Uncomfortable Truths

Monday, September 24, 2007

WIKIPEDIA defines corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a concept which suggests that organizations, especially business organizations, have an obligation to consider the interests of customers, employees, shareholders, communities, and the ecology in all aspects of their operation.

I have four propositions to expand on this definition.

MANILA, Philippines — WIKIPEDIA defines corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a concept which suggests that organizations, especially business organizations, have an obligation to consider the interests of customers, employees, shareholders, communities, and the ecology in all aspects of their operation.
I have four propositions to expand on this definition.

First, CSR is ultimately about citizenship. It is about being part of this society and caring about our people’s development.

Second, our citizenship demands that we make doing good integral to our daily lives and work.

Third, it also demands that we go beyond projects and programs and strive to transform the very structures that hinder development.

Finally, good citizenship requires that we adopt a position and take a stand on the important questions of the day, regardless of the risks to our selves and our organizations.

CSR, especially in developing countries, must go beyond setting up foundations, giving scholarships, planting trees, or treating customers and employees well.

CSR in a country like ours cannot just be auxiliary, relegated to a department, or assigned to a retiring executive; it must be part of who or what companies are, it must be fundamental. It cannot just be about doing good work; it must also be about making all our work do good.

Because it is about citizenship, all our organizations–businesses, media, civic groups, and yes, schools–not just NGOs and foundations, are obligated to practice CSR. We might as well call it Organizational Social Responsibility (OSR), so as not to limit its practice to companies. Neither is “OSR” only within the purview of large organizations. We are all being asked to practice good citizenship, big, small, for profit or non-profit, rich or poor.

So, what does good citizenship demand in the Philippines?

We are beset with some very basic problems–hunger and housing shortage, infant and child mortality, poverty-related diseases, inequities and joblessness, miseducation and undereducation, environment degradation, among others. Approximately 24 out of 100 families do not earn enough to satisfy their basic needs.

In the light of so much suffering, our citizenship requires that we act to address these problems, through the roles we play and the jobs we do. OSR demands that our missions and strategies be targeted toward improving the lives of our people.

Making businesses out of good works is what CK Pralahad, author of “Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid,” precisely proposes. Serving the poor–not as a cause or an act of charity–is often a successful business strategy and an effective solution to poverty.

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Source: Inquirer (link opens in a new window)