Companies told to step up CSR amid protests
COMPANIES SHOULD improve their public outreach programs amid worsening sentiments against corporations across the globe, management experts at a forum yesterday said.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs increasingly need to be integrated as part of the business’ supply chain and not just be implemented as one-off dole-outs, they said.
“Although many companies have wanted to do this, they still don’t exactly know how to do it. That’s why we have these protests,” Felipe B. Alfonso, Asian Institute of Management vice-chairman, said at the 10th Asian Forum on CSR.
“Probably, through time, when companies succeed in implementing these CSR projects, there will be less and less reasons for them to take to the streets where they are now.”
Protests against economic inequality and perceived corporate greed have been hounding various parts of the world this month, sparked by the so-called Occupy Wall Street rallies in New York City.
“The best way to address those concerns is by putting shared values as an integral part of the businesses that we run,” Makati Business Club Chairman Ramon R. del Rosario, Jr., for his part, said at the same event.
In the meantime, firms would do well to hear out the concerns raised at the ongoing protests, Edita A. de Leon, senior vice-president and head of corporate affairs of Nestlé Philippines, Inc. said.
“If the corporations start to think of the concept of shared value, they would take [these protests] as an opportunity to communicate with the people who share their feelings on how the corporation operates,” Ms. De Leon said.
“So with that mind-set, you can understand then what is the need of the society that the corporation can or is ready to address,” she added.
To achieve this, CSR projects should be tailored to address specific communities’ needs, she said.
Meanwhile, Frank McGuire, member of parliament for Broadmeadows, Victoria Labor Party in Australia, said programs should involve the government, companies and community.
“If you can get an alignment between the community, government, and corporation, you could have sustainable materials,” he said.
And at the end of the day, CSR programs must bring in tangible benefits to the company as well for these to be sustained, said Jana Franke, consultant for state-commissioned German organization GIZ.
“In order to engage the company, you don’t only ask them to do good will. You have to put wealth first to the company before we could distribute wealth,” Ms. Franke said.
Tags: "csr"
