Ignacio Puente, intern at UNRIC, Spanish desk, in Brussels
Corporate Social Responsibility, the UN ‘Global Compact’ and their role in the global financial crisis
In this current financial and economic crisis I am reminded of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s 1999 proposal from the Davos Forum: the Global Compact initiative. This initiative called on business leaders to endorse and embrace, within their own corporate activities, ten core principles derived from universally accepted agreements on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Business, as a primary agent driving globalization, can help ensure that markets, commerce, technology and finance advance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere.
In order to alleviate the current crisis, manydecided to come to the rescue of affected, banks or multinationals,injected large sums of money to help them overcome their problems. But how are those companies going to respond to this government assistance? Rather than simply pay taxes as already required, could the ideas of the Global Compact initiative be a way for the corporate world to give back to their governments? This at least seems ethical in terms of paying back the public for their support in order to avoid collapse.
The current measures thatare taking in mostconsist, as mentioned above, of propping up the affected companies with taxpayer. This approach is unsustainable as government monetary assistance is finite, controversial when other essential social services need funding, and lacking a long-term and comprehensive effect. Such absence of a long-term and comprehensive effect limits future economic development.
Some experts are proposing a more socially orientated and sustainable model for new economic policies. The current short-termare like feeding a person who doesn’t have resourcesof giving them the "necessary tools" to grow the food. One of these "necessary tools" at the economic policy level is to be more proactive in promoting “Corporate Social” (CSR), the business world’s model according to theGlobal Compact. This involves both encouraging the idea of CSR where businesses implement social policies such as promoting fair trade products, for example; or for the longer term, promoting CSR to future business leaders by having it as a subject in business schools. A company committed to such principles as expressed in CSR will be more productive, more appreciated by its customers and will continue to attract new customers.
During such a crisis, the time is perfect for adapting the standard process and becoming more holistic. CSR could play a bigger role in environmental initiatives, which are popular and have had unprecedented support in order for companies to reinforce the market. I believe that companies who follow these principles will not be the first to collapse in the event of another crisis. And if they are affected, they will be the first to spring back to profitability. ■
CSR?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), also known as corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, responsible business and corporate social performance is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. Ideally, CSR policy would function as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby business would monitor and ensure their adherence to law, ethical standards, and international norms. Business would embrace responsibility for the impact of their activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere. Furthermore, business would proactively promote the public interest by encouraging community growth and development, and voluntarily eliminating practices that harm the public sphere, regardless of legality. Essentially, CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making, and the honoring of a triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit.
Source: wikipedia.org
Corporate Social Responsibility, the UN ‘Global Compact’ and their role in the global financial crisis
In this current financial and economic crisis I am reminded of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s 1999 proposal from the Davos Forum: the Global Compact initiative. This initiative called on business leaders to endorse and embrace, within their own corporate activities, ten core principles derived from universally accepted agreements on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Business, as a primary agent driving globalization, can help ensure that markets, commerce, technology and finance advance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere.
In order to alleviate the current crisis, manydecided to come to the rescue of affected, banks or multinationals,injected large sums of money to help them overcome their problems. But how are those companies going to respond to this government assistance? Rather than simply pay taxes as already required, could the ideas of the Global Compact initiative be a way for the corporate world to give back to their governments? This at least seems ethical in terms of paying back the public for their support in order to avoid collapse.
The current measures thatare taking in mostconsist, as mentioned above, of propping up the affected companies with taxpayer. This approach is unsustainable as government monetary assistance is finite, controversial when other essential social services need funding, and lacking a long-term and comprehensive effect. Such absence of a long-term and comprehensive effect limits future economic development.
Some experts are proposing a more socially orientated and sustainable model for new economic policies. The current short-termare like feeding a person who doesn’t have resourcesof giving them the "necessary tools" to grow the food. One of these "necessary tools" at the economic policy level is to be more proactive in promoting “Corporate Social” (CSR), the business world’s model according to theGlobal Compact. This involves both encouraging the idea of CSR where businesses implement social policies such as promoting fair trade products, for example; or for the longer term, promoting CSR to future business leaders by having it as a subject in business schools. A company committed to such principles as expressed in CSR will be more productive, more appreciated by its customers and will continue to attract new customers.
During such a crisis, the time is perfect for adapting the standard process and becoming more holistic. CSR could play a bigger role in environmental initiatives, which are popular and have had unprecedented support in order for companies to reinforce the market. I believe that companies who follow these principles will not be the first to collapse in the event of another crisis. And if they are affected, they will be the first to spring back to profitability. ■
CSR?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), also known as corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, responsible business and corporate social performance is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. Ideally, CSR policy would function as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby business would monitor and ensure their adherence to law, ethical standards, and international norms. Business would embrace responsibility for the impact of their activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere. Furthermore, business would proactively promote the public interest by encouraging community growth and development, and voluntarily eliminating practices that harm the public sphere, regardless of legality. Essentially, CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making, and the honoring of a triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit.
Source: wikipedia.org
0 comment(s) to... “Column: Keeping Businesses Honest”
0 comments:
Post a Comment