美国校园枪击案推动商界反思社会责任

    塞伯勒斯资本管理公司（Cerberus Capital Management）决定出售对枪支制造商自由集团（Freedom Group）的持股只是一个开端。

    枪支和黄油之争已经持续了几十年，但对于这个问题我们本应花更多的时间思考,特别是在政府开支之外的领域。这种情况正在发生变化。2012年以来，很多注重社会责任投资的董事会以及个人和机构投资者们都越来越关注社会政策。

    悲剧事件似乎正在推动一些改变。纽敦镇枪击惨案是最新的一个例子，它再次引发了对企业社会责任的聚焦，不过今年以来这股趋势早已显现。比如，与苹果（Apple）、富士康（Foxconn）、好时（Hershey）相关的劳工问题，以及上个月沃尔玛（Wal-Mart）的供应链灾难——孟加拉国一家工厂火灾导致112名被困者遇难。

    纽敦镇代表了“我们当前的文化，”千美健康顾问集团（Trinity Health）社会责任投资总监凯西·罗万称，它包含“企业需要应对的公共健康问题，在健康的社区中经营会令企业受益。”

    过去十年，罗万曾与沃尔玛、塔吉特（Target）、Gamestop、百思买（Best Buy）、玩具反斗城（Toys 'R Us）等公司合作，帮助它们制定政策和细则。比如，在销售现场提示以免青少年购买暴力视频。她也曾和艺电（Electronic Arts）就其视频游戏营销展开合作，艺电被评定为M级（成人级——译注）的视频游戏似乎正在卖给儿童。（纽敦镇杀手显然是一个暴力游戏爱好者。）她说，通常这些游戏不仅暴力，还含有性别和种族歧视的内容。

    罗万称，移动设备引发了更多的担忧。她曾建议，如果游戏中含有“对暴力行为毫无惩罚，甚至给予奖励”的内容时，应向父母发出警示，结果遭到了业界反对。

    泛宗教企业责任中心（Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility，ICCR）的高级项目总监戴维·谢林表示，不管是在中国、孟加拉国，还是纽敦镇，ICCR的投资者成员（比如Trinity）都致力于推动人权事务。谢林对我说：“我们相信，如果企业能积极参与建设和平而公正的社会，必会惠及企业自身及其长期可持续发展。”他把Timberland作为“社会可持续发展”的正面案例，称Timberland的做法改善了孟加拉国的公共健康状况，收获的则是员工生产力的提高，同时家庭更加幸福，社区也更和谐。

    Cerberus Capital Management's decision to sell its ownership stake in gun maker Freedom Group is just the beginning.

    We've had the guns versus butter debate for decades, but not as deliberately as we should have, particularly outside the context of government spending. That's changing. Throughout 2012, boards and both individual and institutional investors who care about responsible investing are paying more attention to social policy.

    Tragedies seem to be driving some of the change. The aftermath of the Newtown shootings is the most recent example of increased scrutiny of corporations' responsibilities, but the momentum this year was already picking up. Think about the labor issues related to Apple (AAPL) and Foxconn, Hershey (HSY), and, more recently, the Wal-Mart (WMT) supply chain disaster responsible for the deaths of 112 people trapped in a Bangledesh factory fire last month.

    Newtown represents "the culture we live in," says Cathy Rowan, director of socially responsible investments at Trinity Health, encompassing "public health issues that corporations need to address because it benefits them to operate in healthy communities."

    Over the last decade, Rowan has worked with companies like Wal-Mart, Target (TGT), Gamestop (GME), Best Buy (BBY), and Toys 'R Us to establish policies and practices such as point-of-sale prompts to prevent minors from purchasing violent videos. She has also worked with Electronic Arts (EA) on its marketing of video games that are M-rated but seem to be marketed to kids. (The Newtown shooter apparently was a violent game aficionado.) Too frequently, these games are not only violent, she says, but include gender and racial de-valuation as well.

    Mobile devices, Rowan says, raise greater concerns, and Rowan says that she confronts industry resistance when she suggests that games have a warning for parents if it includes "acts of violence that are rewarded or go unpunished."

    David Schilling, senior program director at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), says ICCR investor members like Trinity are committed to working on human rights issues, whether it's in China, Bangledesh, or Newtown. "We believe it benefits companies and their long-term sustainability to be active participants in building peaceful and just communities," he told me. As a positive example of "social sustainability," he points to the work of Timberland, which he claims has promoted improved health in Bangledesh and reaped the benefits of greater worker productivity, happier families, and more harmonious communities.