In This Issue
Editor's Note
Trust: Your Social License to Operate
In 2009, the public's trust in business hit a 10-year low. It's no surprise, really. Around this time last year, the economy itself took a nose dive, igniting fires that burned right through people's jobs, their savings, their faith.
For something that resides in our emotions, trust has a dramatic impact on business. As BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer points out, restoring public trust is more than just a popularity contest. It's about giving your company a social license to operate.
Levi Strauss is one company taking that license seriously. Learn more in our Spotlight on the Levi Strauss Foundation's work to realign business objectives with the needs of workers.
And lest we think business is the only institution with work to do on trust, read the latest mea culpa from government.
Finally, we still want to hear from you in our poll: What is the most important measure business should take to regain trust?
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In Depth
Winning Back the Public’s Trust in Business
By Aron Cramer, President and CEO, BSR
The drop in public trust means business faces a tough climate with cynical consumers, unhappy employees, and critical legislators. While the public is slowly beginning to trust business again, there's room for improvement. Here, BSR's President and CEO Aron Cramer outlines six ways to turn things around.
Read more →
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Spotlight
A New Path for Worker Rights
By
Over the past 10 years, the Levi Strauss Foundation (LSF) has provided grants to further the rights and responsibilities of more than a million workers in more than 20 countries.
Last month, BSR convened a roundtable in Ho Chi Minh City—with global leaders from LSF, Levi Strauss & Co., and LSF grantees—to build a peer network devoted to deepening and broadening the reach of this work.
In addition to creating a business case for brands, factory managers, line supervisors, and workers themselves, the group developed impact measurements to track progress in areas such as reducing overtime and building effective grievance systems. We also brainstormed how to take this work to scale, including creating a master curriculum and peer-to-peer training models.
In October, BSR and LSF will release a public report that we hope will serve as a call to action to companies to advance worker rights in their global supply chains.
Contact Ayesha Barenblat for more information.
On the Record
U.S. Government Admits Fault in Madoff Investigation
Following an investigation into why the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) failed to detect the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme that stripped investors of nearly US$65 billion, SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro expressed her regret in a public statement, which also outlined how the commission will reform the way it regulates markets and protects investors.
"We have streamlined our enforcement procedures and are putting more experienced staff on the frontlines. We also have bolstered our inspection program, started to revamp the way we handle hundreds of thousands of tips received annually, begun to hire new skill sets, increased internal training, and sought more resources to keep pace with financial fraudsters …
In addition, we have proposed new industry rules that will better protect clients of investment advisors by mandating independent reviews … And we have sought legislation to enable us to compensate whistleblowers for providing substantial evidence of wrongdoing."
—Mary Schapiro, SEC Chairwoman (September 2, 2009)
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