The Decisions Project: What's a CEO to do?
The Decisions Project: What’s a CEO to do?
One of the core dedicated research projects of the Lee-Chin Institute is to apply and test our models and tools in real corporate environments and create further practical resources for business leaders based on real experience.
The What’s a CEO to do? Toolkit is a real-world guide that helps business leaders understand and prioritize key social and environmental issues and identify opportunities as well as potential risks.
The Toolkit, authored by Rod Lohin and Alison Kemper, expands on the work of Rotman Dean Roger Martin, who in 2002 penned the seminal “The Virtue Matrix” for the Harvard Business Review.
The Toolkit links Martin’s theoretical framework with a real-life case. In 2005-07, members of the the Lee-Chin Institute worked closely with RBC Financial Group, Canada’s largest company, to develop a corporate responsibility strategy. During this process, we applied existing tools and developed new ones which have been incorporated into the Toolkit.
Shari Austin, RBC’s Vice President and Head, Corporate Citizenship, and Executive Director, RBC Foundation, says: “Creating a corporate citizenship strategy is not an easy task, but it is a critical one for companies wanting to establish themselves or improve their performance and reputation in this area. This toolkit outlines some of RBC's experiences on this journey, and we hope that it will inspire and help others to find their own way.”
As well, we have taken the unusual step of e-publishing the Toolkit with a Creative Commons license so that it can be used in boardrooms and classrooms with appropriate attribution. As Alison Kemper says, “we want users to adapt and apply the Toolkit in their own contexts. We would be delighted to hear from users to incorporate their experiences and help us produce the next generation of the toolkit.”
To download the Toolkit, click here.