from progressive environment and science news to mind, body, and spirit issues. However, the cover story in the June 2008 issue, “Buddha in the Boardroom” convinced us at Good-B to include Ode in the business news listings. The article details “the Gospel According to Adam Smith” and the growing trend of “spiritual capitalism.” Another article on carbon farming and a regular column by Amy Domini founder of Domini Social Investments establishes Ode as an important voice in the changing world of business. RETURN TO TOP EthisphereEthisphere Magazine in its own words: “Our mission is to help corporate executives guide their enterprises toward gaining market share and creating sustainable competitive advantage through better business practices and corporate citizenship.” Ethisphere dedicates its coverage to legal and compliance issues for modern socially responsible businesses. The journal joined forces with Forbes Magazine to host a June 2008 Ethical Leadership Forum and Awards Dinner at New York City’s swank Rainbow Room. The event’s purpose was dedicated to: “The next generation of employees—and leaders” who “want to join businesses that value ethics, and not just the bottom line.” The Forbes-Ethisphere collaboration signals that even the traditional capitalist news journal, Forbes, is catching the fever of corporate social responsibility. Ethisphere also has a “council” and an “institute” dedicated to multiple compliance and corporate governance events throughout the United States and “around the globe in Paris, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Toronto.” RETURN TO TOP Sustainable IndustriesSustainable Industries (SI), established in 2004, bills itself as “the independent source of green business leaders.” SI hosts an on-going series of green building webinars. The print and web journal covers every aspect of green business from finance to marketing. A recent SI issue reports on Intel’s new energy-efficient technology. Other important coverage included in the June issue details the landmark initial public offering (IPO) of wind developer, Noble Environmental Power, “the first U.S. power company solely focused on wind to trade on the Nasdaq.” The journal has a decidedly American west coast flavor with offices in Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon. RETURN TO TOP ACROSS THE POND:(Editor’s Note: No one would think of Britain’s top two financial journals as cutting edge, yet compared to American conservative journalism they far outpace the US in socially responsible and environmental sustainable reporting. Perhaps because the UK is part of the trend setting European Union its business journalism is pushed beyond the cautious US media.)
Financial Times LONDON'S MARKET WATCHDOG reports all the traditional news as well as issues of socially responsible investing, CSR, and global responsible business practices. FT’s George Parker reported in March 2008 that British conservative party leader, David Cameron, threatened business to become “responsible” or face stricter regulation and governance. Cameron announced a Conservative working group dedicated to putting pressure on big business to upgrade social responsibility standards. In a statement to the BBC, Cameron stated, "What you should be doing as a government is trying to get business to face up to its responsibilities and behave responsibly, and if that doesn't work then there is always the threat of regulation and legislation at the end of it,'' he said. "But . . . it's much stronger if you try to get business to accept their responsibilities." FT also reports regularly on global warming issues. April 16, 2008, Fiona Harvey and Jim Pickard report Lord Stern, former chief economist at the World Bank admitted to “underestimating the risks” of global warming in his 2006 report. RETURN TO TOP The EconomistIN JANUARY 2006, Clive Crook (who now writes for Financial Times) wrote a now classic op ed in the Economist Leaders column claiming corporate social responsibility was a non critical business issue. Crook reported that any business claim of CSR savvy and environmentally conscientiousness were essentially products of empty publicity campaigns. In January 2007, the Economist dedicated the issue to, “The Greening of America,” detailed the environmentally responsible efforts of American business to go green. The Economist blog, the Inbox reported on January 19, 2008 that CSR was “just good business.” RETURN TO TOP International Herald TribuneTHE HERALD TRIBUNE reports on environmental, social, and human rights issues around the globe as a matter of course. Elisabeth Rosenthal’s investigative report on “Putting Pollution on Grocery Bills” in the April 26, 2008 edition exposed the added environmental issues caused by shipping food around the world. Rosenthal and James Kanter also write an innovative HT blog called, Business of Green, “a global dialogue on the environment.” RETURN TO TOP
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