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<i>Business Ethics</i> Magazine Merges into The CRO - Launches New Membership Organization
<i>Business Ethics</i> Magazine Merges into The CRO - Launches New Membership Organization
Published 07-27-06
Submitted by Business Ethics
New York - Reflecting the mainstreaming of the corporate responsibility movement, Business Ethics Magazine announced today that it is merging into The CRO, a new corporate membership organization for Corporate Responsibility Officers.
The move will be effective with Business Ethics' Fall 2006 issue, said the magazine's Publisher and Executive Editor, Michael Connor. "Business Ethics has been providing cutting-edge analysis of corporate responsibility for almost 20 years," said Connor. "This evolution mirrors the explosive growth of corporate responsibility practices and reflects our determination to continue at the center of the movement."
Connor will be Publisher and Editor of CRO Magazine and Chairman of its conference series. He'll be joined by Jay Whitehead, a veteran of the magazine and conferencing businesses, who serves as CEO of the new venture.
The CRO (www.TheCRO.com) will serve as the premier membership association for corporations' newest leadership role - the Corporate Responsibility Officer, or CRO. Its mission is to provide its members media--magazines, conferences and online properties--to more rapidly professionalize the new CRO function by providing success stories, information and analysis on best practices, navigational tools and critical relationships. Members of The CRO serve corporations in addressing the needs of major stakeholder groups, including shareholders, employees, customers and community.
Today, Corporate Responsibility Officer is a job function filled by those holding a range of titles - including COO, Vice Chair, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Ethics Officer, General Counsel, CFO, Treasurer, and EVP of Human Resources or Investor Relations. Oftentimes the CRO is a Vice President or Director of Corporate Social Responsibility. In many companies, the corporate responsibility function is divided among several executives - each of them a CRO.
The CRO publishes CRO Magazine, TheCRO.com and regular email newsletters. The CRO will incorporate the content of Business Ethics Magazine and its web site (
Membership in The CRO - which is open to leaders in corporations and professional service providers, as well as government and NGOs - includes subscriptions to CRO Magazine, attendance at conferences and access to online services.
The CRO will launch its conference series with a major one-day summit in New York City on November 1, 2006 at the New York Marriott Financial Center. Registration and program details are available at www.CROConference.com.
Additionally, the first-ever CRO Resource Guide - a definitive annual listing of service providers in the industry - will be published online and in the debut edition of CRO Magazine this Fall.
According to CEO Jay Whitehead, the market of services to support the new CRO function totaled more than $20 billion in North America in 2005. "With CROs and their finance departments now spending $10 billion on Sarbanes Oxley compliance alone, plus another $10 billion on business process outsourcing and consultants, there is a crying need for a meeting place and media to bridge the information gap between buyers and sellers. The CRO is the media and meeting center of this new universe," said Whitehead.
The 11 service categories in this new "CRO Market" include: corporate ethics, compliance management, corporate environmental sustainability, financial reporting and risk management, legal advice and lobbying, corporate communications and public relations, investor relations, government relations, socially responsible investing, workforce diversity, business protection and security.
About The CRO
Founded in 2006, The CRO (
About Business Ethics
Founded in 1987, Business Ethics magazine (Business-Ethics.com) has been the only US-based business magazine focusing on ethics and corporate social responsibility in a media landscape otherwise dominated by traditional business publications. The magazine has been published four times a year with a total distribution to approximately 10,000 readers.
About Michael Connor
Michael Connor is an award-winning executive with more than three decades of experience reporting news and developing new media ventures. Connor purchased Business Ethics in November 2004 and has since served as Publisher and Executive Editor. He also hosts a weekly one-hour radio program, Good Company, on Lime/Sirius Satellite Radio. Connor began his career as a journalist, first as a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal, and later as a Correspondent and Senior Producer for ABC News. He also held executive positions at Dow Jones & Co., where he led global development of the company's TV and multimedia operations.
About Jay Whitehead
Jay Whitehead has been founder or senior business leader of 26 business publications, including among others PC Magazine, CRN, UPSIDE, Research, San Francisco Daily Journal, California Republic, HRO Today, HRO Europe, FAO Today and now CRO Magazine. He has also founded and run several industry-leading conference businesses, including HRO World and HRO World Europe (acquired by LRP Publications in January 2006) and FAO World, and co-founded the HRO industry association, HROAssociation.org.
