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“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.” – late Robert Kennedy. While this may sound too idealistic in the current competitive scenario, Lord Michael Hastings, KPMG’s global head of citizenship and diversity, says businesses can strongly relate to this. 

Developing skilled local labour is imperative for the success of businesses and in a young economy like Oman’s, development is best achieved through a close collaboration of the business community with society. Today companies need to go beyond the traditional notion of corporate social responsibility and go that extra mile to develop global corporate citizenship programmes to emerge successfully, says Hastings, who was in Oman to support the launch of KPMG’s plans for Childcare Center. 

Developed as an initiative for homeless children, Childcare Center, the brainchild of the Ministry of Social Development, has rehabilitated more than 150 children. It houses a library, gym, sports ground, recreational facilities and also an internal training centre for mothers. KPMG has been providing supplies and sports equipment for the center, but now plans are set in motion to collaborate with international schools and develop training programmes that include education sponsorships, internships and career counseling for the children at the center. 

KPMG will also collaborate with other private sector firms and public entities to bring onboard more corporates. These initiatives are not just intended to be a charitable noble cause, but they also make business sense. Hastings points out that with widespread tensions among the growing youth in the Middle East, it is important for them to believe that businesses are on their side. 

“A lot can be achieved if different communities work together with a strong vision for a society that wants to develop itself in the long term. Business is at the heart of that as making profit is critical to providing the resources. So with our support for the Childcare Center, we are saying that there needs to be a positive place for business and society to come together. The children of the future need to believe that business is on their side and not just as employers or even as sellers of products; that our commitment is to their future as the population grows. As the need for skilled labour increases, we can help them put it all together.”

From this stems the development of a strong global corporate citizenship, a concept that has not exactly been a strong catchphrase in the sultanate despite CSR initiatives by several private organisations. “While CSR is about local activities, global citizenship is about the place of a business or an organisation in the global affairs, where companies have to show that they are globally minded, passionate and thoughtful in order to get noticed. 

Now more than ever, we live in an interconnected business world and environment. Hence a national issue doesn’t just affect one part of the world. Where there is pressure on one part of the world, like climate, it affects the other regions as well, ” says Hastings. Global citizenship is also about individuals in businesses conveying to the world that they are not just people belonging to a community in one city, but are interconnected through all the forces and themes that threaten the environment, such as security of food supplies, the continuity of business and big risks to global finance. 

The individual, who need not necessarily be from the senior management, is at the core of making decisions to change certain aspects of society that don’t work into something effective by devoting skills and time, working alongside businesses. In this subject, Oman can emerge successfully by honing on its culture, which will in turn help develop a young economy, points out Hastings. “Business is thriving in Oman and it is a wealthy country. 

From what I have seen so far, there is a clear focus on generosity as a result of this and an open interest by the society to engage in children’s welfare. There are open conversations about disabilities and there is a huge presence of women in leadership which is a big step forward for a country in this region. So for both the local and international companies here, we are challenging them to say that there is a greater need for investment in children’s welfare, especially education programmes, skills development and leadership and we are asking people to join us.” 

Hence every individual in an organisation needs to be involved in the global corporate citizenship initiatives of that company. According to Hastings, this initiative is bound to capture the attention of several private organisations here and it is only a matter of time before the concept of global corporate citizenship evolves in this market. But in order to have a successful global corporate citizenship programme, businesses need to understand cultural diversity and implement it within and outside the organisation. 

Hastings’ optimistic outlook has much to do with his extensive experience in this field. With an honour of a Commander of the British Empire and an independent Peer from the British House of Lords, Hastings previously served as BBC’s first head of corporate social responsibility. Hastings is also a trustee of the Vodafone Group Foundation and represents KPMG International on the global corporate citizenship international committee of the World Economic Forum. He has also received a UNICEF award from the then UK Chancellor Gordon Brown MP and Lord David Puttnam for his contribution to understanding and effecting solutions for African children.

On a personal level, these are no small accolades for this gentleman from Scarisbrick. So in the spirit of global corporate citizenship and understanding cultural diversity, Hastings has an important message to the ethnic minorities. “Don’t get absorbed by your external features or just by your culture. If you do this, you will lose the opportunity to be a positive person in an integrated world. Stop measuring your place in the world as a minority and get consumed with the characteristics that are internal that make for generosity, commitment, seriousness, innovation and enterprise.” 

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