Winds-of-Change Blowing Through Industry:
The Fourth Industrial Revolution & The 21st Century Company in Focus… The Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us, writes Tim Nixon, managing editor at Greenbiz. He sees the important characteristics of the revolution including greater overall transparency and much more information made available in business and other walks of life; and, disruptive technology accelerating to send ripples of change throughout society. Imagine disruption on steroids. The major players in the revolution are investors, customers and regulators. Customers, making conscious decisions about their purchases considering the providers’ sustainability performance (especially in B-to-B)…an “impact economy,” with companies finding ways to grow without harming the environment or society. Investors, increasingly seeking less carbon-intensive, more environmentally- & society-friendly opportunities for their portfolios. Regulators, developing new frameworks around carbon and diversity and other factors. (Editor Nixon provides examples of each.) What wonders are ahead for us in a Fourth Industrial Revolution? We think back to the 1760s, when the brilliant Scotsman James Watt tinkered with steam condensation, hooking up a friend’s brass syringe to a tin can. From this basic experimentation would come the mighty steam engine, powering railroads, electric generation, giant industrial factories, and more. Andrew Carnegie, the 19th Century steel and railroad magnate, in 1905 described this humble beginnings of a dramatic breakthrough as “…from such an acorn a mighty oak was to grow…” That metaphorical oak tree was the Industrial Revolution, with manufacturing put on steroids worldwide (no longer were goods to be made by individual artisans in rural cottages). And so to the Fourth revolution: Will we look back at some point and say, “at the heart of this was the intense focus on sustainability, and the society moving toward the low –carbon economy, new forms of power and energy, the embrace of new values that underpinned the breakthroughs that made us a better society (ideologically and spiritually)?” Read our Top Story to learn more about Tim Nixon’s perspectives -- and let us know what you think! Speaking of the future and dramatic changes taking place, G&A Institute and Skytop Strategies have teamed to present experts’ views at an upcoming conference -- “The 21st Century Company – How It Creates Value and for Whom?” G&A’s Hank Boerner and Louis Coppola are co-chairs. One of our sessions is “The Changing Relationship Between Corporations and Society: The Definition of Good Corporate Citizen Reconsidered (in the 21st Century); another is “The Millennial Revolution: Leveraging Public Companies as Instruments of Social Change.” Change is definitely in the air for business and society! Whether is it focus on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or The 21st Century Company, boards, C-suite and corporate managements should be tuning in to the winds-of-change whistling through the corporate community, the investment community and the greater society. Check out the 21st Century Company conference Agenda, Session Leaders and Delegates lists at: http://skytopstrategies.com/ Top Story of the Week 5 signs sustainability is the new engine for global economic growth
(Monday - April 04, 2016)
Source: GreenBiz - Strong crosswinds are in the global economy. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here, with pervasive transparency, unlimited information access and accelerating disruptive technology and change... Sustainability in Focus New Study Identifies Seven Social Concepts Essential for Sustainability
(Monday - April 04, 2016)
Source: Duke University – Global efforts to protect the planet will fail unless we take social concepts like equality and wellbeing into account, according to a peer-reviewed commentary published today in the journal Science… Compliance and sustainability teams should work on corporate ethics
(Monday - April 04, 2016)
Source: GreenBiz - CSR or sustainability teams are focused on responding to stakeholder concerns and giving back to society, but also can find their work is at odds with core business practices.” Sustainability’s New Frontier: Asia
(Monday - April 04, 2016)
Source: Wall Street Journal - Sustainable investing once seemed like a laughing matter to some executives in Asia. Literally, says Billy Hwan, a portfolio manager for Parnassus Asia Fund (PAFSX), which has $10 million in assets. He says many Asian company... Six Reasons CEOs are Rallying for Sustainability
(Tuesday - April 05, 2016)
Source: CSR Wire - Advanced smart technology doesn't just make your building run better. When embraced at the C-suite level, it makes the entire organization smarter, too. And from what I've been hearing in recent conversations, CEOs—including… U.S. Must Seek Sustainability in National Security Policy
(Tuesday - April 05, 2016)
Source: International Affairs Review - The future of American hegemony in a peaceful global order depends on the country’s ability to focus its interventions abroad on sustainability. Sustainability is one of the hottest topics in the international development arena... Powered by Purpose: What Tesla’s Model 3 Says About the Future of Sustainability
(Tuesday - April 05, 2016)
Source: TriplePundit - On Thursday night, Elon Musk finally rolled out his highly-anticipated electric vehicle for the masses – the Tesla Model 3. It doesn’t take an automotive genius to see that Tesla nailed it with this one… Why sustainability reporting is a key tool for savvy managers
(Tuesday - April 05, 2016)
Source: GreenBiz - As with many reporting efforts, the value a company gains from going through the process correlates with the effort and rigor it puts into it. To maximize the benefits of your efforts — beyond getting acknowledgment from the… Sustainability professionals report record levels of job satisfaction
(Wednesday - April 06, 2016)
Source: Business Green - Sustainability and environmental professionals are generally happy in their work, highly qualified, and well-remunerated. That is the conclusion of a the latest annual survey from the Institute of Environmental Management... Will corporate sustainability save IT from itself?
(Wednesday - April 06, 2016)
Source: NetWork World - Last week, flying out of SFO northward over the verdant hills of Marin, rising above the tankers anchored off Richmond swinging with the tide and the long plumes from the Sacramento River’s inflow to the bay like ribbons... Sustainability the key to long-term corporate health
(Wednesday - April 06, 2016)
Source: BBC - The world we live in is undergoing extraordinary change, the like of which may never have been seen before… The State of Green Business: Sustainability becomes an employee perk
(Thursday - April 07, 2016)
Source: GreenBiz - When it comes to creative corporate benefits, Facebook is no slacker. But one of its newer employee incentives — a $10,000 bonus for those who move closer to to its corporate campus — underscores the value it sees in encouraging... H&M will have to square its sustainability push with the planned opening of 4,000 more stores
(Thursday - April 07, 2016)
Source: Quartz - The Swedish fast-fashion chain, which vies with Zara as the largest fashion company in the world in sales volume, is opening store number 4,000 this year in New Delhi… Packaging sustainability hangs in the balance
(Thursday - April 07, 2016)
Source: Packaging Digest - The goals of packaging vary greatly by need and expectations at different points in the supply chain. Sometimes these goals conflict and must be prioritized in order to create an acceptable balance of economic, environmental, and... Why sustainability is important to you
(Friday - April 08, 2016)
Source: Beef - Yesterday, in her BEEF Daily blog, Amanda Radke discussed some survey results that we all should take to heart. In short, the survey said what’s been said many times before—consumers want to know what you do and why you do it... Al Gore Optimistic About Improving Global Sustainability
(Friday - April 08, 2016)
Source: Harvard Crimson - In almost fitting fashion, former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore ’69 drove from Manhattan after inclement weather cancelled his flight, and arrived only 20 minutes late to deliver his talk, “Confronting The Climate...
ESG Issues & Players Prosecutors open probes as world's wealthy deny 'Panama Papers' links
(Tuesday - April 05, 2016)
Source: Reuters - Governments across the world began investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful on Monday after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialized in setting up offshore... Climate change threatens hearts, lungs but also brains - U.S. study
(Tuesday - April 05, 2016)
Source: Reuters - Climate change can be expected to boost the number of annual premature U.S. deaths from heat waves in coming decades and to increase mental health problems from extreme weather like hurricanes and floods, a U.S. study said on... Solar And Wind Energy May Be Nice, But How Can We Store It? - text/audio
(Wednesday - April 06, 2016)
Source: NPR - Renewable energy like solar and wind is booming across the country as the costs of production have come down. But the sun doesn't always shine, and the wind doesn't blow when we need it to… Alarmist Sea Level Data May Raise Flood Insurance
(Tuesday - April 05, 2016) Associated Profiles : Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)
Source: News Max - Even according to the latest of all unfailingly alarmist U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, "It is likely that GMSL [Global Mean Sea Level] rose between 1920 and 1950 at a rate comparable to... How corporate governance moved to the forefront of management
(Wednesday - April 06, 2016)
Source: London School of Economics - While the term “corporate governance” is now used universally when managerial accountability in publicly traded companies is under consideration, the term was largely unknown until the 1970s. In a recent paper, I explain how and... Asset Managers, US Pension Funds,
Sovereign Wealth Funds 1MDB parliamentary probe blames ex-CEO; board of directors resign
(Thursday - April 07, 2016)
Source: Straits Times - The Malaysian parliament's bipartisan Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has blamed the founding chief executive of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) for the state investor's financial troubles which have rocked market confidence... U.S. readies bank rule on shell companies amid 'Panama Papers' fury
(Thursday - April 07, 2016)
Source: Reuters - The U.S. Treasury Department intends to soon issue a long-delayed rule forcing banks to seek the identities of people behind shell-company account holders, after the "Panama Papers" leak provoked a global uproar over the hiding... How Much Would It Cost For State And Local Governments to Actually Fully Fund Their Pensions?
(Tuesday - April 05, 2016)
Source: Forbes - Overall, state and local governments dedicated just 4.1% of their spending to pension contributions in 2013. Can Calpers Live With Responsible Returns?
(Tuesday - April 05, 2016)
Source: Bloomberg - The California Public Employees' Retirement System recently opened a new chapter in socially responsible investing (also known as environment, social and governance, or ESG, investing) when its investment committee decided to... Watching the Watchers Safe Food Coalition
Headquarters: Washington, DC
Established: 1986 KEY PARTNERS
The Safe Food Coalition includes such members as the Consumer Federation of America, Safe Tables Our Priority, Consumers Union, and Food & Water Wach. “Member groups” have served on the National Advisory Committee on Biological Criteria for Food, the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food , and the FDA Food Advisory Committee.
OVERVIEW/MISSION
“The Safe Food Coalition has led the successful effort to reform the nation's food safety inspection systems,” according to the Web site of the Consumer Federation of America, which coordinates SFC.
STRUCTURE
The Safe Food Coalition is a program of the Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute.
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Exploring, and Learning, Across Borders
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G&A Institute & Rutgers Business School CSR Certificate Program
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An Interactive Course to Answer These Questions Led by Louis D. Coppola  Effective CSR & the Supply Chain Management Relationship -- What CSR professionals need to know about procurement & the importance of supply chain environmental archeology
The sessions will be led by Dr. Kevin Lyons, associate professor at Rutgers Business School, Supply Chain Management Department.
Registration includes breakfast, lunch, dinner Wednesday evening, parking, and course materials. Upon completion of the program, participants will be awarded a certificate in executive leadership. The program runs from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, on Wed, April 27 & Thurs, April 28, at the Rutgers University Business School in Newark, NJ. Click here to register.
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