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Showing posts with the label Corporate Social Responsibility

Plastic waste at the Mercado, Cádiz

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Cádiz's central food market is a fascinating and illuminating place to spend a few hours. Some 170 stalls offer the full range of local ingredients, from fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as fish. After browsing the market there is a possibility of having a delicious wine, beer or various food such as tapas or paella. The huge problem of the market is the amount of waste that is being produced everyday. The take-away food is usually offered in the plastic package that is often seen thrown on already overloaded beans or even on the floor. To reduce the usage of plastic packaging in the take-away industry is possible to achieve through many ways: 1. Use a reusable bottle for your beverages 2. Bring your own container for take-away food or to your restaurant 3. Do not use straws 4. Find a supplier for sustainable packages Why the big deal about plastic waste ?  Much of the plastic we consume on the daily basis is used usually only once, yet it remains on the earth forever. This cau...

Managing differently with the example of Patagonia 

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Some companies are moving away from traditional management and hierarchies to more participative and relaxed models where all employees are considered as collaborators with common values. Flexible working hours, childcare facilities, recycling policies and a percentage of turnover donated to NGOs are new arguments that are becoming more and more widespread.  Patagonia company is a perfect example and is described as a responsible, liberated, ecological company - in short, a corporate citizen. Patagonia is a company that exploits the concept of clean sport with environmentally friendly and original products. Its success stems from its commitment to the preservation of diversity. It is with a strong involvement with its employees and a lot of trust that the company has built its management. Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia's founder, explains that he uses a management by absence approach to encourage this. It pushes each employee to grow and find a sport, or other activity, that suits them....

Daimler commits $A97 billion to go all electric by 2030

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  In this article, we can see how such a big enterprise as Daimler AG (renamed Mercedes-Benz Group AG in February 2022) is trying to contribute to preserving the environment following a corporate social responsibility initiative targeting emissions. This is also a way to continue with the brand image of Daimler as an avant-garde cars manufacturer. As we can see in this notice, by 2025, Daimler wants to have at least fifty percent of new sales of fully or partially electric cars called hybrids. These electric engines however also have a second source of energy like ordinary diesel. This means that half of the sales of Daimler will be helping the environment with this electrification by creating less carbon dioxide emissions. These cards will be high-quality vehicles such as the upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQS premium electric sedan which have a large profit margin.  The CEO Ola Källenius tell us the importance of its van business in its electrification goals. “Our goal is techno...

Do you have an idea to benefit the world?

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Social Impact Award (SIA) is Europe's largest community of early-stage social entrepreneurs under 30 and has been supporting young social innovators in implementing their own ideas and projects since 2009. Currently, young people with ideas for social and ecological projects can apply for the Social Impact Award Germany until 16 May 2022 and win a place in our 3-month incubation programme.  By organizing local events and workshop on social entrepreneurship in countries across Europe, Central Asia, and Africa, SIA aims to empower youth (15+) to found social ventures and contribute their ideas to the world’s most urgent matters. Submitting to the Social Impact Award is a chance to benefit from SIA's expertise, network, and know-how. Since 2012, they choose their hosts through an innovative licensing model to implement their ready-made programs in local ecosystems all over the world. Their concept consists of education, communication, support and building awareness around social e...

Fiji's Greenwashing

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  Greenwashing As we were talking about corporate social responsibilities we also came across the responsibility to act environmentally friendly as a company. Big brands realized that customers value the carbon footprint of the products they buy. Consequently they started advertising with their products to be eco friendly to attract customers.  But to say your product is environmentally friendly is one thing but to actually produce your products with reduced or even no emissions or using less plastic is another. Due to companies branding their products eco-friendly, nevertheless they are not, the term 'greenwashing' occurred. A good example is 'Fiji Water' which claims to be even carbon negative and being 'pure nature' to justify that they are charging double the price as their competitors. Fact is that the company itself states that they will not be carbon neutral before 2037. Moreover their water is taken from a Fijian aquifier and bottled in plastic bottles f...

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in times of the Ukraine war

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  CSR got a huge topic for businesses in the recent years. This means that a lot of companies started to not just care about their profit maximization and advantages but also about having a positive impact on the society. Both in social and environmental ways. In the horrible times of Russia´s invasion of the Ukraine a lot of companies worldwide got political active and started to help the victims through their economic influence.  Big technology players like Google and Microsoft for example abandoned media of the Russian state from their platforms. Elon Musk, head of SpaceX space company, even provided the ukrainian government with internet of his company´s satellite. Furthermore, some telecommunication businesses provided free calling minutes for all mobile phone users in the Ukraine, among others the software company Viber. As these examples show, many companies embrace the human responsibility of their organization and take a stand to help the victims of war. Especially in...