CSR begins to take solid shape
By Ding Qingfen and Selina Lo (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-27 10:44
It's not charity
Many companies in China still have the misconception that CSR equals charity,
said Tong Shumeng, assistant to the dean of Peking University's Market Economy
Academy, drawing on the newly released China CSR Survey 2006. The survey
summarizes results from 890 companies including multinational, private and
State-owned firms. "They think CSR is for big foreign corporations, adds to
costs and is not integrated with corporate culture and brand-building," Tong
said.
"Many people think CSR is giving money away and saying 'we're doing a good
thing, we feel good so we're a good company,'" Valentino agreed. "But CSR is
really about creating an impact in society where you need it. It's an
opportunity for learning how to create value for your business."
"We had only a vague idea about CSR, so our efforts stayed on charity
activities. But now we have become more conscious about what we should do from
the perspective of a responsible company," Ma said. This June, the SPDB became
the first in China's banking industry to issue a CSR report, which thrust the
bank into the spotlight. "We want to be under public supervision and be at the
centre of their attention."
Taking action
Actions speak louder than words. This is also true for CSR.
"It (CSR) is not PR it's based on actions, on what you do, who you do it with
and how you do it. It's the impacts you create and what you are contributing to
the solution. This is also where innovation comes in," Valentino said.
Bayer issues annual CSR reports about its values, ethics and CSR projects.
"Companies need to put words into actions. Even the smallest of projects can
create an impact on the society, and every individual makes a difference," he
said. Bayer launched its Tsinghua-Bayer Public Health and HIV/AIDS Media Studies
Programme with Tsinghua University in November 2004. It also collaborates with
UNAIDS, MercyCorps and the Special Olympics on various CSR projects. "Good
partners can help us understand the problem and direct us in finding the right
impacts. And the more people you work with, the greater the impact, the greater
the results."
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