|
PRESS RELEASE
Making
money by making a difference
Report of the Global
Conference on Social Responsibility
Practical Steps for Benefiting the Poor and Raising Profits
“The poor have a right to be treated as consumers. They have their
own dignity and choice. Therefore, they have a right to be provided with
affordable and world class products and services. The poor do not deserve
any less. They also need to be allowed to share and co-create their own
experience. We cannot have an elitist approach. We cannot democratise
commerce if we leave out 5 billion people. Therefore the bottom of the
pyramid must become a market. Let us build inclusive capitalism”.
The words of Professor C. K. Prahalad Professor of Management at the University
of Michigan, in his keynote address at the recently concluded Global Conference
on Social Responsibility. Professor Prahalad added; “The 21st century
must be all about economic freedom. This is what is called democratising
commerce. Every person must have access to the benefit of globalisation.”
The Rt Hon Joe Clark, former Prime Minister of Canada, supported CK Prahalad’s
observations. He explained that the real growth of multinational business
lies in the emerging markets. Businesses in the resource and extractive
industries especially have to go where their ore or their oil are. They
don’t have the luxury of operating in safe and familiar places.
Companies need to change their paradigms. “Paradigms that create
the problems will not create the solutions. We need to find out how companies
can be encouraged to change the context and assumptions that guide their
decisions.”
Dr Giscard D’Estaing, the Founder & Chairman of INSEAD, observed
that once companies get into the country they need to become active in
the wider aspects of the community. He said that the French resistance
to Lakshmi Mittal’s take over bid of Acelor was primarily based
on such corporate responsibility issues and nothing to do with protectionism.
Earlier in his theme address Madhav Mehra, President of the World Council
for Corporate Governance, stated that in reaching the poor corporates
must strive not to proliferate the products and clutter the environment
while leaving the customers half longing and half spoiled. Advocating
Poor Orientated Innovation and Sustainable & Ecofriendly Development
(POISED) Dr Mehra said, “the growth agenda should not be built on
consumerism but conservationism”.
The Baroness Flather emphasised the particular needs of women and saying
that all development effort should be gender biased in favour of women.
“Women are the key to change. Yet, in many developing countries,
they have little or no status and there are very few means by which they
can improve their lives.”
The conference was addressed by almost one hundred experts, business leaders
and policy makers from 27 countries on the practical steps that businesses
can take to benefit the poor and raise profits. There was a significant
participation from all three sectors – government, business and
civil society.
The conference discussed the need for aligning strategies and developing
global networks. Rosemary Hilhorst, Director of the British Council Portugal,
said that the 109 offices of the British Council could support such a
network. Erika Mann MEP, from Germany, supported the idea and assured
the support of the European Union. It was felt that CSR provided a bridging
mechanism that can bring governments, NGOs and businesses together in
a non-adversarial way. All that was required was a continuous dialogue
between them to identify and replicate models that had already worked
in different countries, such as Amul and SEVA in India and Casa Bahia
in Brazil. It was decided that the World Council for Corporate Governance
should assume the temporary ownership of the platform for the creation
of win-win models that can be scaled-up and translated into action.
Deutsche Bank with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany was declared
the winner of this year’s Golden Peacock Global Award for Corporate
Social Responsibility. Deutsche Bank is a global leader in corporate banking
and securities, having 1500 branches spread over 75 countries and approximately
65,000 employees’. The bank, operating in a globalized economy as
a responsible corporate citizen, considers CSR as a Business Case and
promotes its collaborative incremental integration into all levels and
stages of business. Its sustainable management system promotes cultural
diversity, provides lasting sustainable solutions to social problems,
and invests in society’s talents and intellectual capital, and campaigns
for human rights. The Bank’s core business of lending, project financing,
investment and advisory services operate under its Sustainability Management
System, covering concerns for the economy, the society and the environment.
It has established good governance in the framework of the Global Compact
through transparency and compliance with its principles.
The Bank follows ILO guidelines and is certified for ISO 14001. The Group
Board, through the CEO, is responsible for all sustainability and CSR
efforts. The Bank’s annual CSR spending is 3% of its net income.
The CSR spending per employee works out at over 1,10 Euro. Deutsche Bank
was able to provide aid of 14.5 million Euro for the tsunami, one of the
largest natural disasters in recent history. It used its global presence
and regional networks to take immediate and direct action locally in the
areas most severally affected by the disaster. Following the emergency
aid, it concentrated on micro-credits to effected people to help themselves.
The CSR Report of the organization covers numerous philanthropic and citizenship
activities in the areas of education, community development, art and music.
Its regional programme work to creates opportunities for disadvantaged
in the community including children orphaned through HIV/AIDS.
The Golden Peacock Awards that symbolise the corporate achievements of
the highest order have been incorporated since 1990. The Awards are the
holy grail of corporate excellence in quality, corporate governance, corporate
social responsibility, innovation, training, environment management, ecological
leadership and business leadership. Previous recipients of the global
award have included Pfizer, Coca-Cola, Infosys, Scottish Power and British
Telecom.
The Council believes it is essential to acknowledge the achievements of
organisations excelling in their strife to create a prosperous, humane
and more equitable and transparent world.
The conference was organised by the World Council for Corporate Governance
in partnership with the International Chamber of Commerce, UK’s
Business in the Community, Transparency International, Canadian Business
for Social Responsibility, RSE Portugal and the Centre for Social Responsibility
of India’s Institute of Directors.
Piers Davenport
Director of Corporate Communications
World Council for Corporate Governance
1 Northumberland Avenue
London WC2N 5BW
Phone: +44 207 723 5991
E-mail: piers@wcfcg.net
Internet: www.wcfcg.net
|