Often when we think about CSR and China an image of big Western multinationals and sweatshops come to mind. But as the Chinese economy develops and foreign direct investment (FDI) out of China increases we start to see the flipside of the CSR coin. How will Chinese companies navigate the rules of engagement when it comes to CSR in the West? Read More…
Employee satisfaction – Easy wins in CSR
As a Gen Y’er, I often get frustrated about being pigeonholed into being difficult, demanding and over-confident. In fact the whole conversation bores me to tears, apart from the increasing demand by employees worldwide for more qualitative job satisfaction. The change in how people perceive their role in the workplace to moving beyond a monetary exchange for service should be celebrated and seen as an opportunity to foster burgeoning CSR policies. Read More…
Things are different here – CSR in China
Foreign companies implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in China often face an uphill battle. A quote from an individual working in the textiles industry in China highlights:
“One of the biggest problems with ethical manufacturing guidelines in China is that often people do their best to work around them, regardless of what company policy requires.”
So why does it seem so hard? Read More…
Dammed if you do, damned if you don’t?
The benefit of large hydroelectricity dams has long been a topic of great controversy. It was brought back to my attention today with the Three Gorges Dam in China ‘Facing its biggest challenge yet’. Heavy flooding in Sichuan province has seen 146 lives lost with 40 more people missing. 1000 farmers have also been evacuated, the China Daily reports.
The World Commission on Dams spent 2 years researching the effectiveness of large scale dams like the Three Gorges Dam, so are they really worth it? Read More…
A Fair Trade kinda girl
The concept of Fair Trade (products that are grown/made/processed/bought ethically) has sky rocketed in the past 5 years. Oxfam, has capitalised on the concept through their Fair Trade stores and the number of brands selling Fair Trade coffee and chocolate has jumped dramatically. Read More…
Avoid reinventing the wheel
Strategic and effective Corporate Social Responsibility goes beyond cash donations and clever marketing. The potential synergy between the corporate and development worlds is not leveraged enough when it comes to engaging the broader community in delivering development assistance.
Land of a Thousand Elephants
My friend asked me for some travel advice for her upcoming trip to Laos, (also known as the land of a thousand elephants) so I thought I would share it here along with some recommendations for a bit of inspirational reading and background about this gorgeous country.
“I ride a free bike to work everyday”
In Australia, China is often in the media about environmental destruction, pollution and global warming. Painting China as an industrial beast that will stop at nothing to fuel its 4 trillion dollar economy. While I am not disputing this fact whole-heartedly, China is not given enough credit for environmental friendly policies they have implemented or embraced. One example I read about is bike sharing.
Tribewanted
Is eco-tourism merely a rhetorical front for mass uncontrolled tourism? This is an age-old question for any one who works in the industry. Unfortunately the answer is ‘yes’ for many of the so called eco or green tourism products. However, there are solid eco-tourism or pro-poor sustainable tourism products that are impacting positively on people’s lives. An article in the Guardian highlights one eco-tourism project developed by a young English entrepreneur in Sierra Leone and Fiji called Tribewanted. Tribewanted was:
“designed to marry the powers of the internet and green tourism to set up an eco-community on the palm-fringed Fijian island of Vorovoro”. (Davies, Guardian)
This project seems to be a shining example of how eco-tourism should be done but what are the challenges projects such as Tribewanted face and it is really as good as it sounds?
Haagen-Daz Help the Honey Bees
Help the Honey Bees is a refreshing example of how to engage with corporate social responsibility or CSR. Not to be confused with the Australian sugar company, don’t laugh it’s happened before. Often talk around CSR strategy can make eyes glaze over and for some is more about marketing and PR than actually being socially responsible.
Help the Honey Bees is a targeted campaign that makes sense to the brand involved, is engaging and short of saving the honey bees has brought worldwide attention and awareness to the plight of the little buzzers. I will leave you with my favourite clip from the campaign, but stay tuned for future blogs about CSR and the missed opportunities for collaboration that are passing us by.
Recent Comments