Ideas

At the heart of today's most credible and respected social reporting is objective documentation and organizational transparency. Allen White, co-founder of the Global Reporting Initiative, and Jonathan Levine recently addressed these issues with the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship ( ">write for a transcript). They will reprise their discussion at BC's annual conference in Orlando on Mar. 27.

A recent study from the World Economic Forum lays out four compelling methods for the private sector to apply core competencies to international development—and benefit business at the same time. The report highlights examples of companies working in hunger, malaria and basic education, but these partnership principles transcend the specific ills. An important read.

What are the positive and negative impacts of a company on poverty? And how can the answers help identify poverty-reduction strategies for the business? That was the goal of Unilever in Indonesia in a recently released research project. This thumb-sucker offers a comprehensive view of Unilever's effect on everything from the country's macroeconomics and suppliers to poor consumers and street vendors hawking ice cream. Unilever's partner in the research, Oxfam GB, helps to keep the methodology honest and the analysis balanced.