By Rahima al Kharusiya — It is a good sign that a number of private companies are identifying their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) in the day to day operations of their businesses. While hailing this move as a highly positive trend that can impact the lives of many around us, and while I understand that it is too early to assess their results, I strongly feel that more and more companies should start thinking over their commitment to the society and come forward with nobler ideas to be implemented in order to ‘make a difference’ in someone else’s life.
By and large, is it just the piling profits that a company should always aim at? In a survey conducted in this matter in the United States, majority of the corporate notches, business emperors and key personnel said that CSR is an indispensable part of their business.
What does 'Corporate Social Responsibility' mean anyway? Is it a stalking horse for an anti-corporate agenda? Something which, like original sin, you can never escape? Or what?
Different organisations have framed different definitions — although there is considerable common ground between them.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its publication ‘Making Good Business Sense’ by Lord Holme and Richard Watts, defined CSR as “Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large”.
My own definition about CSR is that “It is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society”.
The idea of CSR comes from the very thought that we are making something from the society and society is the basis of our entity; we owe the society a portion of our profits just the way companies give bonuses to their employees for their services over a period of time.
The European model is much more focused on operating the core business in a socially responsible way, complemented by investment in communities for solid business case reasons. Personally, I believe this model is more sustainable because social responsibility becomes an integral part of the wealth creation process — which if managed properly should enhance the competitiveness of business and maximise the value of wealth creation to society. When times get hard, there is the incentive to practice CSR more and better — if it is a philanthropic exercise which is peripheral to the main business, it will always be the first thing to go when push comes to shove.
So, while it is welcoming to note that companies are doing much more than they can do towards CSR, the Omani private business arena is yet to catch up with a strong sense of social commitment so that more and more companies would come forward and offer something or the other to the needy around us. When we note that a few companies are always in the forefront doing such initiatives, I strongly believe that it can turn out to be an inspiration and motivation to others as well.