Corpobligation: At a time when the world is experiencing financial turmoil largely as a result of a runaway market and failed risk management strategies, President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address strikes a chord when he calls for a "new era of responsibility."
Does Obama's address signal a change in the United States government`s approach to regulation as a positive force for society?
Will corporate voices be heard in Washington lobbies? Stay tuned...
Corpobligation: At the time turning points in corporate/operational risk management can be difficult to define but one has certainly been crossed in the case of Canada's nuclear industry.
Background: Canadian Nuclear Safety Comission (CNSC) shut down the Chalk River, medical isotope, reactor run by Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) in November 2007, because of AECL's failure to meet certain safety regulations.
This led to a shortage of medical isotopes and an eventual Federal legislative override of the regulations to reopen the nuclear plant. Subsequently, the Linda Keen, president of CNSC, was removed from the presidency, although she still sits on the CNSC committee.
In a world facing global warming, nuclear energy is hot but controversial.
The new President of the CNSC is considered "good news for everybody."
The media has a challenge in covering an issue like the nuclear industry and the spin has been rich on both sides of the safety issue - how can CSR help?
If nuclear energy is going to be a big part of a safe future, the industry players must have more than a sense of CSR they must accept certain corporate obligations to the environment, government regulators, communities nearby and afar.
Corpobligation: Bailouts for banks that sold questionable mortgages suggest that lenders can avoid responsibility for their financial choices. What does this say for their social and environmental choices?
Moral hazard is the principle that individuals and businesses will take risks because they will not face the full consequences of failure. In the context of mortgage lending, banks may lend to higher risk borrowers in the quest for profits without adequate consideration of default risk because they know they will be bailed out by the government.
In the words of a great Bird and Fortune sketch,
Financial crisis can be avoided "provided that governments and central
banks give us, the financial speculators back the money we have
lost...[T]his is rewarding the financial ingenuity of the markets...[W]e
don't want the money to spend ourselves...we want it so we can carry on borrowing
and lending money as if nothing had happened, without thinking too much
about it."
Corpobligation: Strong economic growth, a high Canadian dollar and low unemployment creates risks and opportunities,
depending on consumer choices
The
higher Canadian dollar has turned the USA into a “candy store” and Canadians are expected to fly more than ever this holiday season. Greater
wealth allows ridiculous decadence (pet psychiatrists and luxury condo
developments). At the same time, economic wealth and consumer confidence allows us to make more sustainable choices and to make real changes in how we consume and structure
our lives.
"Overall, the 20 highest-paid executives of publicly traded corporations make, on average, 38 times more than the country's
20 highest-paid nonprofit leaders."
Salaries are supposed to motivate behaviour and theoretically compensate employees for their contribution to a business, but how can salaries over 100 times those of the average employee be justified?
Limits on CEO salaries could be based on reducing corporate tax deductions based on a multiple that relates CEO salaries to the average employee's earnings.
Where is the corporate obligation? Corporate directors have an obligation to shareholders to look after their best interest. Can they justify astronomic salaries?
News and Analysis 
medical isotope, reactor run by Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) in November 2007, because of AECL's failure to meet certain safety regulations.
employees for their contribution to a business, but how can salaries over 100 times those of the average employee be justified?
