Bruce Harvey is Global Practice Leader: Communities for the international mining company, Rio Tinto. In this interview with Dr Wayne Visser, CEO of CSR International, Bruce talks about Rio’s approach CSR and stakeholder engagement and partnerships. The interview took place at the ACCSR conference in Melbourne on 19 February 2010, where Bruce was a speaker.
Posts Tagged ‘Community’
Video Blog: Bruce Harvey, Rio Tinto on Community Engagement
Monday, February 22nd, 2010Community Involvement Index
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship has released research findings which illustrate corporate community involvement during 2009. The 2009 Community Involvement Index, which is drawn from an online survey responded to by more than 300 companies, offers a snapshot of the community involvement field.
Key Findings
In the context of the recent tough economic climate, while a significant percentage of companies cut their community involvement budgets, 62.1% maintained or increased budget levels.
- Although 37.8% of respondents’ companies cut their community involvement budget, only 20.9% decreased staffing.
- The link between community involvement and business strategy, and its integration with other business functions, is the rule rather than an exception.
- Community involvement is linked both to broader corporate citizenship strategy in most companies (72.6%) and to business strategy (73.8%) with senior management involvement and support.
- Staff from media and public relations departments (90.9%), human resources (82%), and marketing staff (77%) were the most widely-cited internal stakeholders during assessments of planning and implementation of community involvement programmes.
- A majority of companies (54%) generate strategy and direction from the top but put implementation into local hands.
- Measurement of programmes remains a challenge for companies and the findings indicate the practice is inconsistent. More companies (41%) routinely evaluate strategy than routinely measure business benefits (27.3%) or social impacts (25.4%).
- Environmental issues are now emerging as a critical area. Though not yet approaching the level of education, the environment is the only other area that garners top billing or near top billing among critical issues for more than 60% of respondents’ companies.
- More than 80% of respondents believe their companies’ various community involvement programmes are delivering value to both society and the business.
- Volunteering remains a core element of most companies’ community involvement programmes. 56.7% of companies in the survey offer employees paid time off to volunteer in at least some of their locations.
Author(s)
Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship
Source
CSRI CSR Research Digest (Feb 2010)
Friday, February 5th, 2010Date
February 2010
Contents
- Community Involvement Index (US: Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship)
- Responsible Entrepreneurship Study (Developing Nations: Journal of Business Ethics)
- Sustainability Brand Map Study (US: Climate Counts/Angus Reid Public Opinion)
- Connecting Fair Trade Producers and Consumers (South Africa/US: Geoforum)
- Carbon Footprint Labelling Study (UK: Newcastle Business School)
- Environmental Standards and Supply Chain Governance (Global: Journal of Business Ethics)
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CSRI CSR Research Digest (Feb 2010)
About CSRI News Digests
This Digest is prepared by CSR International, with news selected by SustainabilityForum, as a free service to its subscribed members. The Digest should not be reproduced or forwarded without the permission of CSR International. The views expressed in this Digest in no way reflect those of CSR International, nor does CSR International endorse or vouch for the quality or accuracy of any third party research included. For more information on CSR International, membership or the Digests, please go to www.csrinternational.org or email info@csrinternational.org.
Corporate Responsiveness to Community Stakeholders: Effects of Contextual and Organisational Characteristics
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
Corporate community responsiveness relates to business activities that are integral parts of a firm’s operations and are designed to benefit the firm through benefiting communities. Using data from US commercial banks gathered between 1997 and 2000, this study measures banks’ corporate community responsiveness and examines the influence on this responsiveness of a number of factors including company profitability, ownership and risk.
Key Findings
- The negative relationship between community income and community loans suggest that banks are complying with Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) recommendations to boost their lending in low- and moderate-income neighbourhoods.
- However, the negative relationships between minority populations and both community loans and CRA rating provide strong support to those who contend that financial institutions continue to discriminate against minority populations.
- This may be because banks pursue a defensive-reactive strategy towards their social obligations, focusing on a narrow interpretation of social responsibility based on economic and legal criteria only. Also, some borrowers, owing to mistrust, feelings of intimidation and negative past experiences, may perceive that banks are not for them and therefore create self-exclusion barriers.
- In more competitive markets, banks provide more CRA loans to their local communities as a differentiation strategy to distinguish themselves from rivals and improve their image among customers.
- The data revealed that younger banks tended to be more involved in small business and community development loans.
- This may be because newly established banks tend to abandon small business lending once the banks attains a particular size.
- Younger banks also focus on their immediate geographic location, have a particular competitive advantage in serving small business customers, and are likely to pursue new customers in order to grow.
- The data from this study supports previous research findings in suggesting that superior financial performance leads to additional resources that can then be invested in social issues.
- The findings suggest that lower-risk firms have a greater ability to implement stakeholderrelated activities. This is particularly true for undercapitalized banks where excessive risk might result in forgoing community activities for safety reasons.
- Institutional ownership was not found to have a significant impact on an organisation’s stakeholder engagement.
- Mergers and acquisitions showed a weak positive effect on community loans, which contradicts other studies that propose that mergers and acquisitions have an impending effect on stakeholder activities.
Author(s)
N. Kobeissi, F. Damanpour
Source/Further Information
Business & Society (2009), 48 (3), 326-359
CSRI Book Review Digest (July 2009)
Thursday, July 30th, 2009Date
July 2009
Contents
- SA 8000 – The First Decade by D. Leipziger (ed.) (Review by Oliver Dudok Van Heel)
- Corporations and Citizenship by Andrew Crane, Dirk Matten and Jeremy Moon (Review by William C. Frederick)
- Multinationals in the Community: A Social Capital Approach to Corporate Citizenship Projects by Ian W. Jones, Michael G. Pollitt and David Bek (Review by Wayne Visser)
- Classic Book: Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use by Ernst von Weizsäcker, Amory B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins (Review by Oliver Dudok Van Heel
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CSRI Book Review Digest (July 2009)
About CSRI Research Digests
In addition to this Book Review Digest, CSR International also prepares monthly CSR Research Digests for its subscribed members. For more information on these Research Digests, see the CSR Research menu tab. For more information on membership, see the Registration link (top left).
CSR News Digest (13 July 2009)
Monday, July 13th, 2009Date
13 July 2009
Contents
- Microsoft’s Community Impact Map Launched (CSR Digest)
- Consumer Perception on CSR Doesn’t Match Rankings, Study Says (PSB/Burson-Marsteller/ Landor)
- How Nike is Tackling Sustainability (Business Week)
- Accounting For Sustainability Earns Global Accountancy Backing (Accountancy Age)
- How Green Companies Can Clean Up Their Hiring Processes (Greenbiz)
- Business In The Community Awards For Excellence (Business In The Community)
- Defining Sustainable Agriculture (New York Times)
- Plastics Industry Pledges To Double Recycling Rates (Business Green)
About CSRI News Digests
This Digest is prepared by CSR International, with news selected by SustainabilityForum, as a free service to its subscribed members. The Digest should not be reproduced or forwarded without the permission of CSR International. The views expressed in this Digest in no way reflect those of CSR International, nor does CSR International endorse or vouch for the quality or accuracy of any third party research included. For more information on CSR International, membership or the Digests, please go to www.csrinternational.org or email clemence@csrinternational.org.
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CSRI News Digest (19 June 2009)
Friday, June 19th, 2009Date
19 June 2009
Contents
- Japanese Manufacturers Dominate Green Car Top Ten (Business Green)
- Job Growth in Clean Energy Outpaces Overall Job Market (Social Funds)
- Green Innovation and Product Safety (Greenbiz)
- Recession is Excuse for Companies to Ignore Community Conscience (The Independent)
- Report Blames Petroleum Industry for 25% of Toxic Pollutants (AFP)
- Nike Quietly Goes Green (Business Week)
- Private Equity Owned Boots Ends Ethical Pledge (The Guardian)
About CSRI News Digests
This Digest is prepared by CSR International, with news selected by SustainabilityForum, as a free service to its subscribed members. The Digest should not be reproduced or forwarded without the permission of CSR International. The views expressed in this Digest in no way reflect those of CSR International, nor does CSR International endorse or vouch for the quality or accuracy of any third party research included. For more information on CSR International, membership or the Digests, please go to www.csrinternational.org or email clemence@csrinternational.org.
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Carbon Reductions Survey
Monday, June 1st, 2009
Author
Business in the Community
Date
June 2009
Region/Country
UK
Description
Two thirds of Britain’s bosses are unaware that the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) will soon compel them to account for their companies’ carbon emissions, according to a survey recently released by the charity Business in the Community.
1,695 employees of UK businesses were surveyed on the subject of their company’s readiness for the Carbon Reduction Commitment. 266 of these participants were senior decision makers.
Non-UK based firms seem to have made more effort to inform staff of the impact of CRC: 27% of workers at firms whose head office is outside of the UK know their organisation is affected by CRC, compared with 14% of workers at UK-based firms.
Key findings
- Awareness is better, but still low, among people working at manufacturing, engineering and utilities firms: 28% of people in these industries know the business will be affected by CRC.
- According to the survey, most (54%) of the UK’s bosses have not yet considered whether their organisation should modify its processes to prepare for climate change.
- 74% of bosses of small organisations (with fewer than 50 employees), say they haven’t considered this yet.
- One in three (30%) decision makers say their organisation does not do anything on climate change.
- One in five (21%) frankly admits that climate change is not even on the agenda.
- One in three (32%) bosses say their organisation needs advice and support to meet CRC requirements. The need is greatest among large organisations: 43% with turnover of £5m+ and 46% with 250+ employees say they need to know more and access support on CRC.
- Only 36% of UK bosses say their organisation has audited their annual energy consumption. Only 30% say their organisation has measured its carbon emissions, while 35% have set targets to reduce them. This implies that some organisations have set targets for change without knowing their current level.
- But the results mostly remain behind closed doors: 71% of the UK’s directors and board members say they don’t externally report their organisations’ carbon emissions.
- Manufacturing, engineering and utilities firms are more likely to have measured their carbon emissions and set targets for reducing them, but even here only half (54%) of bosses say they have done so.
- These firms are especially likely to have audited their annual energy consumption: 68% of bosses have done so, possibly because energy consumption has a very visible impact on profit.
- Larger firms are also more likely to have taken first steps. Among firms with 250+ employees 57% of bosses say they have measured carbon emissions, 60% have set targets to reduce them, 64% have audited energy consumption.
- Among firms with £10m+ turnover 54% of bosses have measured emissions, 62% have set targets to reduce them and 61% have audited energy consumption.
- Organisations run by young blood are more likely to be up to speed on energy and emissions issues: 46% of decisions makers aged under 35 say they have audited energy consumption and measured carbon emissions, and 51% have set targets to reduce emissions.
- Even at large organisations (£10m+ turnover), only 42% of bosses are willing to invest in new technology.
- Similarly, only 40% of manufacturing, engineering and utilities bosses are willing to invest in new technology to reduce emissions.
- One in five (22%) workers says their organisation has assigned the responsibility for implementation to a particular group of people.
- A similar proportion (20%) says ‘there’s more of a feeling that we’re all jointly responsible for contributing’.
- Fewer than one in ten (8%) workers say it’s down to the board to implement green policies.
- 15% say that, in reality, it’s down to passionate individuals taking the initiative.
- Even at larger organisations (£10m+ turnover), where there is more likely to be a formal corporate hierarchy, only 38% of workers say anyone has been put in charge of implementing green policies.
- Part of the reluctance for UK plc to engage with the climate change agenda may be because it does not bring obvious commercial benefits. Only a minority of bosses say that engaging with climate change has reduced their cost base (28%), enhanced their market reputation (23%) or increased revenues (18%).
- The absence of visible commercial benefit may explain why 17% of bosses are scaling down their focus on carbon reduction in the current economic situation.
More information
Business Partnerships with Non-Profit
Monday, May 18th, 2009
Author
G. Eweje, N. Palakshappa
Date
May 2009
Region/Country
New Zealand
Description
Collaboration between business and non-profit organizations is becoming increasingly essential as organizations grow in both size and influence, and public pressure intensifies for organizations to address pressing social issues and environmental concerns.
Social partnerships between business and nonprofits are widely promoted as an important new strategy which will bring significant benefits to society. This paper examines how they might collaborate to achieve mutually beneficial objectives.
All of the partnerships reported by this paper were formed to help create a meaningful change in society, i.e. they had a direct impact on the key issues and stakeholders.
Key findings
- CEOs of both businesses and non-profits sought to find a ‘strategic fit’ between their organizations, to use the skills and resources available to them for the community projects initiated in the collaboration.
- Partners tend towards retaining organizational autonomy while joining forces to tackle a shared social problem.
- Firms facing a less coercive external environment and an internal context that supports relationships are more proactive in identifying opportunities to create new knowledge through collaborations.
- The case study organizations exhibit a significantly high level of knowledge of their joint projects and confirm that the skills jointly acquired through the collaborations are significant to the successful outcome of their projects and have been one of the key factors in moving their partnerships into an integrative stage.
- Business and nonprofit partners appear to be actively engaged in the partnerships and have dedicated personnel responsible for the partnerships.
- Business partners in New Zealand have rarely used their collaboration with nonprofits to enhance public perceptions which is in stark contrast with their counterparts in many developed countries.
- Factors such as enduring links, shared understanding, longevity of bridging members, alignment with the institutional environment, and structure have all contributed to successful outcome of collaborations in New Zealand.
- In New Zealand, for a social partnership to be successful, the strategic management of each organization must incorporate the goals of different partners, rather than focusing on self-interests. In addition, rather than operating as individual organizations.
- What remains unclear is how companies in New Zealand can use the relationships as a competitive advantage due to the fact that businesses do not really make their relationship with nonprofits a public issue. Moreover, in a situation where little information is available in the public arena, companies do not make information about social alliances a public relations issue.
- The interview data suggests that this is because it is not ‘the kiwi way’ to ‘shout’ about such activities.
- This is in contrast to most EU countries and the United States, where companies are eager to showcase their collaboration and inform the public and their customers about the projects they have with nonprofits.
More information
Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management (2009), DOI: 10.1002/csr.192