Category: Weekend Reading

via Economist’s View: May firms engage in CSR, beyond the law? An affirmative though conditional answer seems appropriate. Can firms do so on a sustainable basis?  Outside of monopolies and limited niche markets, the answer is probably negative.  Should they carry out such beyond-compliance efforts, even when doing so is not profitable?  Here – if… Continue reading Straight Talk About Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Back in January, the BusinessWeek SmallBiz team asked readers to collaborate on its first annual roundup of the most promising social entrepreneurs in the U.S. The idea was to track down trailblazing companies, in operation for at least a year, that aimed to turn a profit while tackling societal problems. Over 200 impressive nominations streamed… Continue reading BusinessWeek: The Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs

McKinsey’s Social Sector Office, here’s a report on The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap on America’s Schools: The report finds that the underutilization of human potential as reflected in the achievement gap is extremely costly. Existing gaps impose the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession—one substantially larger than the deep recession the country… Continue reading McKinsey Report: The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap on America’s Schools

What in the world does a comment about national security and civil liberties have to do with business or social enterprise? “In my study of highly successful leaders, I feel the most common theme, the most universal characteristic, is a form of thinking characterized by President Obama’s sentence,” Martin said. “Given a choice between two… Continue reading Inspiring Social Entrepreneurs

I found this article interesting: Staying Late: Comparing Work Hours in Public and Nonprofit Sectors Results indicate that managers in the nonprofit sector tend to work longer hours compared to state managers and that work hours are mitigated by external organizational ties, perceptions, and work histories. Mary K. Feeney College of Urban Planning and Public… Continue reading Results indicate that managers in the nonprofit sector tend to work longer hours compared to state managers…

A Target Analytics study shows that people who go online to donate to charity for the first time often do not return to the Internet to make later gifts. “People are asking us all the time why we don’t reduce mailing costs and save paper with online fund-raising, but the simple fact is that people… Continue reading People who go online to donate to charity for the first time often do not return to the Internet to make later gifts,

Social entrepreneurs take this economic upheaval to be a blessing, providing a chance for business to transition from an anonymous, complex system to one that is direct and transparent. Read here: http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/61/social-entrepreneurs-mainstream

The New York Times: D.light, a company cofounded by Sam Goldman, who spent four years in the Peace Corps in Benin before earning a master’s degree in business from Stanford University, is an example. Mr. Goldman started D.light with the mission of replacing millions of kerosene lamps now used in poor, rural parts of the… Continue reading Solving a Social Problem, Without Going the Nonprofit Route

Thought I’d link to this thoughtful post: Social entrepreneurs are people who want to bring about non-routine projects, collaborations, or organizations where they didn’t previously exist in order to solve a perceived social problem. This is very different from working within an existing organization and using its official resources to bring about a particular result.… Continue reading Social entrepreneurs are people who want to bring about non-routine projects, collaborations, or organizations where they didn’t previously exist in order to solve a perceived social problem.