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Article

10 Mar 2010

Author:
William Anderson, Head of Social & Environmental Affairs, Asia Pacific, adidas Group

Letter to the Editor of CSR Asia

I read your…article on Media misreporting and Apple’s CSR and would like to offer a comment. .. Firstly, hats off to Apple for a very transparent and readable report...For those of us in major brands who…have had to deal with the media, it comes as no surprise that bad news sells papers…Efforts by companies to manage the complexities of workplace conditions which are impacted by…thread-bare industrial relations… and a host of other factors is often left at the door when an emotional touchstone is available for a headline about “child labour”. However, your stated concern that the apple story will reinforce the conservatism of many Asian companies who are “cautious about being transparent…” perhaps misstates the risk…I am therefore hopeful that the Asian companies that subscribe to your newsletter see that the merit of transparency far outweighs the risks of media exposure… it lifts their standing, rather than diminishes it.