Report to Members & Friends

September 1996

October 2 & 3 Events: Swedish hotelier Ola Ivarsson will speak on an environmental business strategy called The Natural Step that boosted profitability to Sweden's Scandic Hotels. Ivarsson speaks at 7:30 a.m. October 2. The next morning, David Bollier addresses an MCCR audience on his book, Aiming Higher which profiles 25 business winners of the prestigious Business Enterprise Trust Awards. Bollier speaks at 7:30 a.m. on October 3. Call MCCR for details at 962-4120.

Aligning Values Series Launched: MCCR's Roundtable discussions on how companies can align values and actions in companies got off to a strong start September 12. Fourteen executives from ten firms compared notes on organizing their employees and business units around a core set of values. Many firms present will face difficult transitions (loss of a founder, changes in leadership, mergers) in the months ahead, and they are concerned about how core values can be sustained through these transitions. Consultants Chuck Kingsley and Carol Pine are facilitating the series for MCCR. The next Roundtable will be October 10 with subsequent sessions on November 6 and December 5. To register call MCCR at 962-4120.

TSI - MCCR Project: Member company TSI Incorporated, based in St. Paul, has asked MCCR's Patty Schneider, director of MCCR's Families That Work! project, to assist the company in organizing an Art Fair and a Science Fair with local schools. The company wants to provide a learning experience for children and expose TSI employees to the talent in schools. Families That Work! offers customized education programs for employees at company work sites.

American Express Meeting Held: Work-Family Task Force member Sharon Klun of American Express Financial Advisors hosted a July 24 meeting to discuss regional action planning following Vice President Gore's national Work and Family Conference. As a result, MCCR will partner with other organizations to promote awareness of Work and Family practices such as the University of Minnesota's Children, Youth and Family Consortium, the United Way's Steps to Success, the Humphrey Institute's Center on Women and Public Policy, and others.

Work-Family in S.E. Minnesota: MCCR will cosponsor a December 6 Business Conference focused on Flexible Scheduling as a Work-Family strategy with Child Care Resource and Referral, Inc. which serves 11 Southeast Minnesota counties. Both organizations want to reach small to medium sized employers with this event. If you want to learn more about this as plans shape up, call us with your name and address.

CHARACTER COUNTS!: Bob MacGregor in a speech to Bloomington Rotary urged Rotarians to start their own CHARACTER COUNTS! project for youth. The Center also provided South High School's principal, William Sommers, in Minneapolis with CHARACTER COUNTS! literature, posters and video tapes.

Update on Businesses for Social Responsibility: Bob MacGregor and David Rodbourne along with Board member Clint Larson and Executive Committee member Patti Hague met with BSR president Bob Dunn in August to learn more about BSR and its programming. The Center is exploring ways to cooperate with BSR.

Executive Management Committee: Led by Clint Larson, the Committee is closely examining the strategic challenges facing MCCR and developing alternative scenarios for the Center's future mission, programming and partnerships. One step in the process is a series of one-on-one meetings with member companies. If you would like to meet with Clint, call him at Honeywell (951-0106).

Membership Update: Overall, membership renewals are running ahead of schedule in response to our request that members renew early in the year to enable us to better plan our budget and programming. If your memberships is up for renewal the Center would appreciate prompt action, and if you have any questions about the Center and its programming, we are eager to meet with you.

Internet Web-sites Planned: The Center is planning to establish its own WEB Home Page this Autumn. MCCR's Work/Family materials are already on a site at the University of Minnesota's Children Youth and Family Consortium(http://www.cyfc.umn.edu), and MCCR will soon be listed on a Web-site of the US Department of Labor. MCCR's email address is MCCR_UST@stthomas.edu.

Center for Ethical Business Cultures

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Phone: 651 962 4120 or 800 328 6819 Ext. 2-4120 ▪ Facsimile: 651 962 4042

Email: mail@cebcglobal.org

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