One of the newest members of the Faculty of Business Administration, Natalie Slawinski, had an essay published in the National Post today. The essay, seven ways to manage CSR ratings, is a collaboration with Pratima Bansal and Cara Maurer, both of the Ivey School of Business.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to the impact of an organization on the greater society, based on categories such as their environmental impact and their human rights record. External agencies rate organizations on their CSR records and these ratings have an impact on the perceptions of both internal stakeholders, such as employees, and external stakeholders, such as investors.

The essay suggests that organizations proactively manage their CSR ratings by following seven best practices. Understanding the rankings, learning from similar organizations and being specific and transparent are a few steps that organizations can take to improve their CSR rating.

Professor Slawinski believes that organizations can better manage their CSR ratings and use the resulting learnings to improve their operations. “CSR cannot be merely a public relations activity; it needs to be a strategic priority that weaves throughout the entire organization,” she explained. “ Only then can you mitigate the risks and see new opportunities.”

To find out more, read seven ways to manage CSR ratings online at the National Post.

Seven ways to manage CSR ratings is based on a longer article published in the Ivey Business Journal in Jan/Feb 2008. Professor Slawinski is currently completing her PhD at the Ivey School of Business  and joined Memorial’s Faculty of Business in July 2009.