Origin Strategy Director Shawn Collier writes about shareholder activism and Corporate and Social Responsibility efforts in the recent Public Companies Report of the Houston Business Journal.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives are activities a corporation undertakes to support causes, business practices, communities and philanthropic efforts that play a positive, accountable role in society. CSR aligns business value and social value to improve financial, social and environmental performance; what’s becoming known as the “triple bottom line.”

In many countries CSR reporting is mandatory, and the U.S. may follow suit as issues of corporate transparency, accountability and stability grab headlines and rock markets.

“The majority of Origin’s clients are public companies,” says Collier. “We want to keep the issue of CSR reporting top of mind so that it’s more easily manageable for them.”

Read Shawn’s article online here:

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2007/07/16/focus12.html

And the accompanying list of shareholder questions companies should prepare to answer:

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2007/07/16/focus13.html