CSRHub Blog Research on ESG metrics and comments on sustainability best practice

CSRHub COO and Co-founder Cynthia Figge will be attending the 10th Annual Future in Review (FiRe) Conference in Laguna Beach, California on May 22-25, 2012. The Economist calls this "the best technology conference in the world." This conference of global thought leaders will focus this year on the power of integration."From cars to clouds to computers, the major steps we'll take in the next few years will flow from brilliance in integrating known technologies, even as we invent the new,” says Mark Anderson, FiRe chair and Strategic News Service CEO, founder and publisher. FiRe presents new ideas on the future in technology, including the global economy, cloud computing, biology and medical diagnostics, policy, netbooks, space travel, sustainability and other fields that contribute to technology outcomes. Figge has served on the FiRe advisory board for 10 years.

New Paltz, NY

CSRHUB is proud to announce the launch of its Sustainability Ratings Widget. This tool, currently in beta, will enable users to quickly access environmental, employee, community and governance ratings on about 5,000 publicly-traded companies in 135 industries in 65 countries. The widget will appear on a new sustainability section of The Huffington Post and on Triple Pundit, an innovative sustainability new media site.

“We are excited to release our Sustainability Ratings Widget, and pleased that The Huffington Post and Triple Pundit share this excitement,” said CSRHUB Co-founder and CEO, Bahar Gidwani. “Knowledge is power, and CSRHUB gives the widest access to companies’ CSR and sustainability performance to help people make their social value convictions actionable.”

CSRHUB developed the widget as part of a suite of API tools that allow web publishers and software developers to integrate sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) information into their products. CSRHUB also plans to release a RESTful-API into its 1.9 million item database of sustainability information. You can see an early release of the widget at http://www.csrhub.com/content/sustainability-rating-widget.

CSRHUB announced its new tool at the Strategic News Service (SNS) Future in Review (FiRe) technology conference, where it was named a 2011 FiReStarter company. CSRHUB was showcased by the BBC and on panels throughout the conference. The Economist has called FiRe “The best technology conference in the world.”

“We were selected as a FiReStarter company based on our potential to bring positive change to the world,” said Cynthia Figge, CSRHUB Co-founder and COO. “This validates the significance of CSRHUB’s work providing open access to sustainability information.”

CSRHUB is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) ratings tool and sustainability information hub that enables managers, researchers, consultants, students and activists to track the CSR and sustainability performance of major companies. CSRHUB aggregates data from more 100 sources to provide its users with a comprehensive source of CSR information on about 5,000 publicly traded companies in 65 countries. CSRHUB is a B Corporation. Browse CSRHUB’s ratings at www.csrhub.com.

CSRHUB is proud to announce that it has been selected by the Strategic News Service (SNS) as a 2011 FiReStarter company, to be featured at the SNS annual Future in Review (FiRe) technology conference opening this week in Laguna Beach, California. FiReStarter companies are selected based on their potential to bring positive change to the world, and are showcased during the conference, both with the BBC and on conference panels. CSRHUB will be presenting on Thursday, May 26^th. 

CSRHUB is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) ratings tool and sustainability information hub that enables managers, researchers, consultants, students and activists to track the CSR and sustainability performance of major companies. CSRHUB aggregates data from more 100 sources to provide its users with a comprehensive source of CSR information on about 5,000 publicly traded companies in 65 countries. CSRHUB is a B Corporation. Browse CSRHUB’s ratings at www.csrhub.com.

“We are thrilled to have been selected as a FiReStarter company,” said CSRHUB Co-founder and COO, Cynthia Figge. “Knowledge is power, and CSRHUB shines a brighter, broader light on companies’ CSR and sustainability performance to help people make their social value convictions actionable. It’s an honor to be recognized for these efforts and to share the stage with a group of truly world-changing companies.”

Future in Review is an annual gathering of world-class thought leaders in technology and economics. FiRe attendees convene each year with the goal of solving major world problems; a goal that is consistently met through FiRe’s collaboration across disparate industries and the intellectual and strategic guidance of FiRe Chair and SNS CEO, Mark Anderson. Now in its ninth year, Future in Review 2011 will take place May 24-27^th at the beautiful Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, California. The Economist has called FiRe “The best technology conference in the world.”

“CSRHUB is doing what everyone else is just talking about: bringing the truth about corporate sustainability practices to customers, partners, and even to those who run these companies. We are proud to feature CSRHUB as a FiReStarter Company,” said Anderson, FiRe Chair and SNS CEO.

To register, and to see the agenda, go to www.futureinreview.com.

Press Contact: Cynthia Figge           

CSRHUB, LLC.

New Paltz, NY

Tel. 206 954 9542

Email: Cynthia@csrhub.com

Technorati Tags: corporate social responsibility, corporate social responsibility ratings, CSRHUB, Cynthia Figge, FiRe 2011, FiRestarter, Future in Review, Mark Anderson, sustainability, technology, sustainability ratings.  

FRIDAY HARBOR, Washington, April 4, 2011

Strategic News Service is proud to announce that CSRHUB has been selected as a 2011 FiReStarter company, to be featured at its annual Future in Review (FiRe) technology conference. FiReStarter companies are selected based on their potential to bring positive change to the world, and are showcased during the conference, both at an exclusive investor reception and in panels throughout the conference.

CSRHUB is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) ratings tool and sustainability information hub that enables managers, researchers, consultants, students and activists to track the CSR and sustainability performance of major companies. CSRHUB aggregates data from more 100 sources to provide its users with a comprehensive source of CSR information on about 5000 publicly traded companies in 65 countries. CSRHUB is a B Corporation. Browse CSRHUB’s ratings at www.csrhub.com.

“We are thrilled to have been selected as a FiReStarter company,” said CSRHUB Co-founder and COO, Cynthia Figge. “Knowledge is power, and CSRHUB shines a brighter, broader light on companies’ CSR and sustainability performance to help people make their social value convictions actionable. It’s an honor to be recognized for these efforts and to share the stage with a group of truly world-changing companies.”

Future in Review is an annual gathering of world-class thought leaders in technology and economics.  FiRe attendees convene each year with the goal of solving major world problems; a goal that is consistently met through FiRe’s collaboration across disparate industries and the intellectual and strategic guidance of FiRe Chair and SNS CEO, Mark Anderson. Now in its ninth year, Future in Review 2011 will take place May 24-27^th at the beautiful Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, California. The Economist has called FiRe “The best technology conference in the world.”

“CSRHUB is doing what everyone else is just talking about: bringing the truth about corporate sustainability practices to customers, partners, and even to those who run these companies.  We are proud to have CSRHUB as a FiReStarter Company,” said Anderson, FiRe Chair and SNS CEO.

To register, and to see the draft agenda, go to www.futureinreview.com.

By Bahar Gidwani

The term “impulse control” describes how some people are able to delay the gratification of their desires, and resist temptation.  The Wall Street Journal recently pointed out a good study by Fuld & Co. that describes how various groups of corporate managers reacted when faced with an ethical decision.  I’ll let you read the details for yourself.  What interested me was that Fuld & Co. measured (and contrasted) the level of ethical self-control exhibited in different industries.

As you can guess, we can also do a by-industry investigation of ethical behavior patterns with our 5,000-company dataset.  We have two ratings that relate directly to ethics and impulse control—a subcategory called “Leadership Ethics” and one called “Training Health, & Safety.”

The Fuld & Co. study reported that healthcare and pharmaceutical managers had the highest ethical standards, followed by government and education, manufacturing, technology, and financial and business services.

Our ratings are quite different.  We give our highest scores among the industries they mention to the services area for both leadership ethics and on the training issues that should drive employee behavior.  Our lowest scores go to the manufacturing area—especially durable goods manufacturing.

Of course, there is an apples to oranges element to these comparisons.  Fuld & Co. got its answers directly from the responses of senior executives.  Our data comes from the opinions of thousands of outsiders who follow the companies we rate.  Fuld & Co. studied 104 companies--most based in the US.  We track about 5,000 and about half are non-US.

There is also a contrast in the way Fuld & Co. set up its survey.  They asked their subjects a hypothetical question—one that could be seen as a test of their aggressiveness or competitiveness.  In this context, many business people may be tempted (encouraged?) to lean towards a less fundamentally ethical action.  However, when faced with a real world decision—or when asked to provide leadership and direction to the employees who work for them—managers may damp down their hormones and control those bad impulses.

Notice that some of the industries that Fuld & Co. identified as less ethical seem to have better training scores in our system? Perhaps these industries have already realized that managers in their businesses need help with impulse control.  We’ll try to get more details on this study and get more answers to the questions it raises.

Bahar Gidwani is a Cofounder and CEO of CSRHUB. Formerly, he was the CEO of New York-based Index Stock Imagery, Inc, from 1991 through its sale in 2006. He has built and run large technology-based businesses and has experience building a multi-million visitor Web site. Bahar holds a CFA, was a partner at Kidder, Peabody & Co., and worked at McKinsey & Co. Bahar has consulted to both large companies such as Citibank, GE, and Acxiom and a number of smaller software and Web-based companies. He has an MBA (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School and a BS in Astronomy and Physics (magna cum laude) from Amherst College. Bahar races sailboats, plays competitive bridge, and is based in New York City.