As this collection of news items makes clear, doing business in the global economy is fraught with difficulty. Wal-Mart is criticised for plans to create a joint venture in India, while Tesco is censured over its move to expand operations in the USA. Clearly, engaging and communicating with stakeholders is a big challenge wherever one operates.
One potential way forward, as evidenced by the research published by GRI, is through corporate reporting. This communications tool is helping companies share information on the sustainability of their businesses and enhance their credibility among key stakeholders. However, it is obviously not a panacea. While we can discount the experience of Wal-Mart who have yet to produce a sustainability report, it would seem that Tesco’s two GRI compliant Corporate Responsibility Reviews have not convinced critics of the company’s Fresh & Easy stores in the States.
Perhaps Proctor & Gamble point the way to an alternative approach to building a responsible brand by supporting a campaign that looks directly at the way African American women are reflected in popular culture and the media. By tapping into the genuine concerns of a core customer group, the company is demonstrating its responsiveness to stakeholder issues.
Such an approach suggests the company is concerned about respecting diversity and embracing the exchange of ideas across different groups inside and outside the company. If successful, this could send
a powerful message to all stakeholders about how the company sees its broader responsibilities in today’s society and provide a blueprint for other companies interested in innovative stakeholder engagement.
Related News
CSR Implementation Guide
The International Institute for Sustainable Development has published a new guide for international businesses entitled Corporate Social Responsibility: an implementation guide for business. The IISD explains that the report was written in response to a growing demand among businesses for “authoritative information, company examples and advice about CSR”.
This online publication offers practical guidance to companies wanting to implement, or those who have already implemented, corporate social responsibility strategies. It includes an overview of the key steps involved in carrying out a business specific corporate social responsibility strategy. These key steps include conducting a CSR assessment, enforcing commitments, reporting and evaluating progress as well as ensuring and understanding stakeholder engagement.
Contact International Institute for Sustainable Development 001 204 958 7700 www.iisd.org
Sustainability reporting going strong
Sustainability reporting is common among top multinational brands according to research published by the Global Reporting Initiative on August 16. The GRI considered the world’s top 100 brands, as ranked by branding consultancy, Interbrand, and Business Week magazine’s Top 100 Global Brands survey, and found “sustainability reporting is becoming a well-utilised tool in maintaining and building brand”. The research further showed that there is a correlation between high profitability and sustainability reporting.
The GRI found that the top five brands – Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, General Electric and Nokia – all report on social, environmental and economic factors according to metrics set by the GRI. Also, 80% of the top 15 brands use the GRI’s Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and, out of the top 100 brands, 43% issue GRI reports.
The Global Reporting Initiative hopes that the recent Chinese-made product recalls will encourage Chinese businesses to “begin managing their environmental, social and economic impacts and move towards sustainable business models”.
In a statement released in August, the organisation emphasised that “given the current scandals for Chinese companies, sustainability reporting more importantly builds customer confidence in a company’s brand, products and services” and stresses that sustainability reporting can be a solution to the “damaged ‘Made in China’ brand”. It points out that CSR reporting is growing in China with the number of reports released rising year on year.
Wal-Mart has entered into a joint venture with Bharti Enterprises to build a chain of large ‘cash-and-carry’ wholesale outlets in India. Announced on August 6 the deal will be a 50/50 venture that, over the next seven years, will open 10 to 15 outlets and employ 5,000 people. Wal-Mart maintains that “the venture will support farmers and small manufacturers… and the supply chain will enable minimum wastage”.
Despite such declarations there is a lot of opposition to the proposed venture, which has seen scores of protesters and activists take to the streets demanding Wal-Mart and other big multinationals not come to India. Critics, including groups such as India FDI Watch, insist that the venture will result in environmental damage, loss of cultural traditions, compromised workers rights and losses to small businesses.
The environment, health and safety arm of holding company Dubai World has partnered with Pacific Control Systems to establish the Middle East Centre for Sustainable Development. The announcement came on August 18 and, in line with the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, it will help enable Dubai World and other developers in the region to obtain green building certification from the international benchmark on green buildings, the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design rating system. The MECSD will be a “one stop shop” policy certification and research institution and is said to be just the beginning of new green initiatives set to come out of Dubai.
Tesco faces criticism over its plans to expand its operations to the US under the name Fresh & Easy. The Los-Angeles-based Urban & Environmental Policy Institute published a report in early August that questions Tesco’s environmental and community record. The chief executive of the new chain of stores has stated that although Fresh & Easy had not had time to properly read the report, the company was environmentally friendly, a good corporate citizen and a “great place to work”.
PespiCo’s three largest bottlers announced on July 30 that they would each purchase renewable energy certificates in a bid to extend the company’s environmental efforts in the supply chain. The combined total of green power purchased by the bottlers will be nearly 629 million kWh annually, which, if considered as a group, would rank them second among the largest renewable purchasers in the US.
Manufacturer of public health related products, Johnson & Johnson, is suing the humanitarian charity the American Red Cross over the use of the ‘red cross’ logo. Johnson & Johnson claims that the logo – the red cross on a white background – is in fact its logo.
While the Red Cross describe the case as “obscene”, Johnson & Johnson maintains that the action is legitimate following the charity’s diversification into branded health products. The two organisations have co-existed peacefully with the same logo until now when the Red Cross’s move to sell products such as first aid kits and nail clippers will place the charity in direct competition with the company. Johnson & Johnson maintains that despite the case, they have great respect for the charity’s work and have always supported it.
Proctor & Gamble have launched a campaign to address the way black woman are portrayed in the media after results from a P&G survey showed that 77% of African American woman are “concerned” about the way media portrays them. Announced on August 9 the campaign, My Black is Beautiful, aims to “ignite and support a sustained national conversation by, for and about black women” in order to address these issues.
The campaign will include a multi-city tour and the release of a discussion guide. In addition P&G has set up a community trust fund by the same name, which will continue to grant funds to community organisations that address the health, education and empowerment of black women.
A Clean Energy Commercialisation Centre is to be established in China as part of a longstanding partnership between BP and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The oil company and the CAS signed a memorandum of understanding in Shanghai on August 1 regarding the CECC and the centre aims to accelerate the development of clean coal technologies in China thereby also opening up investment opportunities in new technologies.
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