bizEthics - Organizations/Publications

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Organizations/Publications

Business in the Community

http://www.bitc.org.uk/index.html

Headquartered in the UK, Business in the Community "is a unique movement of 700 member companies committed to continually improving their positive impact on society. We are an independent charity with 20 years experience of achieving our charitable purpose to create a public benefit by working with companies to improve the positive impact of business in society."

CBSR - Canadian Business for Social Responsibility

http://www.cbsr.ca/

"CBSR is a non-profit membership network of innovative companies working to improve their social, environmental and financial performance."

Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators

http://www.calvert-henderson.com/

The Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators examine our social, economic and environmental condition. They provide a "contribution to the worldwide effort to develop comprehensive statistics of national well-being that go beyond traditional macroeconomic indicators." Areas included in the study consist of education, employment, energy, environment, health, human rights, income, infrastructure, national security, public safety, re-creation and shelter.

Capital Ownership Group

http://cog.kent.edu/index.html

"The Capital Ownership Group (COG), a non-profit network of professionals, business, labor and government leaders and staff, academics and activists on six continents, works to broaden ownership to deal with the negative effects of globalization."

Center for Public Integrity

Investigative Journalism in the Public Interest

http://www.public-i.org

Interested in issues of ethics and politics? (They do go together, by the way.) Founded in 1989, The Center for Public Integrity "is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization that conducts investigative research and reporting on public policy issues in the United States and around the world."
"Through thoughtful and objective analyses, the Center hopes to serve as an honest broker of information – and to inspire a better-informed citizenry to demand a higher level of accountability from its government and elected leaders."

CERES - Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies
http://www.ceres.org/

CERES is a "U.S. coalition of environmental, investor, and advocacy groups working together for a sustainable future. Companies have committed to continuous environmental improvement by endorsing the CERES Principles, a ten-point code of environmental conduct."

Citizen Works

http://www.citizenworks.org/

Northeast Ohio Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council

http://www.clevelandgbc.org/

Council of Ethics-Based Organizations Associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations

http://cebo.org/index.html

This site contains links to U.N. documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention on the rights of the child. Links are also provided to member organizations. In addition to sections on Human Rights, Sustainable Development, and Peace & Conflict, there is a section on Corporate Ethics, covering "Ethics in corporations and government: accountability, fiscal transparency, greenwashing, bluewashing, best practices and abuses."

Ecological Footprint - How Big is Yours?

http://www.redefiningprogress.org/programs/sustainabilityindicators/ef/

This is a joint project of the Earth Day Network and Redefining Progress (listed below). The Ecological Footprint page includes a link to a quick test of your consumption of the world's resources. In addition, there is an Excel spreadsheet available for downloading that helps you to measure your consumption, recycling and energy use.

Entrepreneurs for Sustainability
http://www.e4s.org/

Entrepreneurs for Sustainability is an organization whose mission is to support a community of entrepreneurs who will implement sustainability principles in their new or existing businesses and encourage new ventures, which will capitalize on emerging opportunities in a sustainable economy in Northeastern Ohio. This group meets every month in Cleveland, and meeting information is available at their website.

Environmental Integrity Project

http://www.environmentalintegrity.org

The Environmental Integrity Project "is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to more effective enforcement of existing federal and state environmental laws and to the prevention of political interference with those laws. EIP's research and reports sheds light on how enforcement and rulemaking affect the public health. EIP also works closely with local communities seeking the enforcement of environmental laws."

Environmental Justice Center

http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/

Located at Clark Atlanta University, the Center "was formed in 1994 to serve as a research, policy, and information clearinghouse on issues related to environmental justice, race and the environment, civil rights, facility siting, land use planning, brownfields, transportation equity, suburban sprawl, and Smart Growth. The overall goal of the center is to assist, support, train, and educate people of color students, professionals, and grassroots community leaders with the goal of facilitating their inclusion into the mainstream of environmental decision-making. The center is multi-disciplinary in its focus and approach. It serves as a bridge among the social and behavioral sciences, natural and physical sciences, engineering, management, and legal disciplines to solve environmental problems."

Ethical Corporation Online

http://www.ethicalcorp.com/

News, Analysis and Events in Global Corporate Citizenship

Ethics and Compliance Officer Association
http://www.theecoa.org

Ethics Training Compendium

http://www.aspaonline.org/ethicscommunity/compendium/ete.html

"The Ethics Section of the American Society for Public Administration developed this comprehensive Ethics Training Compendium in furtherance of our mission to advance ethics in public administration. This collection of ethics training resources - materials, books, articles, and websites - provides information and knowledge in ethics." This site has 3 main sections: Ethics Directory, Applied Ethics and Ethics Theory

Fair Labor Association

http://www.fairlabor.org/

"The Fair Labor Association is a non-profit organization combining the efforts of industry, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), colleges and universities to promote adherence to international labor standards and improve working conditions worldwide."

Institute for Innovation in Social Policy

http://iisp.vassar.edu/

The Institute, publishers of the Index of Social Health, "devotes its full capacity to the analysis and publication of social indicators. Established in 1986 at Fordham and now at Vassar, the Institute has worked on social indicators at the international, national, state, and community levels as a way to improve the reporting and understanding of social conditions. The Institute’s work has had significant impact on public policy, public education, and the academic community."

Friends of the Earth:

Introduction to the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare

http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/sustainable_development/progress/index.html

Believing that "the main 'indicator' used to measure progress (called Gross Domestic Product or GDP), is inadequate," this site looks at an alternative measurement, the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW).

Global Witness
http://www.globalwitness.org/
Global Witness "campaigns to achieve real change by challenging established thinking on seemingly intractable global issues. We work to highlight the link between the exploitation of natural resources and human rights abuses, particularly where the resources such as timber, diamonds and oil are used to fund and perpetuate conflict and corruption."

GreenMoney Journal Online Guide

http://www.greenmoney.com/

Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility

http://www.iccr.org/

Institute for Global Ethics - Camden, Maine

http://www.globalethics.org/

Integrity in Science Database - Scientists and Non-Profits Ties to Industry

http://cspinet.org/integrity/

This website, a project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, provides information about funding of academic, scientific and public policy organizations by industry. This searchable database allows for an assessment of the level of objectivity that might be expected from the organizations, given their funding sources.

International Business Ethics Institute (IBEI)

http://www.business-ethics.org/

Natural Capital Institute

http://www.natcap.org

The Natural Step

http://www.naturalstep.org/

Net Impact

http://www.netimpact.org/

POCLAD - Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy

http://www.poclad.org/

Policy Matters Ohio

http://www.policymattersohio.org

Policy Matters Ohio is a "non-profit policy research organization founded in January 2000 to broaden the debate about economic policy in Ohio." Many of the group's publications - covering such areas as Work and Wages, Economic Development, Budget and Tax Policy, and Corrections - are available on their website. In addition, Policy Matters Ohio sponsors events related to these issues, and makes presentations to various groups around the state of Ohio.

Redefining Progress
http://www.rprogress.org
This organization has promoted the idea of a GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator) instead of GDP. "The general public, policymakers, and media traditionally rely on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as their primary scorecard of the nation's well-being. While the GDP has many useful functions, Redefining progress has argued since 1994 that it is a poor tool for evaluating the United States' economic health."

Responsible Wealth
http://www.responsiblewealth.org

Responsible Wealth is a "national network of businesspeople, investors and affluent Americans who are concerned about deepening economic inequality and are working for widespread prosperity. Our three primary areas of work are tax fairness, corporate responsibility and living wages."

Rocky Mountain Institute

http://www.rmi.org/

Small is Profitable

http://smallisprofitable.org

Social Accountability International

http://www.sa-intl.org

Social Venture Network

http://www.svn.org/

The Society for Business Ethics

http://www.societyforbusinessethics.org/

SustainableBusiness.com - Business, Environment, Clean & Green Technologies

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/

UK Business & Biodiversity Resource Centre

http://www.businessandbiodiversity.org/

A project of the Earthwatch Institute in the UK, the BBRC addresses the role of business in biodiversity conservation. The site has information about the impact of business on the environment, and has suggestions for creating an action plan. There is a summary of UK legislation related to these issues, with links to the full text of Acts and regulations.

UK Department for Business Innovation & Skills - CSR Site

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/sectors/lowcarbon/cr-sd-wp/page50437.html

Did you know that the UK has a Minister for Corporate Social Responsibility? This site, providing the mission and priorities of the department also links you to the UK government's Report on Corporate Social Responsibility as well as the EU Green Paper on CSR. Government and business resources are also listed.

World Resources Institute

http://www.wri.org/wri/