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Corporate social responsibility has gone mainstream. From goliaths Apple (AAPL), Walmart (WMT), and Procter & Gamble (PG) on down the line, you'd be hard-pressed to find a big company these days that doesn't have a program in place to address environmental issues and other socially minded matters. You'd be equally hard-pressed to find a major corporation that doesn't go out of its way to tout these programs to you. But today, corporate social responsibility is about more than just good PR -- it's also about good business and taking care of customers.
Virtuous Cycles
You've heard of vicious cycles, in which one negative action or event leads to another, and another, all of which feeds back into the first problem to make it more severe, pushing the cycle forward along a progressively worse course. What's happening with corporate social responsibility is just the opposite.
In this virtuous cycle, as consumers are becoming more environmentally and socially conscious they expect the goods and services they use to measure up, and therefore seek out the products and services that deliver. As consumer demand for these products and services increases, more and more companies are obliged to provide them to stay competitive. As more and more companies provide these products and services, consumers come more and more to expect them and consequently demand them more and more -- and so on and so forth.
Different companies approach their parts in the virtuous cycle from different angles. Costco (COST) is known for taking care of its employees. It pays them well, better than industry peers. As such, Costco employees have a reputation for being friendly, motivated, and knowledgeable -- thus making your shopping experience better and compelling you to return there the next time you need to go shopping.
Whole Foods (WFM) is another socially conscious enterprise success story: It's built around the idea of providing nothing but organically sourced foods and environmentally friendly products in a hip atmosphere that begs you to linger. Sure, you always pay more for any organic or environmentally friendly product, and you're definitely paying for the Whole Foods' luxury shopping experience, but you know in the end you're getting the cleanest, safest, healthiest foods and products money can buy.
Amazon.com (AMZN) takes the idea of making your customer experience better to a whole new level. Have you ever bought something -- a toy, for example -- and wrestled the item half to death trying to free it from its packaging? Amazon has adopted the practice of shipping such items in what it calls "frustration-free packaging." You get the same product, but freed from the screws, zip ties, and clamshell packaging that would come along if you bought it in a brick-and-mortar retail shop.
Making Money, Making Your Life Better, and Making a Difference
People are becoming more and more socially conscious, and we want the goods and services we use to measure up. In truth, it doesn't take much. A simple action that costs a company little or nothing can make a real difference in the experience of its customers.
Now, if you want to play the cynic and believe that companies don't really care about the positive effects these programs have on consumers, the community, or the planet, that's OK. It doesn't really matter why companies pursue them, as long as they do pursue them. Corporate social responsibility is a trend we can all get behind.
Motley Fool contributor John Grgurich owns no shares of any of the companies mentioned in this column. The Motley Fool owns shares of Whole Foods, Amazon.com, Apple, and Costco. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Amazon.com, Whole Foods, Apple, Costco, and Procter & Gamble, as well as creating a bull call spread position in Apple and a diagonal call position in Walmart.
Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/30/corporate-social-responsibility-good-for-business-good-for/
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It's possible that you will know less about how a guided missile works after listening to this actual recording from the U.S. Air Force (via Keith Rowland's My Life Dock):
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The federal government is reporting that gross domestic product, or GDP, grew at a 2.2% rate in the first three months of 2012. Following the announcement of the actual number, the next thing you probably heard or read is how disappointed everyone is. Here's a primer on exactly what the GDP growth rate is, why the world stops when the number is announced, and why 2.2% is nothing to be disappointed about.
The Invention of GDP
Economists "invented" GDP in 1934, and it became the primary tool for measuring the country's economy in 1944. The idea is to try to get to a single, pure number that can be compared against the previous number to calculate the GDP growth rate.
GDP itself is a relatively straightforward calculation: Put simply, it's the total market value -- expressed in dollars -- of all the goods and services produced in the United States. Income and imports from U.S. companies and U.S. citizens not in the country aren't counted. Any effects of domestic inflation are also factored out.
This is the number that's widely reported and debated. GDP is calculated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the Department of Commerce, and is looked at every three months.
So the 2.2% number currently dominating the headlines is the GDP growth rate for the first quarter of 2012. It measures the change in GDP from the last quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012. The number is telling you that the U.S. economy has grown at an annualized 2.2% rate in that period of time.
The general feeling of disappointment in the air is happening because the growth rate has fallen from the last reported growth rate, which was 3.0%. There are several possible reasons for this decline:
The U.S. saw 4.8% GDP growth in March 2006, but that was in the middle of the housing bubble -- an unsustainable lending and spending spree that led directly to the financial implosion of 2008. The country also saw 5.6% GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, but there was a massive government stimulus program in motion at the time. That has long since run out, along with its stimulating effects.
So America's GDP growth rate is a benchmark, which we use to try to get an overall idea of how our economy is doing. It's the big picture. It helps businesses, governments, and consumers plan. Hence, the number is always big news.
For now, consider that 2.2% growth rate in the context of the past few years, wait to see in which direction it will be revised, and start looking forward to helping out with that fourth-quarter holiday GDP boost we all inevitably provide.
Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/30/why-you-should-be-happy-about-2-2-gdp-growth/
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During Apple's earnings call last week, CEO Tim Cook highlighted the importance of the company's partnership with Wal-Mart by noting that the retailer is "an increasingly more substantial partner in the iPad space... and an evolving partner on iPhone. And so we're working with them and enjoy working with them and hope to continue expanding."
As it turns out, to say that Wal-Mart is increasingly substantial for iPad sales may be an understatement. A new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, a market research firm, finds that Wal-Mart now accounts for more than a tenth of all iPad sales. By comparison, Apple's website and stores account for 26 of iPad sales.
These number is based on a survey conducted in February of customers who had purchased an iPad in the last 90 days.
Wal-Mart clearly has the potential to get the iPad into more homes, but there is a downside to the retailer taking up a bigger share of the iPad market. As CIRP points out, this drives down the average selling price of iPads "since Apple needs to allow retailers like Wal-Mart a reasonable gross profit."

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