Corporate Social Responsibility: What’s the point?

In my previous article, I tried to articulate my reasoning for exploring the topic of sustainability, especially on a large and corporate scale. This article hopes to go a step further and highlight what Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) seeks to accomplish as we shift our focus to the “triple bottom line”.

Labuschange et al. describe CSR as having 2 components. One that focuses on philanthropy and community benefiting programs which he termed Social Initiatives and the other, Operational Initiatives which place an emphasis on core business and operational practices (Labuschange et. al 2005).? We will speak more on both in subsequent articles but for now, we will be looking through the lens of societal initiatives.??

The future of work as we know it is highly dependent on both large and small corporations' abilities and willingness to adapt to current times while holding on to the central values their company is built on. The sense of duty felt by corporations that rely heavily on the resources in their immediate and global community, be it labor or natural resources, is exactly what social responsibility programs seek to build on.?

A commitment to the planet and people makes for good business. It’s no secret that large long-term for-profit companies wield positioning and available resources to push the social justice agenda forward. One of CSR’s core aims is to create programs around community development and impact as well as consumer awareness and safety. During the 2020 BLM movement across the U.S., we saw whole industries, not just corporations pledge to support and alliance. Companies such as Bank of America and PayPal pledged immense financial efforts to economically empower communities of color and black-owned businesses. There have been several public declarations from companies such as Comcast and PayPal about diversifying their hiring practices from the ground up. We have a huge commitment from Media companies such as YouTube and Instagram that are bolstering black creators in their communities by providing training resources and increasing platform awareness for black creators. Some companies have even gone so far as to stake themselves and their reputation to support the fight against institutional racism. Unilever's Ben and Jerry's is advocating for a "bill investigating slavery reparations and a bipartisan task force into police reform".?

Bringing it back home to Nigeria, the #EndSARS protests, a plea to end police overreach and brutality created an avenue for small and big businesses alike to pledge support for the masses they profit from. On smaller scales, several businesses and organisations provided food and water, as well as medical and legal aid to protesters. Synonymous with #EndSARS was Feminist Coalition, a women’s rights advocacy group which was at the centre of the action. They regulated fundraising efforts; led the emergency response teams and provided logistical support for protesters.?

Fintech, Flutterwave, and her staff raised N2,000,000 internally to settle the medical bills of protesters who were injured. They set the precedent for other tech companies such as Eden and Buycoins donating N500,000 each while Softcom Nigeria and Paystack both donated N1,000,000 each to the medical bills and legal aid of protesters. Domino's? Pizza and Coldstone Creamery donated boxes of pizza and cups of ice cream to multiple locations where protests were taking place.?

These companies have shown a dedication to the people in the community from which it exists and profits from. These seemingly kind acts of charity should be the norm.?

CSR advocates for the consideration of human and environmental capital. From production waste management to decreasing carbon footprint, few companies are setting the bar for how corporations can interact with the environment. Lego, the toy company,? created an action plan, which it has accomplished, to transition fully into renewable energy for its production facilities via the creation of wind farms. In collaboration with Parley, an organisation dedicated to eliminating marine plastic pollution, Adidas the athletic apparel giant has produced millions of its shoes from the plastics recovered by Parley. Adidas has also partnered with Allbirds to, in their words, “create a sports performance shoe with the lowest ever carbon footprint”. Based on its prototype, the shoe is projected to accomplish a net carbon release of 2.94kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) per pair through its lifecycle from its manufacturing through to its end of life. This is staggeringly less when compared to the average carbon release of 12.5kg carbon dioxide (CO2) per pair of most sneakers. The first commercial release is set for 2022.?

From the company examples above, we can see that no one human, except maybe Elon or Jeff can have such a drastic impact on matters that affect both people and the planet. As much as we advocate for individual accountability when it comes to protecting our planet and creating safe spaces for people to exist regardless of their bio-data, we must recognise that the rapid deterioration we face as ‘earthlings' requires large-scale cohesive action. Nothing necessarily changes when a few stand up but with the backing of well-known household brand names, consumer awareness of social and environmental issues skyrockets. Do you know what the state of the world would be if industry giants from healthcare to energy committed to global action??

I will continually push for all companies small and large to invest in their CSR programs, not as a means to gain publicity but as one that creates an equitable and sustainable world that we can be proud to leave behind.?

Are you with me? What can your company do to contribute to the society in which it exists? Push for it!

Give this a like and SHARE! Let’s all keep learning.

#CorporateSocialResponsibilty #Sustainability #HumanCapital