What You Can Do

If you’ve read my “Solutions” page, you probably have an idea of some of the major proposals for ending the abuse of corporate power and increasing CSR.  But many of these suggestions require a significant change to or even a radical overhaul of a strongly ingrained mentality.  It’s understandable if you’re feeling a little bit overwhelmed.  If you want to take action but don’t know where to start, this is the page for you!  Below, I have a list of smaller, more manageable suggestions.  These are ideas that you can incorporate into your everyday life without too much of a hassle.  As I do more research, I plan to update this page with newer and better ideas.  Check them out!

What to do if you are a:

Consumer

• Engage in dollar voting
• Educate yourself about the behaviors of corporations — this blog and the links on it are a great place to start!

Activist

• Assert the right of the people to abolish harmful corporations — this right still exists in all state constitutions as the right to revoke corporate charters.
• Get involved in grassroots organizations — awareness is the key to the corporate problem.  Unless people take a stand and demand back their rights, corporations will continue to behave in the same ways.

Businessperson (Management/CEO)

• Award generous stock options or ESOPs to empower employees

Investor

• Become a social investor — seek out socially responsible mutual funds or money management companies and invest in them.
• Lobby the SEC to make shareholder resolutions binding — shareholder resolutions (proposals submitted to by shareholders for a vote at company meetings) must be approved by the managements, which often opposes them.  This leaves shareholders with very little power over the corporations in which they invest.
• Lobby the SEC for greater social disclosure

Business Student

• Challenge the biases you see present in your education — challenge the idea of maximizing shareholder value and provoke debates about topics like stakeholder law and ownership of human capital

Employee

• Run for a position on the board of directors — although could quite possibly result in termination of the employee (so perhaps select a coworker who was planning to quit in the near future), it would make a bold statement about the self-governance rights of employees.
• Stage protests for equal representation at stockholder meetings
• Start an awareness group — Educate yourself and your co-workers about your rights as employees.
• Convince unions to campaign for public wage data — this would give employees more of leverage and also provide them with crucial information in their search for ethical employers.

Many of the ideas I’ve listed are explored in greater detail in The Divine Right of Capital (more information on “Resources” page), so pick up a copy if you want to learn more!