Whom might we see more of in the corporate responsibility arena during 2007?
EP names some individuals likely to come to greater attention over the year
Staffan Soderberg
As vice chair of the International Organization for Standardization’s
working group on social responsibility, Soderberg is a key figure in
the development of the ISO 26000 guidance standard on social
responsibility, which has the potential to become the most important
document in the field. Expect to hear more of him this year as the
standard, now in its second draft, assumes a more concrete form.
Thoughtful and intelligent, Soderberg is manager of sustainability at
the Swedish construction company Skanska, which has been ploughing an
interesting, if understated, corporate responsibility furrow.
Michael Connor
A former Wall Street Journal
reporter and ABC News correspondent, Connor is the dynamo behind the
awkwardly-named CRO, a new membership body for ‘corporate
responsibility officers’ in the US. Already he’s taken over and renamed
Business Ethics magazine, and
has set up an annual CRO conference that is (deliberately?) close to
the date of Business for Social Responsibility’s enormous yearly event.
Connor is targeting individuals for membership rather than companies
and stresses ‘value for money’. He’s bound to tread on BSR’s toes. If
BSR responds, expect interesting times.
Anthony Hopwood
Specializing in accounting at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, professor
Hopwood has been drafted in by the Prince of Wales to suggest ways in
which business can account for the full range of its non-financial
impacts. This will be a key debate in 2007, so his deliberations could
be influential on any new accounting system that emerges.
Jonathan Djanogly
As the UK’s shadow corporate responsibility minister, Djanogly will
come to the fore this year when the Conservatives unveil their ‘blue
skies thinking’ on business responsibility – probably in the summer. A
typically youthful member of David Cameron’s team, he will be
responsible for challenging the Labour government on its natural turf.
Can he wrestle the initiative from the incumbents with some fresh
ideas, or will he succumb to the anti-regulatory instincts of his
party? The partner in City law firm SJ Berwin has both the enthusiasm
and the energy to take the brief into interesting areas.
Jon Williams
One of the most persuasive speakers at last year’s TBLI conference in
Paris, Williams, who is head of group sustainable development at HSBC
bank, puts forward well marshalled arguments that rise above the
mundane efforts of so many on the events circuit. He will undoubtedly
be in demand as a conference speaker, not least because his company
is showing something of a lead on what will be the biggest issue of the
year: climate change.
Penny Shepherd
The UK Social Investment Forum, which Shepherd heads, recently extended
its mission to promoting ‘responsible and sustainable finance’ rather
than just socially responsible investment. This will take it into new
areas in 2007 such as responsible lending, deposit-based services and
renewables finance. Shepherd will also have plenty of influence via
Uksif’s Just Pensions initiative, which is examining companies with a
decent CSR record to see if their pension schemes adopt a similarly
responsible outlook.
Richard Lambert
Lambert, the new director-general of the CBI, should steer the UK
employers’ body towards a more supportive role on corporate
responsibility. The former Financial Times
editor has always taken a keen interest in the topic and has already
made noises in that direction. Expect keynote speeches this year –
under his influence the CBI may also get to grips with the subject
internally, perhaps by setting up a CSR unit.
Andy Ruben
As vice president of corporate strategy and sustainability at Wal-Mart,
Ruben should have a big year in 2007. An effective publicist for the
world’s largest retail company, he is well prepared for questions, as
he showed in front of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural
Resources last year. But there is a question mark over what he and the
company will do once they have picked the low-hanging fruit such as
energy efficiency improvements. It remains to be seen how Ruben and
Wal-Mart will meet the challenge of responsible business practices that
do not directly further its commercial interests.
Tom Leathes
With the number of jobs in the field rising and more people moving
around, you may hear a lot more of Leathes this year. The 28-year old
is managing director of London-based Acre Resources, one of the few
recruitment agencies with a team dedicated to filling CSR and
sustainability posts. In the last year the team has grown from three to
12 and with some of its rivals appearing to tread water due to their
more diversified approach, 2007 could turn out to be the year Acre
establishes itself as leader of the recruiters’ pack.
