Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 24 feb 2016

According to a study by Prof. Sachin Modi of Iowa State University (USA) and Saurabh Mishra of McGill University (Canada), a strong marketing department is crucial to helping a firm leverage its efforts to be socially responsible. Study results show the combination of marketing and CSR can provide shareholders with a 3.5 percent gain in stock returns. Researchers defined CSR as discretionary firm activities aimed at enhancing societal well-being and analyzed six different types of CSR activities - environment, products, diversity, corporate governance, employees and community - to determine whether marketing of these efforts increased long-term firm value and stock price. Firms often consider CSR as a cost and have to make an investment and may not always see the benefits. Prof. Modi says, 'What we want to show is that if a firm is good and has some complimentary capabilities, it can gain a lot from CSR activities...The return is dependent upon the type of activity. Firms benefited from five of the six types of CSR efforts studied, with the exception of charitable giving and philanthropy...We're not saying firms shouldn't give to charity, because it is a very important component, all we're saying is we don't see a financial return.' Prof. Modi further suggests, 'Our hope is that firms see it is important to be socially responsible. It's not a choice of one versus the other. Firms have to do multiple aspects of being socially responsible.' Read on...

ISU News Service: Marketing key to return on corporate social responsibility investment, ISU study shows
Author: Angie Hunt

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 12 jan 2016

According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics website (bls.gov), 1987 United Nations conference defined sustainable development as, 'Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.' A report from the National Association for Environmental Management describes sustainability as, 'Company's strategies for acting as a responsible corporate citizen, ensuring its operations are financially sustainable and minimizing its environmental footprint. Sustainability initiatives may include natural resource reduction, supply chain management, worker safety and health initiatives, stakeholder engagement and external reporting.' Sustainability professionals are often employed by companies to achieve their goals by ensuring that their business practices are economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable. Sustainability is a diverse field and to pursue right careers requires thorough search starting from CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) or sustainability departments of corporations, nonprofit or social startups, or social impact or social consulting firms. But apart from these usual approaches, Katie Kross (Managing Director of the Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment (EDGE) at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business), provides some other out of the box ideas for professionals seeking sustainability careers and want to make social impact - (1) Mission-driven brand manager (2) University sustainability director (3) ESG (Environmental-Social-Governance Investing) portfolio analyst (4) CSR account executive for a creative agency (5) Post-graduate intern at an environmental NGO (6) Foundation program officer. Read on...

Triple Pundit: 6 Sustainability Careers That Haven't Occurred to You Yet
Author: Katie Kross

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 nov 2015

The fast-paced world of fashion and related consumption leads to generation of large amount of waste that leaves a substantial ecological footprint. According to the nonprofit GrowNYC, in the city of New York the average person throws out 46 pounds of clothings and textiles every year (totals 193000 tons for NY). While Council for Textile Recycling found that US generates 25 billion pounds of textile waste per year (82 pounds per person) and estimates that it will increase to 35.4 billion pounds by 2019. But only about 4 billion pounds (15%) gets donated and recycled and the remaining reaches landfills, contributing 5.2% to all trash generated in US. Elizabeth Cline, author of the book "Overdressed: The Shockingly High Price of Cheap Fashion", says 'There is so much waste being created and that has changed really dramatically in the last 15 years with the rise of fast fashion and disposable consumption.' Adam Baruchowitz, CEO of Wearable Collections, which coordinates textile recycling in partnership with GrowNYC, acknowledges the increasing rise in textile waste. While Nate Herman, VP of international trade at American Apparel and Footwear Association, have a contrarian view and explains 'People are actually buying less than they did 10 years. While there has been a lot of press about [wastefulness], the numbers don't bear that out.' But he acknowledges that the industry is trying to effectively handle the clothing's end-of-life issues. Some companies provide small credit to consumers who trade-in used garments, while others donate used clothings to charities. Some companies provide support and contribute to the recycle programs where used textiles end up in producing materials used in other industries like insulation in buildings. Moreover, there are a number of startups that are working to give a second life to used clothings. A small number of fashion companies are also incorporating recycled materials in their new line of clothings. Eco-friendly strategies are considered costly by the industry. According to Jill Dumain, director of environmental strategy at Patagonia, 'It's an industry-wide dilemma, for sure, on how do we do something at scale that the industry can participate in...The end result is that you have smaller-scale production that ends up to be more expensive.' She suggests that awareness about recycling is necessary and at the same time there need to be a thinking among consumers not to treat clothes like a cheap disposable item. Slow fashion might be the way forward. She further explains, 'I do think consumption is a big part. People need to learn how to buy less and companies need to learn how to be profitable in selling less.' Read on...

CBS News: Is the fast fashion industry ready to change its wasteful ways?
Author: Michael Casey

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 14 oct 2015

According to a recent report by Commonwealth Fund, 'U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective: Spending, Use of Services, Prices, and Health in 13 Countries', based on data by OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and other cross-national analyses, the US spent US$ 9086 per person on healthcare in 2013, which corresponds to 17.1% of GDP. This was about 50% more than the second highest spender (France-11.6% of GDP) and almost twice of what UK (8.8%) spent. In US if the patients are unable to pay their healthcare bills, it either becomes a bad debt for the patient or is written off as 'charity-care', adding up to US$ 57 billion in uncompensated care. To study and analyse this aspect of healthcare, researchers from Northwestern University - David Dranove, Craig Garthwaite, and Christopher Ody - as part of The Hamilton Project by Brookings Institution, argue that there is room for efficiency improvement in the charity-care system and the supply and demand for charity care are not geographically inclined. This means that hospitals that have more resources available for charity-care, ones mostly located in high-income areas, are not located in the places where people most need it, i.e. the low-income areas. To rectify this situation, researchers propose a 'floor-and-trade' system, in which all hospitals are required to provide some charity-care to low income patients. One of the researcher, Craig Garthwaite, comments 'As the Affordable Care Act has rearranged the flows of patients to hospitals and decreased the number of uninsured Americans, it's a good time to reconsider how hospitals commit themselves to serving their surrounding communities.' Read on...

The Atlantic: Who Pays Hospital Bills When Patients Can't?
Author: Bourree Lam

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 15 jul 2015

There seems to be lack of commitment by companies regarding the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) rules, that came into effect from 01 April 2014, and were introduced in the new Companies Act of 2013. Only 1/3rd of the top listed companies, from the half of the BSE-30 that have disclosed their CSR spending figures for 2014-15, were able to spend the required, minimum 2% of the profits, on CSR activities in the first year. Those taking their CSR with the proactive approach include RIL, Wipro, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and Mahindra & Mahindra. And the corporates that missed the 2% spending mark include Infosys (marginally), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, Dr. Reddy's and Bajaj Auto. The total amount spent by the 15 companies was a little more than Rs 2100 crore. The government in its efforts to improve monitoring of social welfare activities of companies under the companies law has set up a six-member panel and asked it to provide suggestions. According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website, members of the panel include - Anil Baijal, Former Secretary of Govt. of India; Prof. Deepak Nayyar, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Onkar S. Kanwar, Chairman & MD of Appollo Tyres; Kiran Karnik, Former President of NASSCOM; Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises; Additional Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Read on...

The Economic Times: CSR regime begins on disappointing note; two-third companies miss target
Author: NA

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 02 mar 2015

Indian society is facing multiple challenges like high poverty rates, child labor, female foeticide, illiteracy, malnutrition etc. To overcome these issues, considering the substantial population size, requires mobilization of large amount of resources, social innovations, entrepreneurial spirit and commitment from government, private sector and civil society. Philanthropists, alongwith NGOs and local level community and grassroots organizations, are trying to tackle old problems in innovative ways. And there is still large untapped potential that is waiting to be harnessed to make required changes for the betterment of Indian society particularly in the rural and tribal areas. Santanu Mishra, co-founder and executive trustee of Smile Foundation, explains how an initiative by Rajasthan government 'Padharo Mahari Lado' to protect the girl child is bearing fruit due to the collaborative efforts of Department of Health, Barmer, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Cairns India Limited and Smile Foundation. According to him, 'When a social innovation is intended through collaboration, it is very necessary that it features a common agenda, unbroken communication, effective measurement systems, and the presence of a core organization.' Read on...

Business Insider: How Indian NGOs are marrying Philanthropy with Social Innovations?
Author: Santanu Mishra

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 31 jan 2015

Last year India became the first country to pass CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) as a law that requires corporates (Net Worth of Rs 500 crore or more; or Turnover of Rs 1000 crore or more; or Net Profit of Rs 5 crore or more) to compulsorily spend 2% of their net profits on social development annually. Recently PM Narendra Modi made 'Make in India' concept as part of government's policy and program to encourage and boost local manufacturing industry and make it a global hub. There are steps that are expected to be taken by the government to promote skill development among the youth to fulfil this mission. According to National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) the growing skill gap in India is estimated to be more than 250 million workers across various sectors by 2022. NSDC is a public-private partnership (PPP) initiated for skill development. Corporates can support the skill development programs and projects as part of their CSR activities. This collaborative approach will be a win-win for government, businesses and public, as it develops skilled workforce for companies, jobs for the unemployed and thriving economy for the nation. Read on...

Forbes: Skill Building through CSR: The Catalyst for 'Make in India'
Author: Vishesh Agarwal

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 dec 2013

CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) phenomenon is finding relevance around the world. In a recently held 'CSR Saudi Arabia 2013 Conference' the main focus was to encourage Saudi business leaders to participate in initiatives to provide youths with employment skills and promote their civic engagement. Saudi Arabia's 65% population is below the age of 25 years and holds the potential to lead the country for a better socio-economic future. The main themes of the conference included job creation, community-based initiatives, gender diversity, and growing a knowledge-based economy. According to Huda Hakki, Programs & Projects Department Director of the King Khalid Foundation, although Saudi Arabia is one of the highest in philanthropy but partnerships and collaborations among various stakeholders ensure effective use of resources to build a vibrant civil society and thriving business and entrepreneurial community. Read on...

CSRwire: Corporate Social Responsibility Takes Center Stage in Saudi Arabia
Author: NA

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 22 dec 2013

Organizations develop and implement CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policies and programs based on their own specific approaches. It may include philanthropy, community engagement, environmental sustainability, social sector collaborations etc. Deloitte, a global consulting firm, has Humanitarian Innovation Program that collaborates with social organizations to develop better solutions for the problems they face. The program intends to have a more client-centered approach to CSR and engages these organizations, considering them as their important clients, through an application and consultation process. In this process Deloitte utilizes its private expertise to co-create innovative solutions. Read on...

devex: CSR should be more 'client-centered' - Deloitte executive
Author: Paul Stephens

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 22 dec 2013

According to a study by Margaret Ormiston of London Business School and Elaine Wong of University of California at Riverside, for every five cases of good CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) that Fortune 500 CEOs undertake they commit one act of CSiR (Corporate Social Irresponsibility). For their study they considered the 2002 list of Fortune 500 CEOs, obtained detailed background information available through various media, conducted assessment tests like California Adult Q-sort (a forced distributed methodology) and narrowed the list to 49 CEOs for the study. Then they used KDL (Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini) scale to assess CSiR. KDL rates companies in seven qualitative areas from a scale of -2 to +2 on aspects like environmental behavior, community relations, employee relations, corporate governance, diversity, human rights, and product. Researchers suggest that CEOs should always be aware and vigilant of their organization's activities from all aspects and companies should have CSR board or an oversight committee to check on their CEO more frequently. Read on...

THOMASNET News: Study - How CSR Leads to Corporate Social Irresponsibility
Author: Michael Lewis

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