CEMS Magazine | May 2011
Interview
My name is Agnieszka Łyniewska and I come from Poland, where I started my CEMS programme at Warsaw School of Economics. I spent my semester at Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and graduated from CEMS in 2008.
An opportunity created by CEMS Participation in the CEMS programme created for me a great opportunity to explore the CSR topic further. I had chosen NHH for my host school deliberately. Studying in Norway, with its reputation of transparent corporate practice and CSR guidelines for the oil fund widely considered as an international best practice, helped me to decide to focus on development and the social impact of business in my professional career.
Currently, I work as an economist at the World Bank in the Finance and Private Sector Development Department. I am based in Dar es Salaam and in my work I cover Tanzania.
Corporate Social Responsibility for me is a multifaceted notion that forms a part of my everyday job. The CSR agenda is maturing, the concept has not yet taken hold in many developing countries. In my work I am constantly faced with challenges to ensure that social In my current position, I am mostly advising the and environmental standards are met throughout the Government of Tanzania on issues regarding private value chains and the same standards are incorporated sector development in the country. I am preparing a by public institutions. recommendation for supporting the tourism sector and strengthening the business environment. I analyse micro-constraints to economic growth in the country CEMS Social Responsibility and together with a team of colleagues and I am looking My CEMS experience definitely helped me to into possible options of World Bank support to Southern develop a better understanding of CSR complexities in Agriculture Growth Corridor of Tanzania initiative. the global business world. As a CEMS graduate, you My work, as well as my life here, is very diversified cannot only understand how social and environmental and there is no place for boredom. Dar es Salaam (in involvement is becoming an integral part of strategy English “House of Peace”) is a very multicultural city of many corporations, but also discover which part of with Swahili, Arabic and Indian influences. The things CSR you would like to pursue in your future career. As I enjoy most about being here is the international CSR is such a broad and encompassing concept, you community of very interesting people and the location can put it into practice in every workplace. However, if you think about specifically focusing on CSR issues, of the city right by the Indian Ocean. I would recommend getting involved in CSR-related activities already during your studies, which will enable The beginnings of a passion you to get hands-on experience and build a professional network in the field. The CSR concept became important to me already during my university education. While studying at Warsaw School of Economics, I was also completing another Master, in psychology. One of my fields of interest was people’s perception of “socially involved" products. Therefore, I conducted a research project investigating willingness to pay extra premium for fair trade labelled coffee in polish society. This first encounter with corporate social responsibility provided some startling results: the level of societal development affects the importance people attach to the CSR concept.
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