02 June 2011

Teaching job skills to youth. Building homes for the poor. Sending disaster relief to Haiti.

Being a good corporate citizen can take myriad forms, but all require building support within your company and community and finding ways to measure the results both for the business and society.

 

How best to do good and do well were among topics at the first meeting of WorldCity’s newest event series, CSR Connections, held May 19 for multinational executives with responsibility for corporate social responsibility. Executives attended from companies as diverse as oil supplier Chevron, medical device maker Medtronic and retail giant Walmart.

 

The group discussed a wide range of CSR efforts by their companies, from computer classes to food drives and fundraisers. But more and more, the programs dovetail with each company’s core business, such as responsible drinking campaigns by global spirits company Diageo.

Sustaining effective CSR programs presents big challenges: How to structure them, fund them, mobilize support, build partnerships and overcome skepticism that the efforts may be just publicity.

 

“You build credibility by walking the talk,” said Marco Malfavon, communications director in Miami for telecom company Alcatel-Lucent’s Latin American division. For example, Alcatel-Lucent has committed to cut its carbon footprint by half by 2020, and that matters as it pushes energy efficiency programs, he said. “It’s important to behave the way you want others to behave.”

 

The CSR series comes as more corporations demand their suppliers and business partners adopt sustainability programs. More companies also are feeling pressure from consumers to be boost responsibility to the environment and the society in their business operations.

“CSR is a hot new topic, and the reason is essentially globalization,” said Ken Roberts, WorldCity’s president, who moderated the meeting. “Your reputation can be damaged very easily because of globalization and very quickly because of the internet.”

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, underscored the rising sophistication of CSR programs and its growing links to core business objectives. The Arkansas-based giant follows its founder’s motto: “Save more, live better.” Its related CSR programs have three key areas of focus: healthy eating, empowering women and sustainability. Each area has measurable goals.

In sustainability, for instance, Walmart aims for zero waste and 100 percent renewable energy for a more sustainable supply chain. The company works with business partners to meet those goals. In Mexico, for instance, it has pushed suppliers to reduce bulky packaging, a move that has helped cut transport costs and ultimately, reduced prices for consumers “to save more,” said Ana Guevara, vice president of corporate affairs for Wal-Mart Latin America.

Yet even giant Walmart can’t operate alone. To boost purchases from women farmers in Central America to offer fresher food, the company mobilized partners including the U.S. Agency for International Development to help train women entrepreneurs and boost their skills, she said.

American Airlines also has learned that CSR programs for the United States don’t always work abroad.

 

The airline’s U.S. operation has been working for decades with the Susan G. Komen For the Cure group that seeks to end breast cancer. But Susan G. Komen doesn’t exist in some other countries. So, American’s staff in select Latin American nations took other steps to help fight breast cancer, including offering free cancer screenings at some locales, said Carlos Hernandez, American’s managing director for international human resources for Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America.

 

Payments company Visa similarly found its U.S. program to teach personal finance skills online didn’t work as effectively overseas, said Evelyn Zapata, Visa’s business leader for corporate relations in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

“In Latin America, we are not as used to this concept of do-it-yourself,” Zapata said. “Also, Internet penetration is not as high” as in the United States, making it harder to learn skills online, she said.

Furthermore, CSR programs aimed for the U.S. market may not match up with critical needs elsewhere. Many global companies from the United States focus on eco-initiatives, but in Latin America, “the No. 1 priority is poverty,” said Annabel Beyra, principal of Miami-based Fusion Communications. That means companies and their communications partners must find creative ways to link global programs with local needs to boost incomes and education in Latin America.

Another key challenge: How to measure the effectiveness of CSR programs, participants said.

Companies must look at more than numbers of people who read an article, see an ad or click on a website. They also need to check: “Did it do what they said it would?,” Beyra said. That means follow-up on how many trainees from a CSR program found jobs or how many women now sell their farm goods to WalMart in Central America.

Participants said they hoped the CSR Connections could help the group share best practices to improve CSR programs for all companies involved and work collectively to better help the community.

In the end, successful CSR programs also help companies themselves, executives said.

 

“Being a good corporate citizen is great for talent acquisition. People want to work for a great company,” said Lynda Pike, communications manager for Medtronic Latin America.

 

CSR Connections is one of seven event series organized by WorldCity to bring together executives on international business topics. The CSR series is sponsored by telecom equipment maker Nokia, energy company Chevron and retailer Walmart Latin America. The next CSR meeting is set for July 14.

---