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http://asiasociety.org/corporate-social-responsibility-philippines

This concept paper tackles the important issues and controversies regarding the

social responsibility in the Information age.

Modern Era and Debate on CSR

Apart from issues of CS concerning the employer-employee relationship! the

vie"s on corporate responsibility that had been debated up until the #$%&s had

mainly revolved around the role of companies as social institutions and their

relationship to society in general '(eald! #$)&*. These concerns had been e+pressed

e+plicitly in discussions on "hether or not the companies should engage in

philanthropy! and if so! to "hat e+tent. Initially! the issue of philanthropy focused on

the po"er relationship of management to"ards shareholders and employees! butthe discussion later e+panded to cover the responsibility of companies in certain

social activities such as social "elfare! education! etc. In the #$%&s! there "as a

shift to"ards seeing this responsibility and "ith this shift came an increase in

involvement of business in the society.

Although most of the formal "riting on CS emerged in the t"entieth

century! the modern discussion of CS is said to have started in the #$%&s "ith the

"ork of (o"ard . ,o"en! the ather of Corporate Social esponsibility 'Carroll!

#$$$*. ,o"en stated that by virtue of their strategic position and their

considerable decision-making po"er0 the social responsibility of businessmen is to

pursue those policies to make those decisions or to follo" those lines of action

"hich are desirable in terms of the ob1ectives and values of our society ',o"en!

#$%2*. Arguments "ere made that certain business decisions on social responsibility

could be 1usti3ed on the grounds of leading to economic gains in the long run! the

e+pectations of the public! or the enhancement of the total socio-economic "elfare.

The most famous among the critics at this time is probably 4ilton riedman '#$)&*!

"ho argues that the social responsibility of the corporate e+ecutive is to increase

pro3ts and to conform to the basic rules of society 'la"s and ethical customs*. In the

#$)&s! social responsibility "as related to the need for companies to balance the

interests of di5erent groups. Attempts "ere furthermore made to integrate the

pro3t motive of companies and their mainly economic nature "ith the idea of socialresponsibility. Corporate social performance is a de3nition that comes into use more

during this period! as does the idea of public responsibility of a company. There "as

also discussion of a change in the 6social contract0 bet"een society and business!

that society "as demanding more of companies than 1ust a supply of goods and

services. 'Carroll! #$$$*.

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CSR in the Philippines

The ilipino leaders no" say that more and more companies go beyond

borders of doing e5orts to"ard the society and into incorporating these in their

business strategies. In order to obtain an overvie" of ho" companies practice "hat

they preach about doing good! the 7eague of Corporate oundation commissioned8e"sbreak! an independent media group! to conduct a survey among large

companies operating in the 9hilippines. They designed the survey to determine ho"

the companies0 CS e5orts are integrated into the entire organiation! especially its

pro3t-making aspects. To get a glimpse of ho" potentially sustainable are their CS

e5orts! they also "anted to 3nd out if companies e+ercise the same discipline in

their CS activities as they do "ith their main business.

The survey focused on three ma1or areas: structure and leadership! planning and

funding! and reporting and assessment. These ;uestions help distinguish companies

"ith genuine CS programs from those that merely talk about it.

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Thus! aside from donations! foundations also leverage themselves by forging

partnerships "ith e+ternal groups! including non-governmental organiations and

multilateral 3nancing institutions.

afael 7opa! e+ecutive director of the corporate-led social development foundation

9hilippine ,usiness for Social 9rogress! calls these partnerships Bcollectivephilanthropy.B

BA lot of companies outsource the implementation of their CS pro1ects. or

instance! BS4AT SchoolsB 'education program of a mobile phone giant* and Coca-

Cola Bed SchoolsB 'support for schools* are outsourced to 9,S9. It emphasies on

collective philanthropy!B 7opa e+plains.

Dne signi3cant 3nding of the E# study "as ho" the gro"ing participation of

employees in CS activities has become a "ay to ease CS into ho" the companies

make pro3ts. In the E&&) survey! employee volunteerism "as less prominent "hen

companies designed their philanthropy! event! or other CS activities.

The E# study sho"ed that @EF of the respondents have CS activities that are

opportunities for their "orkers to do volunteer "ork. In the E&&)! it "as only %EF.

The increasing involvement of employees is considered signi3cant in the "ay CS is

transitioning from being an activity outside the main business functions into one

that engages the people that makes the business run. Si+ty percent '@&F* of the

respondents said their employees are a top reason "hy the companies have

engaged in CS.

This 3ndings support various studies on ho" companiesprovide work-life balance to

their employeesby e+posing them in feel good activities. Studies have sho"n that

happy and motivated employees are more productive at "ork. ifty-t"o percent

'%EF* of the respondents in this E# survey said employee satisfaction is a

measure of their CS0s success.

Companies regularly assess performance as part of their business cycle to check if

the entire company and the individual functional groups are far or near their

business goals. It also gives an idea of ho" the company can further improve itself

and move ahead.

(o"ever! only @F of the respondents conduct focus group discussions and #&F

carry out formal assessments to determine if their CS process or impact has been

e5ective. Almost half claim they conduct either formal or informal surveys. orty-si+

percent 'G@F* rely on anecdotes.