The Business Ethics Blog

Holy cow!

McDonalds (yes, the restaurant chain) now has its own blog on Corporate Social Responsibility. Yes, a corporation with its own blog dedicated entirely to CSR. From the looks of it, this is brand new, so too soon to tell whether this will be something other than window-dressing, what sorts of issues they’ll deal with, etc.
But on the “about this blog” page, Bob Langert, Senior Director for Corporate Social Responsibility at McDonald’s, writes:

We want to open our doors to corporate social responsibility (CSR) at McDonald’s–to share what we’re doing and learn what you think. That’s the purpose of this blog.
I see a lot of what goes on behind the scenes. I have always wished others could see what I see. Now you can.
I want to use this blog to introduce you to some of the people, programs, and projects that make corporate social responsibility a reality at McDonald’s–to take you along with me as I engage with some of our internal and external stakeholders in various parts of the world and to highlight our accomplishments, as well as the challenges we continue to face.
We want to hear from you because we are always learning and trying to improve. And you can’t learn–or improve–without listening. We live in a constantly changing world where the issues are complex and solutions anything but simple. With such complex issues, we may not always agree on the root causes or best solutions, but we can have a conversation.
CSR is multi-dimensional. At McDonald’s, we break it down into five key areas: balanced active lifestyles, responsible purchasing, people, environment, and community. We’ll be talking about all these areas. I’m very passionate about them all. We know you care about them too and welcome the opportunity to hear your perspective.

And yes, believe it or not, the McDonald’s CSR blog actually does invited your comments.