SHAPE Magazine 1 / 2013 - SCA

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COMMUNITY RELATIONS these issues has varied. PR departments, human resources and those working with environmental management have shown the most interest, while fi nance departments have been more skeptical. But I think we’re seeing a change here and an understanding that this is a way of creating increased value for the company.” He describes the basis of corporate community relations as a “win-win situation” in which both the company and the community benefi t from the initiatives. Relationship building with the local community can fulfi ll various purposes: it may be about marketing the company to local target groups, but also about preventing crises through understanding and good relations with important stakeholders. JUTTERSTRÖM SEES a trend today in which the various concepts in CSR and community relations are aligned and partly converge. “It’s basically about seeing the company’s role in the world and managing those relationships well because it’s good for business in the long term,” he says. Are companies taking over functions that society was previously responsible for? “That’s hard to say,” Jutterström says. “Society sets the framework in many areas through rules and regulations at national or supranational level, such as in the European Union. But there are major diff erences between various countries with different traditions. In the United States, companies traditionally have a stronger role as a community player. But we’re increasingly seeing initiatives, such as corporate branded multipurpose arenas.” Today most people agree that long-termism gives shareholders a better return over time. Even Jack Welch, the former General Electric CEO who was embraced as a superhero of capitalism, has expressed sympathy with this view. “On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world,” Welch told the Financial Times in 2009. “Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy. Your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products.” 10 SCA SHAPE 1 2013 LOCAL is the SCA way As a hygiene and forest industry company whose products touch many lives, SCA has a history of solid community relations. In fact, locally supported community involvement is a part of the business strategy. Kersti Strandqvist, senior vice president, corporate sustainability. “ WE’VE ALWAYS had an important role to play, and we see it as an opportunity to make a diff erence in people’s lives,” says Kersti Strandqvist, senior vice president, corporate sustainability at SCA. “Maintaining good community relations is a boon to all parties because it instills pride in our employees, creates goodwill in the community and contributes to enhancing customer loyalty.” With its roots in the Swedish forest industry, SCA has a long history of local community relations. Although its business today is global, its perspective is local, embracing small-scale collaborations around the world. These can include anything from conducting training programs to breaking taboos to distributing sanitary pads in refugee camps. “Our goal is not to take over the role of civil society, but to contribute in fi elds where we have our core competence and interests,” Strandqvist says. “This creates a foundation for long-term eff orts and real, measurable eff ects.”
When SCA joins a project, it needs to be one that creates clear value for the company, and this helps to ensure the company’s long-term commitment, Strandqvist says. “This may occur through expanding awareness in fi elds that are important to us, such as teaching children good hand hygiene, teaching young girls about puberty and menstruation, and training nurses in incontinence care,” she says. “Our involvement enhances the value of our brand and contributes to good, mutually rewarding relationships.” SCA’s eff orts to be a good corporate citizen are based on several guiding principles. Projects should be clearly linked to the company’s business strategy and to the geographic areas in which the company operates. All collaborations should be long-term and should be partnerships with a clear allocation of roles. Projects should also have a direct link to the company’s products, as with educational initiatives in the fi elds of health, hygiene and incontinence care. Musah from South Sudan poses in front of a newly built latrine, a project within the Oxfam-SCA partnership. “ Our involvement enhances the value of our brand.” Kersti Strandqvist, SCA. Community relations by focus areas Environment 28% Health and Hygiene 25% Emergency Relief 19% Sports/Culture 12% Other 6% Donations 5% Education 5% SCA SHAPE 1 2013 11
Page 1 and 2: 1.2013 A MAGAZINE FROM SCA ON TREND
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS 06. The greater good Part
Page 5 and 6: GETTY IMAGES Wooden house facade in
Page 7 and 8: Good Neighbor Inc. A growing number
Page 9: “ Investing in the community shou
Page 13 and 14: 5 % 3 New trees in Inner Mongolia E
Page 15 and 16: A QUEST to save the world The world
Page 17 and 18: corporate leaders, Nobel laureates
Page 19 and 20: Nouvelle serviette Nana Dry Fast el
Page 21 and 22: “In today’s market, if you stan
Page 24 and 25: TECHNOLOGY A lighter forest footpri
Page 26 and 27: 88 YEARS OLD for a day “Instantly
Page 28 and 29: MARKET It’s diffi cult and it hur
Page 30 and 31: SHAPE UP Check Recycled cycling AN
Page 32 and 33: Ulrika leaves the house with her yo
Page 34 and 35: FACTS Waterline length: 70 ft (21.5
Page 37 and 38: The phone wears Prada Companies fro
Page 39 and 40: H&M and Maison Martin Margiela. Pra
Page 41 and 42: The solar collection tubes help Pat
Page 43 and 44: Booming e-commerce in South Africa

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