Report to Members & Friends
October 1997
Welcome New Board Members: At its October 2 meeting, MCCR’s board of directors added two new directors: Esperanza Guerrero-Anderson, president and CEO of the venture capital firm Milestone Growth Fund Inc., and Judy Corson, partner and co-founder of the marketing and customer research firm Custom Research Inc. Both bring extensive business experience and strong commitment to corporate responsibility to the governance of the Center.
Honeywell Ethics Strategy: Forty-five business executives turned out October 8 for the kick-off of MCCR’s Business Ethics Management Series featuring presentations by Honeywell’s Lisa Dercks and John Kaminsky. Dercks, the company’s ethics officer, described a wide range of ethics related policies and strategies adopted by Honeywell. Kaminsky provided an overview of what is called the Preventive Law program. Both cited working across different cultures in Asian markets as a key challenge for the future.
Program Alert ! ! !
Coming Up November 7: MCCR’s Business Ethics Management Series continues on November 7 when Bruce Johnson, assistant general counsel for Medtronic, will speak on Medtronic’s Approach to Ethics and Doing Business Worldwide. Johnson will discuss both the broad corporate policies and specific geographic and cultural applications. Time and place: Noon - 1:30 p.m. at the Minneapolis Club on Friday, November 7. Space is limited. To register, call MCCR at 962-4120.
MCCR Ethics and Integrity Services: The Center is poised to launch a new consulting service for businesses looking for assistance in developing codes of conduct, assessing ethics related risks, and devising effective ethics management systems. This confidential MCCR service will be offered through a special arrangement that MCCR has developed with Jon Pekel and The Fulcrum Group. Companies are welcome to contact David Rodbourne at MCCR for additional information.
SMART Conference Report: MCCR co-sponsored SMART or Stimulating Minds At the Right Time, a conference designed and organized by member company HealthPartners on brain development in early childhood. George Halvorson, HealthPartners CEO and an MCCR Booard member addressed an overflow crowd of 500 attending the conference. Copies of Halvorson’s MCCR Executive Summary on brain development can be obtained by calling MCCR. MCCR’s David Rodbourne facilitated a panel of Work/Life professionals on the role of business in child development. Panelists included: Susan Seitel, president of Work and Family Connection, Tyler Phillips, president of The Partnership Group, a division of Ceridian’s Performance Partners, Sharon Klun, work-life coordinator for American Express Financial Services, and Kim Werner, work and home life assistant for Medtronic. Seitel, Klun and Werner are all involved in MCCR’s Work«Life Network.
Work/Life Update: Members of The Work«Life Network were invited to hear Ellen Galinsky speak on child care policy and issues. Ms. Galinsky spoke at Resources for Child Caring’s 25th Anniversary celebration. She is founder of the nationally recognized Families and Work Institute. In a discussion group after her address, Ms. Galinsky discussed the role of business in developing effective work/life policies and the challenges of financing quality child care. While she recognized Minnesota’s past leadership in child care, she worries that the state has backed away from its commitment to accessible and affordable child care. She cited Colorado and Florida as leaders in tackling financing issues.
Qualified Employees Available ! ! !
OUR OWN Hardware Company, Burnsville, has merged with H.W.I. of Fort Wayne. The Burnsville location will be closing between January 1 and June 30, 1998. The company’s 120 employees are seeking work to replace their current jobs. Skills range from clerical to managerial. If you would like your current job openings posted at the OUR OWN Hardware offices, please call 890-2700 and talk with Susan Jackson. MCCR member companies are asked to help facilitate this transition.
Families That Work!: Companies looking for job-site education programs on families and parenting issues can contact Families That Work! (FTW) director Patti Schneider at MCCR. FTW has added new workshops on Attention Deficit Disorder and on Multiple Intelligence to a catalogue that includes Care Givers Roundtable, Understanding Teens, and Parenting in Step Families. Patti will be working this Fall with TSI, Inc. to develop a school-business partnership.
Executive Summaries Available: Recent Executive Summary essays published: Charity and Challenges by Livio Desimone, chairman and CEO of 3M; Hockey & Baseball – Or Education? by Richard W. Schoenke, president and CEO of Firstar Bank of Minnesota; Diversity Strategy at General Mills by Stephen W. Sanger, chairman and CEO of General Mills; and What’s Going on in a Baby’s Brain & What Can We Do About It? by George C. Halvorson, president and CEO of HealthPartners.
Speeches in Publication: The full text of Steve Sanger’s speech on Diversity Strategy at General Mills was published in September. Also available are: Dominic Tarantino’s 1997 Annual Meeting keynote speech on Taming the Global Frontier (on global business ethics), Michael Bonsignore’s speech on Minnesota HEALS: Hope, Education And Law & Safety, and Robert Kuttner’s 1996 keynote address on The Battle Over Corporate Responsibility. Coming soon: an excellent and insightful speech on Work/Life titled On Balance: Not A Women’s Issue Anymore by Amy Gage, a reporter and business columnist for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press.
Co-Sponsored Events Coming Up: Telecommute America!, the national awareness campaign, will feature video conferences at 9 Twin Cities locations on October 21. Sharing the Soul, a conference featuring Harrison Owen, the inventor of the "open space" meeting concept, will convene at the College of St. Catherine on November 9 and 10. Workshops on Sustainable Development are being co-designed by MCCR and the Upper Midwest Chapter of Business for Social Responsibility for January 8 featuring William McDonough, dean of the University of Virginia School of Architecture and an internationally respected visionary and designer of environmentally sustainable facilities and processes.
Jewelers of America Assistance: MCCR program director David Rodbourne and board member Dr. Kenneth Goodpaster, who holds the Koch Chair in Business Ethics at the University of St. Thomas, provided advice and assistance to Eric Phillips owner of Karats, a Twin Cities jewelry retailer in Ridgedale. Mr. Phillips sought our advice on the revision of the Jewelers of America Code of Ethics. The code, which was adopted in 1922, has been under review during the past year.
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 are on-line in several languages.
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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