Spinning Green Along the Rio Grande: Can Corporate Social Responsibility Really Pay Off?

Abstract

When a change in company leadership threatens the local environment and a real estate developer’s positive reputation for going green, a corporate social responsibility expert faces a dilemma about what green really means.

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When Clarissa Spitz checked her voicemail, she heard these words from a reporter at the Albuquerque Record.

“Hi Clarissa, this is Renee Banker at the Record, can you give me a call because I heard Allen Smythe Development is pulling funding for that bird protection project along the river. A group called ‘Sustainable Bird Council’ is claiming Smythe is being grossly negligent toward the environment. I’ll be here until 5:30 pm, and I want to make sure I include a response from you guys in my story. Thanks.”

It was just after 3 pm that day, and Clarissa knew she needed to reply to Renee before the deadline for her story on the Record’s popular Insider blog, but she was not quite sure how to respond. She had spent nearly four years working for the Allen Smythe Development Group (ASDG) as its regional corporate social responsibility officer, but a recent meeting with her new boss had resulted in some concerns. Before she could do anything, she needed to call Barney.

Barney Ruiz had just taken the helm of the southwestern real estate division of ASDG and had visited Clarissa at the company’s regional office in Bernalillo County a few weeks earlier to say hello to her and get some updates on how the development approvals were going for the company’s real estate venture along the shores of the Rio Grande River. ASDG was developing an upscale gated residential community called Avia Verde.