The C2K Blog

Avoiding Workplace Tragedy in Bangladesh

Published: 5/2/2013
This year's World Day for Safety and Health at Work on April 28 was unusually stormy as the world came to grips with yet another Asian workplace disaster. The latest in Savar Bangladesh killed at least 430 garment workers (final figures not yet in) and injured or maimed hundreds of others as the building they worked in collapsed.

A First Job Shouldn't Be a Death Sentence

Published: 4/26/2013
CSR should include the safety of young workers

This is the first in a three-part series about Corporate Social Responsibility and children’s rights based on the Children’s Rights and Business Principles.

Do you remember your first job? You were probably a teenager. You were probably both excited and nervous. You probably wanted very badly to be seen as something closer to an adult than the child you still were. And you probably didn’t think that your job could hurt or kill you.
Young workers are more likely than adults to be injured on the job. In the EU (2003), 33,536 young workers were injured badly enough to lose more than 3 days of work and 25 died due to accidents at work. In Canada (2007), 48,000 young workers lost work time due to injury and 38 died as a result of accidents on the job. In the U.S. (2007), an estimated 146,000 youths are injured or become ill on the job; in 2008, 34 youth under 18 years of age died from work-related injuries in the U.S.

The Luxury Law Summit, Human Rights, Business Principles and CSR

Published: 4/24/2013
The Luxury Law Summit is taking place in London a month from now on May 23. Representatives from the luxury goods sector are scheduled to map out the risks and challenges they face in protecting their brands. Intellectual property rights, corruption and copyright infringement are among the issues forming the backdrop and being addressed at the summit. Here's the full agenda.

Agility Takes its Cue From Resistance

Published: 3/20/2013
This is the final post in a 6 part series exploring Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability using inspiration from the Chinese zodiac Year of the Snake. Past snake years have been marked by transformation and change and it's our hope that CSR and Sustainability will benefit from this year's transformational energy.

The second post in this series focussed on the snake's need to shed its skin frequently as part of a revitalizing process that allows the reptile to grow. In the face of disruption, this periodic revitalization prepares for adaptation to a rapidly changing world in which disruptive business models inform and drive much of contemporary innovation. The message here: organizations which are unwilling to shed old ways are certain to be outpaced.

Sustainability's Yin Yang-the Balance Created by Women

Published: 3/8/2013
This is the fourth post in a series exploring Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability using inspiration from the Chinese zodiac Year of the Snake. Past snake years have been marked by transformation and change and it's our hope that CSR and Sustainability will benefit from this year's transformational energy.

In the Chinese zodiac, the Snake is considered to be Yin, to have feminine energy. 2012's Year of the Dragon was characterized by Yang, or masculine energy. Though sometimes considered to be opposites, Yin and Yang exist in a constantly changing balance. They are interdependent and harmonious but when one becomes too strong it can weaken the other. Too often in organizations, the positive influence of the feminine energy is overlooked. This is especially so when it comes to sustainability. With organizational Yin Yang balance restored, sustainable outcomes can be realized. Let's look at the special role women play in creating the balance.

Balance through Social Sensitivity

In 2010, a study of team performance conducted by Carnegie Melon University found that the collective intelligence of a group is higher: when the social sensitivity of individual group members was higher; where conversation was more even and not dominated by one or two people; and when there were more women than men in the group. Social Sensitivity was identified as a female characteristic and the factor which contributed to the success of a team's performance

How to Provoke a Sustainability Uprising

Published: 2/28/2013
This is the third post in a series exploring Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability using inspiration from the Chinese zodiac Year of the Snake. Past snake years have been marked by transformation and change and it's our hope that CSR and Sustainability will benefit from this year's transformational energy.

Revolutions are usually the product of a handful of dedicated and discontented individuals who have an uncanny ability to energize and mobilize a group of like-minded citizens to bring about change.

In this Year of the Snake, we have been looking to our serpentine friends for inspiration in creating a sustainable world. The snake has a keen sense of its environment, is constantly engaged with the world around it, and is poised to react instantly to any perceived threat. What do these characteristics have to do with a revolution? A lot.

Profiting from Disruption: Shedding Old Ways For a Sustainable Future

Published: 2/21/2013
Profiting from Disruption: Shedding Old Ways For a Sustainable Future
This is the second post in a series exploring Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability using inspiration from the Chinese zodiac Year of the Snake. Past snake years have been marked by transformation and change and it's our hope that CSR and Sustainability will benefit from this year's transformational energy.

For optimum effectiveness, sustainability must be embraced at all levels of an organization, in every department and in every process. The sustainability purpose needs to get under the organization's skin, so to speak.

Sizzle, Seduction and Sustainability

Published: 2/14/2013
This is the first in a series exploring Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability using inspiration from the Chinese zodiac Year of the Snake which began on February 10. Past snake years have been marked by transformation and change and it's our hope that CSR and Sustainability will benefit from this year's transformational energy.

Sun nien fai lok! (That's "Happy New Year" in Cantonese.) It's the Year of the Snake. Although often repulsed in both reality and myth as pests and seductive creatures, the snake's physical, behavioural and mythological characteristics offer insights for a sustainable and corporately responsible future.

Seeing Is Believing: The Need for Better Sustainability Communications

Published: 1/30/2013
Seeing Is Believing: The Need for Better Sustainability Communications
This is the third post in a three-part series, inspired by the 2012 Tork Report: The Sustainability Gap, which explores the disparity between consumer expectations and corporate reporting and performance in Sustainability.
Doing good is no longer good enough. It used to be enough for corporations to set sustainability goals, work toward achieving them, and maybe publish a glossy report about their efforts. It didn’t matter if no one could find or understand the report. It matters now.

Spread the Health: Creating a Sustainable Community

Published: 1/24/2013
Spread the Health: Creating a Sustainable Community

This is the second post in a three-part series, inspired by the 2012 Tork Report: The Sustainability Gap, which explores the disparity between consumer expectations and corporate reporting and performance in Sustainability.

The actions of one can influence many. In our last post we discussed taking personal responsibility for sustainability. But this commitment at an individual level doesn't absolve corporations of their responsibility for working toward a sustainable future. If anything, it increases the level of commitment they need to make to their employees, their consumers and their communities.

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