From the companies

To better sizing the issue, we have heard some points of view of companies in different countries as every one of them have a “Fil Rouge”, each boasts an excellent business climate, determined by the Great Place to Work Institute® as the Best Places to Work. To each we posed three questions to reflect their opinions on the subject, and here we have them reported.

WHAT IS CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPOnSIBILITY?

Corporate social responsibility is a voluntary and a strategic commitment, a way to achieve, (from an ethical and transparent attempt) the business objectives; the fulfillment of our duty and of the law, promoting sustainable growth and human development, and deepening the relationships of equity with our stakeholders, actively assuming the leading role as a responsible company, a way to meet the present and future needs of the Society.

• PERU The company Belcorp, believe social responsibility to be a philosophy rather than a strategy; Daniella Barbieri, Belcorp CSR Manager says “In my country, the implementation of CSR is still at an early stage. Many companies still think of corporate social responsibility exclusively as the work they do with their community. But there are also other companies that have understood the concept correctly and are currently managing stakeholder expectations”. • JAPAn In Japan, a variety of corporate social responsibilities are considered to be important. Among them the Brother Group, think the following issues of CSR is important for their sector, especially for the manufacturing industy. Toshihiro Izuhara (in Brother Industries, since 1986), who is responsible for Environmental Communication, Social Contribution and transmission of CSR and the environment, lists the main topics on which his company works as “Responsibilities to our customers, responsibilities to our employees, responsibilities to the environment, with a particular focus on a) Energy saving in products; b) Reduction in CO2 emissions during production; and c) Biodiversity conservation as the host country of COP10.” • IRELAnD Michele Ryan is the HR Director for McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland. Michele states that “corporate social responsibility is the core element of how to do business”. In Ireland, corporate social responsibility covers a wide range of initiatives of many companies, including of course Mc Donalds, “One of them is how we work with our people. We want to make sure they are fully embraced and respected, and this can be regarded by our multicultural or disabled employees”. • FRAnCE The corporate social responsibility is a major stake in France. A lot of companies get gradually involved in sustainable development. In France, corporate social responsibility refers to companies’ citizenship: companies are more and more expected to respect their employees and obviously, not to relocate their activities. If a French company lays off its employees and relocates in Asia, it will be blamed for being irresponsible. Carine Evano, Communication Manager of Nature & Découvertes (France), informs us that nowadays the concept is that environmental stakes are added to social ones. French consumers declare to take into account the environmental and social criterias while purchasing. “Therefore, Nature & Découvertes aims at giving better information about its social and environmental responsibility to customers and also sharing practices which reconcile the economic performance, the human development and the conservation of natural resources.” Carine says. The key terms that describe Lyreco’s (France) corporate social responability B2B distribution office supplies, from the point of view of Thibault Lamiaux, who has been working for Lyreco France since 1999, and who is the Human Resources Director since 2006, are “Respecting legal rules, people and of course, encouraging diversity, supporting those that are the most “frail” and creating a pleasant and efficient working environment”. • ARGEnTInA Juan Martín Uncina, Vice President of Human Resources of TGS, and Daniel Perrone, Vice President of Regulatory & Public Affairs of TGS (The major companies in Argentina that undertake corporate social responsibility) both depart from the concept that the “commitment to contribute to sustainable development, with the participation of main stakeholders or special interest groups, with the aim to improve the quality of life of the society as a whole”. Another Argentine manager, Julio Bresso who is the General Coordinator of all the issues related to corporate social responsibility in Mapfre Argentina, states “In Argentina there is not a single definition for corporate social responsibility, in fact it is still in debate whether it should be named as; Corporate, Citizenship or Social Responsibility”. •