Browsing by Author "Grayson, David"
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Item Open Access The Business of Business is...? Unpicking the Corporate Responsibility Debate.(Cranfield University School of Management, 2007) Marsden, Chris; Grayson, DavidCompanies must be part of any lasting solution to many of the pressing environmental and social problems facing the world. All companies do good things and bad things, often at the same time. The essence of the debate over Corporate Responsibility 1 (CR) is whether governance of the good and bad things companies do should be left to market forces and state regulation or whether companies should deliberately set out to do good things beyond the minimum required to achieve their financial goals.Item Open Access Business-Led Corporate Responsibility Coalitions: Learning from the example of Business in the Community.(Cranfield University School of Management, 2007) Grayson, DavidBusiness in the Community (BITC) in the UK is the largest and one of the oldest business-led coalitions dedicated to corporate responsibility. This paper, written by one of the organisation’s former Managing-Directors and a longstanding staff member for more than twenty years, documents the evolution of BITC from a group dedicated to regenerating local economies through charitable contributions, to one concerned with integrating sustainability into its members’ core business strategies. BITC has helped to institutionalise and mainstream the practice of corporate responsibility. The author documents the organisation’s accomplishments as well as missed opportunities. The story offers lessons for the potential of business-led coalitions in galvanizing change and building the civil economy.Item Open Access Collaborative Commitments.(Community Links, 2008) Grayson, DavidIt is easy to become demoralised and paralysed by the scale and number of seemingly intractable problems we face in the UK and globally. Rather, we should treat those problems as the spur to innovation. As Albert Einstein once said, “we can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Challenging times demand new approaches – but also provide a sense of possibility. That is the philosophy of the Council on Social Action (CoSA). One of CoSA’s ideas is the concept of ‘collaborative commitments’.Item Open Access Corporate responsibility and the media(Cranfield University School of Management, 2009-07) Grayson, DavidThis paper discusses how CR is covered in the media and the media’s own corporate responsibilities, covering both traditional and new media.Item Open Access The CR management black-hole(2008-01-01T00:00:00Z) Grayson, DavidHow can companies avoid corporate responsibility falling into a management black-hole? What can managers do to take corporate responsibility forward in their organisation, even if the company overall is indifferent or at an early stage of development in corporate responsibility?Item Open Access Creating sustainable businesses through social intrapreneurism(Cranfield University School of Management, 2013-04) Grayson, David; Spitzeck, Heiko; Alt, Elisa; McLaren, MelodyItem Open Access Embedding corporate responsibility and sustainability: Marks and Spencer(Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2011-12-01T00:00:00Z) Grayson, DavidPurpose – The British retailer Marks & Spencer aspires to be the world's most sustainable major global retailer by 2015. This paper seeks to examine how the company is embedding sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is written as part of an ongoing investigation into how businesses do this. It is based on direct dialogue with corporate sustainability specialists inside and outside the company; participation in company stakeholders' briefings held regularly since the launch of Marks & Spencer's Plan A for sustainability in January 2007; and analysis by the company's own corporate sustainability specialists about how they are embedding. Findings – This case demonstrates that, in order to speed their journey, Marks & Spencer have aligned sustainability with core strategy. Top leadership is driving the strategy, which is overseen by the board. M&S have made a very public commitment: Plan A with measurable targets, timescales and accountabilities. The strategy is being integrated into every business function and strategic business unit; and involves suppliers, employees and increasingly customers. To enable implementation, the company is developing its knowledge-management and training; engaging with wider stakeholders including investors; building partnerships and collaborations; and has evolved its specialist sustainability team into an internal change-management consultancy and coach/catalyst for continuous improvement. Originality/value – The value of the case study is that it provides an analysis of how one company, which has been active in progressing corporate sustainability, has evolved its approach in recenItem Open Access Engage employees and transform social and economic performance(2011-05-02T00:00:00Z) Grayson, David; McLaren, MelodyForward thinking companies embrace intrapreneurs and employee social interaction to develop sustainability programmes driven from the top down and bottom up.Item Open Access Exploring the prioritisation process of the sustainable development goals by business(World Association for Sustainable Development (WASD), 2021-10-30) Kaffashi, Sara; Grayson, DavidPurpose: This study aims to investigate the emergent working practice in terms of how individual businesses determine which SDGs are most relevant to them and therefore which ones to prioritise for practice. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire-based method was applied to enhance corporate sustainability experts’ opinion on the specific subject of the SDGs prioritisation process. Findings: The results of this study suggest that board and CEO involvement in the process of decision making for SDGs is lacking. Interestingly, the existence of current policies in place to reduce or subside negative impacts together with commercial reasons found to be the main motivation for prioritisation. Yet, many respondents indicated drawing a materiality matrix for the prioritisation process. Further investigations in data indicated a lack of active research, ambition, and more accurate reporting system on SDGs for many studied companies. Practical implications: The result implies the need for regulatory policies for a quantitative reporting scheme. This will document both negative and positive impacts that can be measured clearly with KPIs together with their financial implications. Another policy implication is for the government to introduce additional legislation and actively engage with industry to ensure that SDG goals that are agreed by the global international community are adequately mandated. Originality/value: This study adds to businesses' wealth of information on the SDG prioritisation steps by combining different variables that are significant determinants of the SDG selection process. It also provides an essential piece of information for businesses, sustainability leaders, policymakers, and broader society to consider about “who”, “why” and “how” the SDGs prioritisation decision are being made.Item Open Access Innovating from Within(Cranfield University School of Management, 2010-09-01T00:00:00Z) Grayson, DavidItem Open Access Is sustainability at the heart of the Olympics?(2012-04-01T00:00:00Z) Grayson, DavidItem Open Access A new mindset for corporate sustainability(2008) Grayson, David; Rodriguez, Miguel Angel; Lemon, Mark; Jin, Zhouying; Slaughter, Sarah; Tay, SimonThis paper presents a vision of corporate sustainability, which places an emphasis on innovation as the means to add value, not just to the bottom line, but to the environment and society at large. The research and case studies summarised here build on more than three decades of experience and insight. As far back as 1972, the Club of Rome, an international think-tank, recognised that depletion of the Earth’s natural resources at the current rate would, eventually, lead to severe economic fallout.Item Open Access Salvaging the big society: A ten-point plan(Cranfield University School of Management, 2011-05) Grayson, David; Harrison, DavidItem Open Access Salvaging the Big Society: a ten-point plan(2011-05-31T00:00:00Z) Grayson, David; Harrison, DavidThe Big Society is one of the major unifying themes of Britian's Coalition Governemnt. The authors of this paper argue that the overall concept is not widely understood, even amongst inhabitants of the Westminster village, and this has led various commentators, prematurely in the view of teh authors, to write the Big Society's obiturary.Item Open Access Sense and sustainability(2007-10-01T00:00:00Z) Grayson, DavidItem Open Access Small is Sustainable (and Beautiful!) – Encouraging European Smaller Enterprises to be Sustainable.(Cranfield Umiversity School of Management, 2007) Grayson, David; Dodd, TomThis paper takes stock of the some of the significant progress made and lessons learned in supporting the uptake of corporate social responsibility (CSR) amongst small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It then identifies a number of issues that we think merit further attention as this important work continues.Item Open Access Social intrapreneurs - an extra force for sustainability(2010-12-31T00:00:00Z) Grayson, David; McLaren, Melody; Spitzeck, HeikoItem Open Access Social intrapreneurs - an extra force for sustainability(Cranfield University School of Management, 2011-01) Grayson, David; McLaren, Melody; Spitzeck, HeikoItem Open Access Supporting corporate responsibility performance through effective knowledge management(Cranfield University School of Management, 2011-01) Grayson, David; Spender, J. C.Item Open Access Sustainable Value: Corporate Responsibility and measuring the Financial and Non- financial performance of the firm(2009-09-30T00:00:00Z) Grayson, DavidThis is the final report from a two-year EABIS funded research project. The purpose of the research has been to explore how the environmental, social and governance performance of companies might impact on the drivers of business success; how companies explain these linkages to investors, and how the investment community treats these data. The research project has been run in close contact with a parallel EU CSR Alliance Laboratory on “Corporate Responsibility and the market-valuation of non-financial performance”. This Lab has been led by Lloyds Banking Group and Telecom Ita