This presentation discusses corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of two major mobile operator companies in Bangladesh - Grameenphone and Banglalink.
For Grameenphone, their CSR initiatives include free healthcare services for mothers and infants, eye care support restoring vision for over 3,000 people, and providing information access to remote communities. Banglalink's CSR includes annual coastal cleanups, awareness campaigns, and setting up computer labs in 270 schools.
The presentation also outlines debates around whether CSR is inherently part of business or not, who is responsible for environmental issues, and whether CSR is truly costly. Both sides of arguments are presented around maximizing profits versus social responsibilities.
2. Definitions and Relationships
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the process by
which businesses negotiate their role in society
CSR is the way a corporation achieves a balance among its
economic, social, and environmental responsibilities in its
operations,
CSR is important because the business system is the
mechanism selected by society to produce and distribute
goods and services
CSR was to operate profitably, and the corporation could
not survive without profits, much less play a social role.
3. Recent Evidence of CSR Interest
An Internet search turns up 15,000 plus response to
corporate citizenship
Journals increasingly rate businesses (and NGOs)
on socially responsive criteria:
Best place to work
Most admired
Best (and worst) corporate reputation
4. Why CSR Activities are Important?
CSR activities are important to and even expected by
the public and they are easily monitored worldwide
CSR activities help organizations hire and retain the
people they want
CSR activities contribute to business performance
5. Maximize
firms profits to
the exclusion
of all else
Balance profits
and social
objectives
Do what it
takes to
make a
profit; skirt
the law; fly
below
social
radar
Fight social
responsibility
initiatives
Comply;
do what
is
legally
required
Integrate
social
objectives
and business
goals
Lead the
industry
and other
businesse
s with best
practices
Do more than
required; e.g.
engage in
philanthropic
giving
Articulate
social value
objectives
Corporate Social Responsibility Continuum
6. CSR are Grounded by Opposing Objectives
(Maximize Profits to Balance Profits with Social
Responsibility) and so Activities Range Widely
Do what it takes to make a profit; skirt the law; fly below
social radar
Fight CSR initiatives
Comply with legal requirements
Do more than legally required, e.g., philanthropy
Articulate social (CSR) objectives
Integrate social objectives and business goals
Lead the industry on social objectives
7. Businesses CSR Activities
Philanthropy
give money or time or in kind to charity
Integrative philanthropyselect beneficiaries aligned
with company interests
Philanthropy will not enhance corporate
reputation if a company
fails to live up to its philanthropic image or
if consumers perceive philanthropy to be manipulative
8. Integrate CSR Globally
Incorporate values to make it part of an articulated
belief system
Act worldwide on those values
Cause-related marketing
Cause-based cross sector partnerships
Engage with stakeholders
Primary stakeholders
Secondary stakeholders
9. Summarry and Importance of CSR
CSR is the way a corporation achieves a balance among
its economic, social, and environmental
responsibilities in its operations,
CSR is important because the business system is the
mechanism selected by society to produce and
distribute goods and services
CSR was to operate profitably, and the corporation
could not survive without profits, much less play a
social role.
10. Three Perspectives of Social
Responsibility
Economic Perspective
The responsibility of business is to make a profit within the rules of the
game.
Organizations cannot be moral agents. Only individuals can serve as
moral agents.
Public Responsibility
Businesses should act in a way that is consistent with societys view of
responsible behavior, as well as with established laws and policies.
Social Responsiveness
Business should proactively seek to contribute to and improve society in a
positive way.
Organizations should develop an internal environment that encourages
and supports ethical behavior at an individual level.
12. 1. History of CSR
A.Concept
a.corporate social responsibility- 1970s
b.The inclusion of public interest into corporate
decision-making
B.The Triple Bottom Line
a.People, planet, profit OR
b.Economic progress, environmental progress,
social progress
13. Summary of Presentation
1. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) current Status
Two Major Mobile operator Companies in
Bangladesh
2.Praise and Criticism
3. Pros/Cons-the Debate
4.Conclusion and Recommendations
14. 2. Current Status- Mobile Operator
Companies
A.Grammenphone
B.Banglalink.
15. A. Grameenphone
a.Background
i. Founded in 1997
ii. Leading Telecommunication Operator company in
Bangladesh and more than 50 million subscriber
iii. More than 4,100 employees all over the countries
16. A. CSR of Grameenphone
Safe Motherhood & Infant Care Project- More than 1.7
million free primary healthcare services to
underprivileged pregnant mothers & their infants.
Free eye care support for around 28,780 people- 3,458
eye sights restored so far.
Awareness building on varied national issues- AIDS,
National Immunization Day.
Information boats with digitized livelihood contents
and internal access for remote revering communities.
Economic freedom for more than 400,000 Village Phone
Operators.
More than 500 Community Information Centers-
connecting life and learning.
17. A. Grameenphone
Proud sponsor of Bangladesh Special Olympics team.
Proud sponsor of Bangladesh National Cricket team.
Employment opportunity to acid survivors.
Scholarship for underprivileged meritorious students.
Blood donation camps for underprivileged Thalassaemia
patients.
Establishment of Blood Bank at Bogra for
underprivileged patients.
Emergency relief effort in natural calamities.
18. A. Grameenphone (Other Activities)
i. It operates the national Village Phone programme,
alongside its own parent Grameen Bank and
the International Finance Corporation (IFC), acting as the
sole provider of telecommunications services to a number
of rural areas.
ii. Community Information Center (CIC) or GPCIC is
aimed at providing internet access and
other communications services to rural areas.
iii. Grameenphone center (GPC) serves as a "one stop
solution" for customers, with all telecommunications
products and services, under a single roof.
20. B. Banglalink
a.Background
i. Founded in 2005
ii. Second Leading Telecommunication Service
Operator company in Bangladesh and near about
30 million subscriber
iii. More than 3,000 employees working all over the
country
21. B. Banglalink
a. CSR
i. International costal cleanup programme organize every
year to removing trash and debris from different sea
beaches
ii. TV advertisements to aware people in various service
iii. It provides free phone service, free drinking water and free
bus service from Hajj camp to the airport for the Hajjis in every
year.
iv. It has taken special initiative to distribute blankets among
the orphan children of many orphanages around the country
which are in great need for it during winter season.
22. B. Banglalink
CSR Continuing,
v. Banglalink distributed free water and dates for the fasting
people who got stranded at major traffic points of selected
metro cities around iftar time during Ramadan.
vi. It has set up computer labs in 270 schools at different parts
of the country in 2011. The computer labs are equipped with PC,
laptop, internet modem, multimedia projector, speakers and
microphone.
vii. It is focused on reducing environmental footprints (EHS
environment, health & safety)that is hazardous and at the same
time striving hard to improve performance employees,
contractors, and communities.
24. 3. Praise and Criticism
A.Companies
a. Mixed reviews
b.Difficulty in distinguish true motives
c. Starting point
25. 3. Praise and Criticism
B. The 2011 CSRI Index
i. Institute of Business Administration Department of
Dhaka University and the Other Reputation Institute
ii. Corporations strong interest in stakeholder opinion
iii. Combined average
1. citizenship, governance and workplace
26. 3. Praise and Criticism
C. Top 15 most socially responsible companies
i. Top position hold by Leading Telecommunication
Service Operator company in Bangladesh .
ii. The Mobile Telecommunication companies ranked
the top 15 in the perception of U.S. industries and whole
world also.
27. 4. Pros/Cons-The Debate
Q: Is it in the nature of business to engage in CSR?
C: No. CSRs increase costs-> less efficient
P: Yes. Social aspects of corporations
C: Posner-> goal towards profits
P: Power of corporations
28. 4. The Debate
Q: Whose job is it to address environmental issues?
P: corporations are in a unique position to impact our
environment
C: The government can enact changes to remedy
environmental issues
P: inefficient and ineffective governments
C: spread the financial burden
29. 4. The Debate
Q: Are CSR initiatives necessarily costly?
C: Yes. New expenditure. Corporations should only look
to stakeholder interest.
P: No. Customer loyalty, human resources objectives,
risk management, brand differentiation, and the ability
to attract investors
30. 4. The Debate
Q: Closing words
C: Give money back to shareholders. They can decide
how to invest
P: Win-Win projects
#3: Companies can engage in CSR activities even while they are acting in unethical ways. For example, Enron was a champion of community involvement, but used off-balance-sheet partnerships to bilk investors and eventually ruin the company. Similarly Parmalat helped many Parma people and gave $2 million to restore the sixteenth-century Correggio frescoes at Parma Cathedral. But he diverted hundreds of millions from publicly held Parmalat to family owned companies like soccer team Parma AC and Parmatour.
Companies can say one thing and do another.
#4: Bullet 1 from Fleming, John E. (2004). Corporate citizenship revisited. AOM Newsletter, 35(1): 4.
A 2002 U.S. poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal/NBC showed public esteem for business leaders dropped following reports that companies like Enron, Andersen, and others. Fifty seven percent of respondents said corporate standards and values dropped in the past 20 years compared with 38% who said they were the same. This compares to 1998 when respondents reports were 5342%. They proportionately said government should regulate business, and that has occurred, for example Sarbanes-Oxley. From: Harwood, John. (2002, April 11). Publics esteem for business falls in wake of Enron scandal. WSJ, D5.
Corporate scandals in Japan (former Mitsubishi Motors executive arrested on suspicion of professional negligence re: defective truck parts); Citibank turfed from Japan for irregularities.
Corporate scandals also in Europe: ABB and Barnevik pay; hold kickbacks to suppliers; also make this a worldwide phenomenon.