The Market for Virtue, Book Review Example

Shell: Brent Spar oil platform

The fact that the Greenpeace initiatives in response to the sinking of oil platforms by Shell had no scientific grounding presents a greater challenge to environmental activists.  The underlying issue is whether their efforts are actually better for the environment. While the argument seems to be based on the idea that the studies carried out by Shell were biased in favor of their own profit, the more environmentally friendly course of action seems to be how they were originally planning on rectifying the issue.  In this way, It seems that Shell would have done better for themselves and the environment if they had stuck to their original plan instead of caving to the pressures of Greenpeace.

Forestry Practices

In response to pressure from activist groups, Home Depot set its standards to a higher degree in regards to the importation of wood products from sustainably viable sources.  After the efforts with Home Depot, it seems that many firms then followed, cutting their importation of wood from these sources. However, the reaction by Home Depot seems to have been to do the amount that the campaigners were striving for, and no more. The efforts by Staples, though taken later than Home Depot, seem to have upped the stakes in this effort.  Rather than simply doing the minimum that is being asked, they seem to have taken the initiative in becoming a more sustainable company overall.  In this way, it seems that Staples is the company that is actually practicing CSR.

Voluntary Standards

The differences in the amount of pressure that a company faces in regards to their commitment to CSR establish the basis for the success of their efforts.  In establishing higher carbon control standards, IBM was able to commit to better environmental practices as a fundamental commitment to CSR. In this way, the company was able to not only commit to these standards in satisfying the NGOs that were pressuring them, but they were actually also able to make a profit from the development of these standards.