A Quantum Leap: Helping Humanity and Creating Business Value through “Corporate Social Opportunity”

February 25th, 2010

The National Labor Committee describes the problem of global sweatshops, stating: “Transnational corporations now roam the world to find the cheapest and most vulnerable workers…they’re mostly young women in poor countries like China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Haiti, and many others working up to 14 or more hours a day for sub-poverty wages under horrific conditions.” According to the group Sweatshop Watch: A sweatshop is a workplace that violates the law and where workers are subject to: (1) extreme exploitation, including the absence of a living wage or long hours; (2) poor working conditions, such as health and safety hazards; (3) arbitrary discipline, such as verbal or physical abuse, or (4) fear and intimidation when they speak out, organize, or attempt to form a union.

It is interesting to consider the continued proliferation of sweatshops within the growing movement of “Corporate Social Opportunity,” described by Will Marre, CEO of Realeadership Alliance. Marre hypothesizes that the business world is engaged in making a “quantum leap” in creating strategic business value for companies who see that helping humanity and healing the environment are far bigger opportunities than stopping bad practices or polishing a corporate reputation. Marre explains, “Reinventing the world to be sustainably abundant is the greatest economic opportunity in history…The possibilities are indeed endless for those who move beyond business-as-usual and embrace the challenge of changing our future.”

Marre’s hypothesis is a good one, and at least some of the business world seems to be moving in the right direction. However, ensuring that business practices are truly sustainable and fair to workers requires a legal framework, even if these frameworks are on the international or voluntary level, at least in the beginning. As the FTC Greenwashing decision has demonstrated, a lack of regulation inherently leads to corporate abuse that is confusing to consumers is ultimately impedes lasting social progress. For the labor movement, an important step would be strengthening the labor standards in future US Free Trade Agreements or building stronger voluntary industry initiatives complete with monitoring bodies that are transparent and independent from industry influence.

As lawyers, we concede that the government is slow and often completely absent from discussion of international industry regulation. For Marre’s hypothesis to truly come to fruition, the “quantum leap” is not toward strategizing business value in sustainability (let’s be honest, corporations have always “innovated” when linked to profit) but in pushing businesses to accept independent oversight of their activities. Although governmental oversight would be ideal, transparent mechanisms (including industry-led) are an essential component to ensure that the movement of “Corporate Social Opportunity,” creates real, lasting and meaningful change.