CSR Continuum

One of the final requirements in our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) class is to assess our company’s positioning in the CSR continuum shown below.  

While reflecting where our company really is, I realized I made a wrong judgment of my current employer.  Before I took up my MBA degree, my perception of CSR is doing or giving back something to the community.  Tree planting is one of the most common activities when we talk about CSR, and with my 3 year stint with the company, I have not witnessed this program.  In one of my conversations with a colleague, also before taking up my MBA, we compared our company with the other organizations, and envied how big the CSR activities are for those companies.  We were somehow upset since our company does not give a big deal to these programs.  One perfect example is our cash donation to 2 big foundations.  During the actual giving of check, our only representative was our company nurse.  We compared that in other companies, donations are usually handed over by the top management, and of course, with well documented photos. 

This course gave me a whole new perspective of what CSR really is.  From having an impression that my company is apathetic in promoting CSR activities, I now give a high regard to my employer’s CSR values.  One of my key learnings in this course is that CSR is not about charity nor a public relations activity.  CSR is how companies contribute to society through good business practice, and how it forms part of the company’s core business.  CSR is more of how companies make or earn profit, and not how they spend it.  This framework makes a lot more sense than my initial perception of what CSR is.  Some companies may have good public image because of their charity and other related activities.  But if we try to further scrutinize, are their employees well taken care of?  Are they actually practicing a fair competition?  Are their employees given a just compensation and benefits?  Do employees have a conducive and safe working environment?  

In this course, I realized how CSR is being used as a facade by most companies.  I’m glad that our company is not among them.  My current employer may not have huge spending on charity activities, but I would say that responsible business practices are definitely being carried out.  In terms of production process, my employer ensures a high quality of our products.  Despite having a very minute size, our products perform a very critical role in automating various functionalities of a vehicle, from power to sensors and alarm.  Some of our products are as small as 1/8 of a thumbnail, but this small can damage the car and worse, a human life, if produced with a defective or low quality.  The manufacturing plant, in general, is a safe work place and pollution is controlled, as we want to avoid complaints from nearby residents.  Our employees are well taken care of.  Compensation is within the industry’s average, or at least our HR tries its best to align with the market rate; benefits exceed what the law requires, and employees in general are treated well by managers and supervisors.  Our HR department continuously improve its benefits package, and conducts more and programs to promote wellness and camaraderie of our employees.  Rather than spending money for donations and other external CSR programs, the company focuses itself instead on internal programs, for the welfare of our employees.  They are after all the most valuable asset of our company.  They are after all, the main drivers in ensuring the quality of our products.