Author Archives: SharedPurpose

What’s behind the gender wage gap in Seattle?

Lindsay McBride is an associate consultant based in APCO's Seattle office. As the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act approaches in June, it’s appropriate to stop and see how far we’ve come and how much work needs to be done to close the wage gap between women and men. Activists and economists alike have expressed concern over the extremely slow rate of progress in the wage gap between men and women in the United States, and to highlight this lack of progress, the National Partnership for Women & Families released a study on the gender wage gap in the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. What city was the worst offender? Seattle.
Posted on Thursday, May 16th, 2013 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  Women and Girls | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

iCrisis, version 2.0

buycottThree years ago I predicted the coming armageddon for brands by discussing databases and highlighting the Good Guide mobile app. If you haven't heard of it, that's the app where you scan the barcode of a box of cereal in a store with your smartphone and the app tells you that the cereal manufacturer "violated the Clean Water Act" or has some controversial ingredient in it. It also offers any number of "higher rated" substitute products that more closely meet the app founder's standards. Back then I tried it and then I wrote:

And then I realized it's just a matter of time before I'm going to learn if a company discriminates against gay people, or is a union buster, or has a CEO that denies climate change, or has a political action committee that gives only to Republicans, or has a slew of OSHA violations, or doesn't pay any taxes, or has another product that's being recalled - ALL AT THE POINT OF SALE.

The good news about Good Guide is the database is responsibly curated - while the owners of the database are of the west-coast, granola-crunchy variety, they are at least open to discussion with people from other points of view or agendas.
Posted on Thursday, May 16th, 2013 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  Business Alignment/Integration CR in North America Technology and CR | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Mandatorily Philanthropic?

Sukanti GhoshA shade over two decades ago, while conducting a study at Tata Steel, I remember being astounded by the work the steel major was doing in the area of community relations, social development and tribal welfare both in and around Jamshedpur and in other parts of the country. I remember spending days in Steel City as I tried to get a first-hand account of what the company was doing even after going through each and every document that I could lay my hands on - a Social Audit Report, a Sustainability Report, an Environment Report and reams of related documentation that painstakingly laid out the issues the company was trying to address; the success metrics that had been defined at the beginning of the programme; and the progress the company had made over the years in achieving these goals. I also remember that on my way back from Jamshedpur, I threw out most of my clothes from the suitcase I had carried as I wanted to keep the reams of material I had picked up from the plant. Strange as it may sound, I still have most of this material.
Posted on Monday, February 25th, 2013 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  Business Alignment/Integration CR in Asia | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Super Bowl Ads That Got it Right: Aligning With Their Inner Champion Brand

Bill Dalbec On the day after the Super Bowl, most of the talk and reporting centered not on the thrilling game or 31-minute blackout delay or Beyoncé’s performance (OK, there was quite a bit of coverage of her), but on the commercials: the perennial quest by advertisers to one-up each other and win the coveted USA Today Ad Meter. Like many in the communications profession, I anxiously awaited the start of the ad parade, er game, and have my own thoughts on the ads. Some were entertaining, others endearing, and still others perplexing. At least one pushed the boundaries of good taste and was roundly criticized by professionals and consumers alike.
Posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2013 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  Business Alignment/Integration | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hurricane Sandy Relief: Studies in Philanthropic Giving

Hurricane Sandy had a devastating effect on the New Jersey and New York metropolitan area. It was one of the worst national disasters in U.S. history, directly hitting the most populated area in the nation. Estimates are that at least 125 people died, more than 8.5 million people lost power and $25 billion in business was lost. A month and a half after the storm, people are still without power or a roof over their head. Despite the devastating loss and disruption, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy individuals and the business community have clearly come together and given. According to the Center on Philanthropy, donors poured $219 million into Sandy relief within the three weeks following the storm. The almost unprecedented group of music stars that supported the 12-12-12 concert last week in response to Sandy focuses attention on philanthropy in general and how and why people and companies are giving.
Posted on Thursday, December 20th, 2012 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  Business Alignment/Integration Philanthropy Volunteerism & Service | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Reporting from BSR 2012: Part 3

The final two days of the BSR Conference continued to have engaging speakers and thought-provoking discussions. I would like to pick up where Andrea left off and add two more themes that I noticed from the session I attended. Fast Forward, but Be Smart and Deliberate: Aligned with this year’s conference theme, speakers and attendees were eager to discuss how we should strive to “fast forward.” However, many of the speakers in the sessions I attended added a warning, asking organizations to fast forward in smart and deliberate ways that take into account both short- and long-term consequences. In discussing environmental sustainability initiatives, Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund and Mindy Lubber of Ceres provided some examples of when it is imperative that organizations consider short-term gains at the same time as long-term consequences.
Posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  Communicating CR | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reporting from BSR 2012: Part 1

This year, BSR celebrates its 20th anniversary, so the 2012 BSR Conference happening now in New York has done a great job highlighting the progress both BSR and the CSR field as a whole have made. In his opening speech, for example, BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer spoke a lot about the evolution of the last 20 years and its success. He also spoke of the great challenges we still face, which are mighty but surmountable, as long as we not only maintain but accelerate our work -- thus this year’s “fast forward” conference theme.
Posted on Friday, October 26th, 2012 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  Communicating CR | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

NGOs + Corporations: Getting Smarter Together

In a recent Guardian Sustainable Business Social Impact Forum post, FSG Managing Director Kyle Peterson wrote about the way NGOs are rethinking the way they engage with corporations in pursuit of their social change goals. As Peterson notes, the dialogue between companies and NGOs is now so much more than “donation or confrontation” now, and it often focuses on building partnerships that have staying power; one-off transactions are not the norm anymore. All too often, though, corporate engagement with nonprofits is still positioned as something driven by the business side, and Peterson highlights that the NGO community is getting savvier as shared value concepts take hold. It makes sense: both companies and nonprofits need to up their game if they’re going to reap mutual benefit from partnerships and – most importantly – create the social impact they set out to achieve.
Posted on Friday, October 19th, 2012 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  Business Alignment/Integration | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

8 Must-See Examples of the “Power of We”

Today marks the 6th annual Blog Action Day, an occasion where bloggers from around the world join in a global discussion around an important issue. This year’s theme is the “Power of We” – a celebration of people working together to make a positive difference in the world. At APCO, we see examples of collaboration making a difference all the time across all sectors – government, business and NGO. Collaboration has often become a necessity for organizations looking to solve a social problem, particularly where businesses are concerned. This makes the “power of we” more important than ever.
Posted on Monday, October 15th, 2012 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  What's Next for CR | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Corporate Sustainability: Moving from Acceptance to Action and Innovation

Last week, a diverse group of private- and public-sector representatives from around the country met in Boston for EnergySmart 2012. Convened by energy management solutions provider EnerNOC,* a common theme that emerged during the program was the increasingly mainstream nature of the sustainability movement. Just a few years ago, this movement was on the relative outskirts of corporate best practices. Today, however, it has been largely validated – whether for bottom-line savings, benefits to corporate reputation or the moral imperative of sustainability.
Posted on Friday, October 12th, 2012 By SharedPurpose
Catogories  Communications | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment