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New Guide by CSR Innovator Kellie McElhaney Shows Companies How to Build Better Brands

New Guide by CSR Innovator Kellie McElhaney Shows Companies How to Build Better Brands

Published 10-30-08

Submitted by Berrett-Koehler Publishers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. "“ October 30, 2008 - If you doubt the impact that CSR strategy can have on a business's bottom line, look no further than one of its least likely champions - Wal-Mart. After receiving employer-provided training on sustainability, one low-ranking employee suggested removing the light bulbs from store vending machines would prevent wasting energy while also saving the company money. As it turned out, this employee was right on the money. When headquarters crunched the numbers, they found that removing the light bulbs from all of their in-store vending machines would save the corporation $1 million a year.

Despite CSR's hard-earned ascendance into mainstream business practice, few companies do it well, and even fewer know how to effectively communicate their CSR strategy and initiatives to their stakeholders-customers, shareholders, suppliers, and employees. These companies are missing significant opportunities for reputation, branding, talent management, and profits.

Enter Kellie McElhaney and her new book Just Good Business: The Strategic Guide to Aligning Corporate Responsibility and Brand, published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. One of the most respected experts on CSR practices, McElhaney, the founder of the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business, shows business leaders how to develop the right CSR initiatives - ones that accentuate a company's overall brand-while also offering practical business tools to ensure that those activities are effectively communicated and branded internally and externally.

McElhaney draws on over ten years of consulting experience inside companies grappling with developing strategically aligned CSR initiatives. The book's case studies, examples, best practices, and strategic recommendations span a host of industries and sectors and draw upon her work with leading corporations, such as McDonald's, Nokia, Levi Strauss, Digicel, Birkenstock, Gap Inc, HP, and Pepperidge Farm.

Savvy companies carefully manage their brand in every area. CSR shouldn't be any different. Just Good Business offers a detailed blueprint that any company can use to ensure its CSR strategy delivers significant, quantifiable, bottom-line benefits.

Advanced praise for Just Good Business:

"Kellie McElhaney is THE leading expert and advocate for CSR. There's simply no one better. We've benefited enormously from her counsel and collaboration. I strongly recommend Just Good Business to business leaders who want to make CSR an integral part of their overall brand strategy." - Gary Elliott, Vice President, Corporate and Brand Marketing, Hewlett-Packard

"Kellie McElhaney's book offers a practical and visionary approach to corporate social responsibility in business. This book will be invaluable to business leaders everywhere on how to approach and communicate the benefits of CSR in business strategy." - Enda Kelley, Partner, Ernst & Young

"For organizations looking to propel their current corporate social responsibility efforts, McElhaney's practical and inspiring book Just Good Business is a must read. Kellie has helped us at McDonald's to better understand and evolve our thinking around this important subject. This book provides a meaningful roadmap for those who also want to achieve new levels of strategic CSR." - Bridget Coffing, Vice President, Corporate Communications, McDonald's Corporation





About the author:

Kellie A. McElhaney is the John C. Whitehead Faculty Fellow in Corporate Responsibility and founder and Faculty Director of the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. She developed and launched the center in January 2003. She consults many Fortune 500 companies and was named a 2005 Faculty Pioneer for Institutional Leadership in the Aspen Institute's biennial report Beyond Grey Pinstripes.

For more information and to purchase Just Good Business: The Strategic Guide to Aligning Corporate Responsibility and Brand visit:

Berrett-Koelher Publishers
http://www.bkconnection.com/ProdDetails.asp?ID=9781576754412

Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Just-Good-Business-Strategic-Responsibility/dp/1576754413/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224617986&sr=8-1
.

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Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Berrett-Koehler Publishers is a mission-based, independent publishing company located in Oakland, CA. Berrett-Koehler’s (BK) mission is - Connecting People and Ideas to Create a World that Works for All. BK publishes books in the areas of sustainable business, corporate social responsbility, leadership, social justice, politics, economics, and personal development. BK is both a B-Corp and a Benefit Corporation.

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