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Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility represents, an element of utmost importance in the defined business strategy of many companies, corporations, multinationals and, in general, big companies. Equally importantly, the small and medium-size enterprise will have to progressively adapt to their management policies different efforts aimed to communicate and develop defined courses of action to foster the Corporate Social Responsibility. To the majority of the companies, carrying out an optimal management of Corporate Social Responsibility involves a very important competitive advantage and a business success strategic factor. In all, it is about conjugating economic, social and environmental objectives and conciliating, plainly, goals pursued by the company with that of the society. It is absolutely relevant when it comes to designing an adequate management process of Corporate Social Responsibility, to understand this concept in its various meanings and requirements and, consequently, to place the company as a responsible entity in the triple economic, social and environmental edge. Corporate Social Responsibility understood in a global manner, should remain merged into the whole value chain and act as strategic factor and as management and control tool allowing to articulate earning power to social profitability. Furthermore, Corporate Social Responsibility is the strict fulfillment of existing legal obligations, the voluntary integration of policies and social, occupational, economic, environmental and human rights-respect processes into the company administration, strategy and management arising from the clear dialogue and relationship with its interest groups. The company that wishes to identify itself as responsible, first of all, it has to show it complies with the current regulations in every subject and, afterwards, it will be positively responsible if it carries out a number of actions included in the strategy, with volunteer character. In all, a company will be considered economically, environmentally and socially responsible when it responds satisfactorily to the expectations the different stakeholders have on its performance and bears the consequences and the impacts stripping from its actions. The first step to suitably manage the Corporate Social Responsibility will be to develop a CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PLAN, including a SUSTAINABILITY REPORT, an efficient, systematic and transparent communication tool used by companies to inform about their actions in the sustainable development and management field, assuming management field as a management model pursuing the triple objective of creating value to the stakeholder, general society and the environment. SUSTAINABILITY REPORT is a support element to management that provides transparency and credibility to the company actions.
At first, it is better served by developing the Sustainability Report every 2 years. Sustainability Report must be grounded in three principles and key elements: Complementation and balance of the triple environmental, economic and social dimension. (Triple Income Statement) Absolute commitment with the different stakeholders. Indicator elements or best practices according to the Global Reporting Initiative (G.R.I.), an independent worldwide organization, that establishes volunteer guidelines on sustainable information.
G.R.I. designed a guide for the development of Sustainability Reports that has become a volunteer tool but worldwide consensual by different interest groups to inform about the economic, environmental and social dimension of activities, products and services of companies. G.R.I. places importance on both the application of a series of principles in the Report and the sustainability indicators elements. Reflecting in the SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL BALANCE all the company actions in those areas and displaying information and data available in relation to indicators for actions of G.R.I. Table proves transcendental. Likewise, it is necessary to specify every guideline and pattern adopted by the company to improve GOOD CORPORATE MANAGEMENT and the actions aimed at achieving an optimal management. Credibility of Sustainability Report will increase if it is subjected to a validation process in the form of audits.
When a company makes Sustainability Report public, it is important to try to get the prestigious "IN ACCORDANCE" of G.R.I., it assumes the maximum recognition to the work done on account of presenting in a comprehensive way the most important aspects in the social, economic and environmental scope. All companies must, supplementally and included in the Strategic Plan, design the aforesaid PLAN OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.
Basically, it has to do with a global document of management and assessment of the company commitment with the Corporate Social Responsibility, which conjugates the economic, social and environmental dimensions affecting the entity and society. Likewise, it has to reflect the social contribution of the company as institution and it will be instrumental to efficiently manage, streamline and communicate all the company efforts aimed at achieving a better society.
It is about achieving in writing, in a code of conduct, the commitments to be adopted, the interest groups they are going to be agreed with and the definite actions to be executed. THE PLAN OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY must qualify for achieving the desired success: The company senior staff have to be aware of the project and support it as a whole and at all levels, completely involving themselves in the performance of company representation functions and foster the company R.S.C. policies. R.S.C. must be developed with the taking up of the management team within the bounds of the company global strategy. Coordinated and detailed processing of Triple Income Statement or Triple Botton Line (People, profit and planet ), carefully portrayed in the Sustainability Report. Implementation of a Social Marketing Plan focusing on each business unit. R.S.C. plan must project an image consistent with the identity, values, corporate culture, strategy and profile of the organization. It is a must for the company to positively contribute and provide benefits for the society through the performance of the various actions included in the plan.
Benefits in setting up a R.S.C. Plan: Improves the external and internal image of the company. Increased Corporate Reputation. Optimizing of socially responsible investment. A more fluent communication with stakeholders. Maximization of the entity’s corporate culture and values. Alignment and identification of human capital with the company strategy. Increased internal labor climate, and enhanced sense of pride and membership. Sales increase, implementing social marketing campaigns. Growth of the company competitiveness level. Acts as an assistant method to correct, proportionally, social inequalities.
Included in the Plan of Corporate Social Responsibility of the company, in addition to the Sustainability Report as the most important text, it is also relevant to annually design other documents more simple and specific: SOCIAL ACTION PLAN: Document that gathers all the actions and initiatives strictly social and of caring assistance, both internal and external, the company is willing to perform.
Such plan specifies all the aspects of the social projects to be developed.
The social balance collected in the Sustainability Report, refers to the aforesaid projects but the actual document presents an awful lot more extensive account of the content and particularities, in an up-to-date and annual manner. VOLUNTARY CORPORATE PLAN: Exclusively internal document only affecting the company human capital, i.e., the employees.
All the social actions in which the members of the company RR.HH. Team are actively involved are design through the aforesaid plan. It is about fostering social projects developed by company’s employees, so that they are assumed in a participatory manner. With this type of program we can increase motivation and development of the company's employees, promote corporate culture, encourage company social values, integrate the company human capital, improve labor climate and, finally, develop a sense of company membership. These projects act as true "OUTDOOR TRAINING SOCIALES", i.e., they are social programs, with a caring and assistance end that, concomitantly, encourage and improve managerial skills and management competency in the participants, such as team work, decision making, communication improvement, project management, strategic planning, labor against objectives, promotion of personal and interpersonal relationships, etc. SOCIAL ANNUAL REPORT: Document intended to state the result of social activities carried out by the company as a kind of conclusions.
RESPONSIBLE MARKETING Informing society about the corporate values, culture, management of social capital, human and organizational profile the company intends to transmit, as well as the actions performed in favor of sustainable development, is a process that needs to solicit all possible attention.
In the same way, it is vitally important to analyze in detail and with utmost care the content, mode and approach of the communication used to this effect. Proves remarkable the new communication style adopted by many companies in order to emphasize emotional and social aspects as priority values of the corporate identity.
Society, in general, perceives how the best companies worried about exposed sectors of society, invest in social action, improve environmental setting, put into practice good administration policies, etc., and, also, the particular consumer or "potential customer" values, more and more, in his purchasing intention or product selection, the social concerns and caring commitments of the companies he is investing in. Companies executing policies of Corporate Social Responsibility reach higher credibility than those who do not, as they align themselves with the citizenry values and concerns and this fact has a positive impact on the obtained results.
Several studies show that exists a certain correlation between socially-committed business practices and the good economic results obtained consequently, therefore, it is crucial to know how to communicate society, through strategies of social marketing, they way the aforesaid practices are carried out. In the specific General Marketing Plan and Communication Plan carried out by the companies, it is necessary to include techniques and social marketing actions aimed at communicating in a better way the relative strategies, to manage their Corporate Social Responsibility, manage the dialogue and communication with stakeholders in a more fluid way, transmit in a more clear and precise manner the triple income statement, in all, achieve a more responsible communication with society. A good social marketing strategy must use techniques and tactics from the so called "MARKETING INTELLIGENCE", i.e., it must basically focus on the consumer or customer, minutely know the social priorities and necessities that encourage him, which are the aspects in relation to R.S.C. management he is most concerned about, the disadvantaged sectors he considers to be the most poverty-stricken, etc., and act in concert with those variables, in this way, the company will be able to invest socially and profitably in that direction. INTANGIBLE ASSETS MANAGEMENT Currently, the company appraisal is closely related to the Commercial Establishment, i.e., to the difference between book value and market value of the company. The companies, due to the increasing importance assumed by the so called Intangible Assets, progressively, provide with a plus of strategic value and, thereby, concepts such as Corporate Reputation, Social and Intellectual Capital, Mark Value, Transparency and Good Corporate Administration, Institutional Ethics, Responsible and Caring Companies, Corporate Identity and Image, Knowledge Management, etc., need to be managed in a professional manner and according to the profitability obtainable from such management. The adequate management of Corporate Social Responsibility of companies represents a very important opportunity to positively project determined Intangible Assets in society and associate the company image with them, it is important to create an associative and indissoluble binomy between Mark and Corporate Social Responsibility and society must identify it and discern it as such. We can help you from our Gestión Quattro Consultancy.
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