CSR policies help companies survive and prosper – study
Philippine Star
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies help companies survive and prosper, an international study showed.
In the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) 78 percent of local privately held businesses (PHBs) surveyed identify cost management as the main reason why they undertake CSR.
The survey, which was released by Grant Thornton Philippines member firm Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A) showed that maintaining strict cost control encourages careful management of resources, the use of which can contribute to CO2 levels and environmental degradation.
“CSR is not a new concept in the Philippines,” Greg Navarro, P&A managing partner and CEO, said in a statement.
According to him, during martial law, many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private voluntary organizations (PVOs) were set up – initially by the religious sector – through whom local and international donors coursed their contributions.
These groups in turn adopted causes such as poverty alleviation, livelihood creation, health and nutrition, agriculture and even infrastructure needs that were not being adequately addressed by government.
He said private sector intervention was required because a number of firms did not trust the government’s ability to properly channel donations.
“Many donor companies and institutions were also highly skeptical about government’s ability to efficiently handle donors’ funds, hence, the bias to provide funding instead to NGOs and PVOs that have more direct delivery channels for donor aid. We are happy to note that companies – both big and small – are now steadily embracing CSR as part of their business strategy,” he said.
Aside from cost management, firms identified investor relations as another reason to undertake CSR.
This is true for the Philippines as 71 percent of the local companies polled stated that investor relations is the main reason for CSR.
Meanwhile, firms said their CSR mainly focused on workforce related matters. Four of the top five initiatives are directly associated with people and their workplace.
Measures to improve workforce health and well-being are in place at most PHBs surveyed this is because employee health is essential not just to ensure productivity, but also to the morale of the workforce.
In the Philippines, this is the most popular initiative as 45 percent of PHBs confirmed they are undertaking such measures in an effort to attract and retain staff in a tight labor market.
Thirty percent of Filipino respondents said they have improved waste management while 22 percent said they donated to community causes or charities.
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