Archive for the ‘General Business’ Category

Today, Macleans posted two articles that I found highly interesting. The first was Canada the good?, a look at why Canada is ranked very low on having socially responsible companies. The second article, Top 50 socially responsible corporations, takes a look at companies in Canada who are socially responsible, and what exactly it is that makes them socially responsible.

The companies who made the “Top 50 Socially Responsible Corporations” list have done anything from making their companies more “green” and sustainable, to improving accessibility for minorities, to collecting e-waste so that it doesn’t end up in landfills, to helping out their communities better themselves in some way. With a large variety of industries on the list (including financial, food, telecommunications, etc), it’s definitely positive to see how some Canadian companies are making a difference socially!

The other article, on the other hand, isn’t quite as positive:

A ranking of G7 countries performed for Maclean’s by Jantzi-Sustainalytics shows Canada near the bottom of the list when it comes to large publicly traded companies’ performances on corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures that fall under the umbrellas of environmental, social and governance criteria. Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom all scored well ahead of Canada.
Canada the good?

According to this article, while some Canadian companies are doing quite a bit of work in their communities and globally, it’s not something that most Canadian companies feel is important enough to make a priority. Unlike in other countries, Canada is more sparsely populated, with corporations not being in such close proximity to the general population. Dirk Matten, professor at York University’s Schulich School of Business, believes that when the corporations are more closely located to the public, there is more pressure on them to behave responsibly in the community. This could be a very good reason why companies in remote regions – the oil sands industry was mentioned in particular – don’t feel as much pressure from their local community to be socially responsible.

As Canadian corporations try to become more competitive on the global scale, I think that corporate social responsibility is something that is going to need to become more important to these companies. We’ve seen in the past how companies (not necessarily Canadian) have had their businesses impacted by the fact that they weren’t socially responsible, through the use of sweatshops and the like. It’s not hard to imagine that somewhere down the line, a weak corporate social responsibility may induce a similarly strong reaction again, and may hurt companies reputations – and a good reputation is a very good thing for business.

Becoming a country where corporate social responsibility is important to our companies is going to be a challenge, as it will be changing the mindset of large corporations. But in the long run, it will definitely be worth it.

I will fully admit that I love infographics (graphic visual representations of data). They are used to present what can be very complex information in a quick and concise manner, making it easier to communicate with people. Some examples of infographics are maps and signs, but they have also become prevalent online (mainly through communities like Digg and Reddit) where data from numerous sources are brought together in an easy-to-share and easy-to-understand graphic.

Some of the interesting business-related ones that I have come across recently include:

• The number of patents per country. We’ve spoken previously about how Canada isn’t doing as well as other countries when it comes to commercializing innovation, and often they look at number of patents to compare Canada to other countries. This infographic shows exactly how we compare.
• The fastest way to lose customers. No matter what business you are in, your current customers are important to you. On average, 80% of your business comes from current customers. These are the biggest reasons your customers would go to your competitor instead of continuing to do business with you.
• How do small businesses waste money? This info graphic breaks down what you are probably spending on things that add up quickly – like mailing letters, or buying coffee – and provide alternatives to help you save money in your business.

It seems that things may get a little tougher for Canadian manufacturers who are trying to work on American water and wastewater projects. The US House of Representatives just passed a bill (H.R. 5320, the Assistance, Quality and Affordability Act of 2010) which will actually prevent us from making bids on these projects.

In an attempt to promote their own manufacturers, the US government has included a “Buy American” provision in their bill that provides grants and funding for water infrastructure and system projects to cover the cost of complying with drinking water regulations.

We will post more information as we get it.