Report to Members & Friends
January 1998
Ethics Consulting Service Launched: A brochure outlining the confidential services available to companies under MCCR’s Ethics and Integrity Services lands on executive desks this month. Jon Pekel, CEO of the Fulcrum Group, will take the lead for MCCR in helping companies address these issues. Companies can get customized help in assessing ethics risks, developing or revising codes of conduct, and designing sound ethics management processes. Fees and services will be negotiated with clients. For a brochure describing the service or to arrange an initial consultation, call David Rodbourne at MCCR at 612/962-4120.
Sustainability Is About Profit and Community Health: At the Landmark Center on January 8, an audience of 400+ from business, local government and the public heard William McDonough, dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia and a global leader in sustainable design, argue the merits of sustainable design of buildings, industrial processes, and communities as economically profitable, environmentally smart, and people-friendly. Asked how to convince leaders to embrace sustainability, McDonough answered emphatically with one word – "profit." Cost is not a barrier; technology is available. But people must change the way they think and abandon short-sighted rules of thumb. Workshops applied McDonough’s design concepts to Twin Cities redevelopment projects including rehab of the National Purity Soap Factory formerly owned by Pillsbury, Ray Harris’s massive redevelopment of the old Sears site in Phillips, and questions of sprawl in the Twin Cities. The event was organized by MCCR and BSR in partnership with The Landmark Series. McDonough’s speech is expected to be broadcast on MPR’s Midday program in the near future.
CHARACTER COUNTS! - MCCR, a member of the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition, is working with educators and businesses in Minnesota to promote ethical values that transcend political, religious, class and ethnic divisions. These values, called the "Six Pillars of Character", are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Recently five Minnesotans, including Megan West, Miss Winona, completed the Josephson Institute of Ethics Character Development Seminar - the training arm of CHARACTER COUNTS!. These graduates are now prepared to teach ethical decision making to youth. Ms. West is working with a state legislator to promote character education and will make CHARACTER COUNTS! her platform when she competes for Miss Minnesota. For more information, call 612/962-4120 or the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition at 800/711-2670.
The Principles for Business in Australia and Hong Kong: The CRT Principles for Business, originated by MCCR, will be included in a new Australian text, Business Ethics: Australian Problems and Cases. As a sign of the Center’s key role, the author wrote to us: "all roads on Caux questions (not to mention the Principles themselves) seem to lead to the MCCR at UST." In addition, the Hong Kong Ethics Development Center has given MCCR 250 booklets of the CRT Principles printed in English and Chinese.
Major Speeches Collection Grows: You can request copies from MCCR’s collection of speeches on critical issues by calling 612/962-4120. The latest addition is Pioneering Corporate Responsibility by Marilyn Carlson Nelson, delivered at the Keystone Program meeting of the Minneapolis Chamber on November 12. Others include: Diversity Strategy at General Mills by Stephen Sanger; On Balance - It’s Not A Women’s Issue Anymore by Pioneer Press columnist Amy Gage; Leave Your Mark by David Koch; Lessons for the Global Frontier by Price Waterhouse Chairman Dominic Tarantino; Minnesota HEALS: Hope, Education And Law & Safety by Michael Bonsignore; and The Battle Over Corporate Responsibility by Robert Kuttner.
MCCR WEB Site: Check out MCCR’s WEB site at www.stthomas.edu/mccr If you are looking for the Principles for Business you can find them on MCCR’s site or try the Caux Round Table (CRT) site which is managed by MCCR at www.cauxroundtable.org The Principles for Business are on-line in several languages.
CEO Dialogues To Begin: In-depth, structured conversations with business leaders about values and leadership in organizations will begin April 7 with Tony Andersen, chairman of H.B. Fuller Company. Chuck Kingsley and Carol Pine will facilitate the series of dialogues which expand on MCCR’s earlier roundtables on Values and Leadership. Brochures will be in the mail next month.
February 13 Program Alert!
One Small Step: The February 13 meeting of The Work«Life Network features Judy David, executive director of One Small Step in San Francisco, one of the nation’s most effective employer networks on Work/Life. Judy will profile work/life policies among employers in the San Francisco and New England regions and discuss the evolution of the One Small Step network. American Express Financial Advisors is providing partial financial assistance to support this event. Thank you American Express! To register, call 612/962-4120.
School-Business Partnership at TSI: MCCR’s Families That Work! director Patty Schneider has assisted TSI in setting up a Partners in Education Program underwhich TSI employees will volunteer in the Valentine Hills Elementary School in Arden Hills. Thirteen TSI employees have signed up already.
International Business Study Tour
Doing Business In Western Europe - MCCR and the University of St. Thomas are partnering to offer this exciting 3-credit MBA course from July 11-25 in the heart of the European Union ¾ London, Brussels, Frankfurt and Paris. Students, alumni and business professionals will explore the dynamics of business overseas to gain a deeper understanding of European attitudes towards business ethics and corporate responsibility. Information sessions are scheduled February 12 and 16 at 4:30 in room 204 on the University of St. Thomas Minneapolis campus. To learn more about this opportunity, please contact: Dr. Sally Power (612/962-4303) or Terri Hastings (612/962-4120).
4th Biennial Labor-Management Conference: The February 19 - 20 event is sponsored by the University of St. Thomas MBA in Human Resources Management Program and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and co-sponsored by MCCR. This year’s focus on Labor-Management Relations in a World of Change emphasizes international issues and insights on key domestic issues. Speakers include: Kieran Mulvey, chief executive of the Irish Labour Relations Commission; and, Dr. M. James Benson, president of Bemidji State – along with leaders from business and labor. To register, 612/962-4240.
10th Annual MultiCultural Forum: Managing & Prospering With the "New" Workforce: features Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, delivering the keynote address "Multicultural Diversity - The New Frontier." The all-day event on March 5, sponsored by the University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Business and the National Black MBA Association Twin Cities Chapter and co-sponsored by MCCR, will also feature a speech by J.A. "Gus" Blanchard III, chairman and CEO of Deluxe Corporation. MCCR will offer a workshop on Work/Life practices. Call 612/962-4255.
Poetry and the Corporation - Should I Bring My Whole Self to Work?: The April 21 Stakeholder Dialogue, sponsored by the Koch Chair in Business Ethics at St. Thomas and co-sponsored by MCCR, features Poet David Whyte, author of The Heart Aroused - Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America. Mary Ann Donahue, VP Human Development at Medtronic, will be a panelist. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. at the UST Minneapolis Campus Thorton Auditorium. Open to the public.
Media Coverage of MCCR: Robert MacGregor’s article on volunteerism among retired business executives was published in the Star Tribune December 15. The Center was cited in a Star Tribune Editorial January 2 that lauded Minnesota companies on the Fortune magazine list of 100 best companies. A January 8 Star Tribune story on President Clinton’s child care initiative quoted MCCR program director David Rodbourne. An article on Flextime in the January issue of Continental Airlines in-flight magazine cited MCCR’s task force report on the bottom line value of work/life practices to employers. The November MCCR Executive Summary by ReliaStar CEO John Turner on offering financial education to employees was reprinted in the Star Tribune.
Center for Ethical Business Cultures
1000 LaSalle Avenue, TMH 331 ▪ Minneapolis, MN 55403-2005 ▪ USA
Phone: 651 962 4120 or 800 328 6819 Ext. 2-4120 ▪ Facsimile: 651 962 4042
Email: mail@cebcglobal.org
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