The
Essence of the Code: "Directors shall manage
the corporation in a manner that does not cause damage to the environment,
violate human rights, adversely affect the public health or safety,
damage the welfare of the communities in which the corporation operates,
or violate the dignity of the corporation's employees."
--Model Uniform Code
Senate
Authors
Chief: Marty
Co: Lourey
House
Authors Chief:
Hilty
Co: Hausman,
Sertich
(Minority Whip), Walker
PROMINENT
ENDORSERS:
CA Senator
Richard Alarcon,
Richard Barrett, Prof.
Robert Benson,
Charlie Cray,
Granny
D,
Barbara
Ehrenreich,
Terry Gips,
Thom Hartmann,
Tom Hayden,
Jim Hightower, Robert
Hinkley, Rabbi
Michael Lerner,
Marjorie
Kelly,
Ken Pentel, Prof.
Harlan Smith,
Leif Utne,
Nina Utne
"GOVERNING
DYNAMICS: The best result would come from everyone in the group
doing the best for himself and the group." John Nash, Noble
Prize Winner, in the movie "A Beautiful Mind"
C4CR envisions
a world in which corporations work for a just, peaceful and sustainable
global society.
Mission Statement
To
transform the legal purpose of corporations to include responsibility
to employees, communities and the environment.
News
New Minnesota Bill for Socially
Responsible Corporations Introduced
April
24 , 2006
Chief Authors Senator John Marty and Representative Bill Hilty introduced
the bill as Senate
File 3786 and House
File 4161.
Draft of New Minnesota Bill
for Socially Responsible Corporations Completed
March,
2006
C4CR's Advisory Board has completed the draft of our new bill for Socially
Responsible Corporations. Under a new section of law:
1. Directors will have an affirmative duty to all stakeholders,
2. Employees and representatives of the public interest will be on the
Board of Directors,
3. Directors will be protected from shareholder suits when they choose
to consider other stakeholders and the public interest,
4. Socially Responsible investors and consumers will know where to invest
their money, and
5. Socially Responsible Companies will be protected from hostile takeover.
Our Bill for Socially Responsible
Corporations Has Been Introduced in Hawaii As HB3118 As of March 2, 2006 the bill has passed two House Committees
in Hawaii. To read the Hawaiian version and check on current status
enter
HB3118 at the HAWAII
STATE LEGISLATURE
site.
Training
in Nonviolent Communication Citizens for Corporate Redesign is integrating
the process of Nonviolent Communication into its internal processes,
its communication with others and its framing, The following training
is available for those who want to learn more about Nonviolent Communication:
October 29, November
5, 12 & 19, 2006 Local trainers John Karvel and Margarita Mac
are offering a training entitled "Living, Speaking and Listening
from the Heart". [READ
MORE]
Brief Video Introduction
to NVC Marshall Rosenberg video:
http://www.big-picture.tv/index.php?id=17&cat=&a=25
C4CR Awarded Grant
October 6, 2004 Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Partners
in Justice Board awarded Citzens for Corporate Redesign - Minnesota
a $5,000 grant for general operating expenses. To learn more about the
Sisters of St. Joseph visit their website at www.csjstpaul.org.
Corporation 2020 Website
A Project of the Tellus Institute and Business Ethics Corporation 2020 is a new, multi-stakeholder
initiative to develop and advocate for corporate designs that sustain
social purpose. The initiative is rooted in the premise that societal
expectations and needs in the 21st century demand a major elevation
in corporate contributions to urgent global imperatives—economic,
environmental, and social. In the face of both peril and promise for
global futures, it is no longer enough to ask, “What is the business
case for social responsibility?” The question, instead, must be,
“What is the social purpose case for business?”
In the past, the debate surrounding the future of the corporation has
been narrowly defined as one between government regulation and free
markets. Corporation 2020 posits a third path: system redesign. It is
a path that recognizes the historical and legitimate public role in
corporate design; the necessity of respecting universal values while
recognizing the drawbacks of unnecessarily intrusive government; and
the ingenuity but intrinsic deficiencies of voluntarism and unfettered
markets. Reaching beyond mainstream corporate social responsibility
(CSR), Corporation 2020 will chart a path that embeds social purpose
in the organizational “DNA” while helping to catalyze and
fortify durable, high-performing enterprises. www.corporation2020.org
Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee
Tabled The Code for Discussion
February 19, 2004
The Code was tabled for further review. The Committee was concerned
that there may be unintended consequences from the existing language.
Some of the question that need to be answered are:
Would shareholders be able to sue, outside of their normal fiduciary
interest, on behalf of the public interest when directors permit something
which is harmful to the public interest? Attorney Robert Hinkley is
drafting an amendment to address this.
How do you relieve directors of having to maximize shareholder compensation
without raising the specter of too many lawsuits on behalf of a hard
to define public interest or between different segments of the public
interest? Is this specter real or imaginary?
The Code Has Been
Introduced In Minnesota April 2003
Senator Sandy Pappas is chief author the Code (Senate
File #1529) in the Senate. Representative Carlos Mariani is chief
author in the House (House
File #1534). (See the full list of authors lower on the left of
this page.)
Also please communicate your support for the Code to your Senator http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/alphalist.shtml
and your Representative http://ww3.house.leg.state.mn.us/maillist/mailinglist.asp.
The AFL-CIO, Sierra
Club and Teamsters in California Endorse the Code These
organisations sent letters of endorsment to the CA Senate Judiciary
Committee in January 2004.
The Green Party
of California Endorses the Code To read their Press
Release please click
here.
Vanishing Democracy-Challenging
Corporate Power Follow Up Meeting: Report from September 13, 2003 Participants in the March 29, 2003, conference on Vanishing
Democracy had a follow up meeting on September 13, 2003. Organizations
reported on their work since March. Strategies for working together
as network were discussed. To read the notes from the meeting please
click here.
What The Code For
Corporate Responsibility Does To read what the code accomplishes (in a bullet point
format) please click here.
Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom - Minnesota Metro Branch Endorses the Code.
Contact Information.
California Corporate
Reform Working Group (CalCORE) CalCORE is an ad hoc group which works with state and
national activists to enact corporate reform legislation, including
the Code for Corporate Responsibility (California SB 917). CalCORE seeks
additional endorsers for the Code. We also seek activists to help with
outreach and to form lobbying groups to visit state legislators at home
offices or in Sacramento. Training will be provided. Please email calcorewg@earthlink.net
for more information. To read an article by CalCORE Coordinator Nichole
Su, click here. To
learn more go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/c4cr_california/.
NOW in California
takes up the Code The National Organization for Women -- California,
canow.org, has taken
up the Code as one of three items on their legislative agenda for 2003.
The Code on Maine
Public Radio Former Corporate Lawyer Calls
On Maine To Adopt A "Code For Corporate Citizenship (Responsibility)"
Robert Hinkley of Brooklin, Maine believes corporations should be about
more than just making money. In fact, he feels so strongly about it
that he quit his job as a corporate attorney after 23 years and is now
on a mission to get a "Code for Corporate Citizenship (Responsibility)"
written into state law. Hinkley told Maine Public Radio's Keith Shortall
that current state law is focused too narrowly on the bottom line. Right
Click open in a new window to Listen
The Code on National Public
Radio On Monday, November 18th, Robert Hinkley and Marjorie
Kelly spoke about the Code and Corporate Accountability on David Broncaccio's
Marketplace.
The Alliance for
Democracy Endorses the Code Nationally On October 23rd through the 26th, 2002, the Alliance
for Democracy held its in-person national council meeting in St.
Paul. The council voted to endorse the Code for Corporate Responsibility.
Citizenworks.org: Citizen Works has devoted a whole page to the Code on
their website. They link to our website, have more articles about the
Code,
(http://www.citizenworks.org/enron/corp_code.php),
a Corporate Reform Weekly Report and other valuable tools
(http://www.citizenworks.org).
The Code in the
United Kingdom The Corporate Responsibility Coalition in UK is seeking
to enact a law that is very similar to our C4CR (http://www.corporate-responsibility.org).
Meetings & Engagements
March 13th: General
Meeting Monday, March 13th, 6:30 PM
2369 Doswell Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108.
Advisory Board
Next meeting date to be set after the bill is drafted
State Office Building, Room 272.
Earth Charter --
Minnesota Chapter
Saturday October 30th The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental principals
for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the
21st century. C4CR is a response to number of Earth Charter principals
that call for action. In September C4CR was a sponsor of the first Twin
Cities Earth Charter Community Summit. C4CR maintains its connections
with the Earth Charter and its efforts to evolve a global consciousness
for a sustainable society. To learn about Minnesota Chapter of Earth
Charter and the 2004 Twin Cities Earth Charter Community Summit
(Saturday, October 30th) go to their website at http://www.earthcharter-minnesota.org.
Recent Articles
New Principles
for Corporate Law By
Kent Greenfield, Professor of Law, Boston College Law School
February 16,2005 The fundamental assumptions of corporate law have changed
little in decades. Accepted as truth are the notions that corporations
are voluntary, private, contractual entities; that they have broad powers
to make money in whatever ways and in whatever locations they see fit;
that the primary obligation of management is toward shareholders, and
shareholders alone. Corporations have broad powers but only a limited
role: they are entities that have as their primary objective the making
of money. Not much else is expected or required of them. [READ
MORE]
Twenty-eight Words
That Could Change The World An
interview of Robert Hinkley by Arnie Cooper
Published in the September 2004 issue of The Sun Hinkley: Really I do not have to win anybody over. People
already know in their hearts that polluting, violating human rights,
making people sick, treating people like machines, and bullying your
neighbors are wrong; they just don't know what can be done about these
things. The code gives them hope that there is a solution. [READ
MORE]
Changing
The Design Of The Corporation By
Robert Hinkley, June 2004 A new film, The Corporation, is a must for
any one who wants to understand why corporations pollute the environment,
endanger the public health and safety, violate the dignity of their
employees and sometimes ruin our communities. Based on a book by corporate
law professor Joel Bakan, "The Corporation: The Pathological
Pursuit of Profit and Power", the film says such behavior
is inherent in their nature. [READ
MORE]
The Ethical Advantage By
James A. Mitchell, February 2003 According to a Harvard Business School Study, ethical
firms which consider additional stakeholders outperform those which
do not. "Over an eleven-year period, the former increased revenues
by an average of 682% versus 166% for the latter, expanded their work
forces by 282% versus 36%, grew their stock prices by 901% versus 74%,
and improved their net incomes by 756% versus 1%." [READ
"THE ETHICAL ADVANTAGE"]
Let's Change The
DNA Of Corporations By
John Karvel, July 29th, 2002 Why is it that in the law corporations have the single
purpose of making a profit for the shareholders? Isn't it obvious that
there are more stakeholders that make up the corporate community? Analysis
shows that employees are really the major contributors to creating wealth.
The communities in which corporations operate have much to gain or lose,
depending on how responsibly the corporations there operate. And the
environment, our environment, has everything at stake.
President Bush's
Economic Forum Ron
James, August 13 ,
2002 Ron James, CEO of the Center for Ethical Business Culture
in Minneapolis, MN, was able to speak when the President was present.
He told the President "that business leaders
do two things very well". One, "they are concerned about all
of their stakeholders". Two, "they balance long and short-term
trade offs. They create value for the shareholder over the long-term
by serving all of these stakeholders. Reports and studies show that
companies that practice this grow revenues four times as fast, workforce
eight times as fast and stock prices twelve times as fast as companies
that don't. It is not about doing either or. You can do both. You can
create an ethical environment that serves multiple stakeholders but
can insure your are creating value for the shareholders."
[READ
MORE]
The Code for
Corporate Responsibility:
Widening the Perspective of Management A
Paper for Robert J. Milano School of Management and Urban Policy
New School University By
Gili Chupak, May 2004
In this paper, I have researched corporate responsibility.
What is it? How do we get there? And what is blocking us from arriving
at corporate responsibility? I used a whole systems perspective in order
to determine the most effective strategies. I described each strategy
based on its ability to impact responsible corporate behavior using
the leverage point categorizations offered by the whole systems analysis.
I limited my analysis of the strategies to the framework of law to accommodate
the mission of C4CR. [READ
MORE]
[Read
Corporation 2020 documents pertaining to various aspects of corporate
design]
[Read
additional articles at the Center for Ethical Business Cultures website
that demostrate the financial advantage experienced by ethical businesses]