SHAPE Magazine 1 / 2013 - SCA

COMMUNITY
RELATIONS
But following a turbocharged maturity period,
eff orts have today been consolidated.
Value creation, rooted in a company’s operations
and business strategy, and a focus on good local
relations are the sustainable formula for corporate
community relations.
“Today I would no longer talk about CSR for
companies, but just community relations,” says
Lutz Meyer, the head of a public relations company
responsible for German Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s re-election campaign. “The relationship
with the local community is today of fundamental
importance for the long-term success of all modern
organizations.
“Today companies must act as good citizens –
accountable, transparent and generally decent in
their contact with their neighbors. As John F. Kennedy
once said, ‘Ask not what your country can do
for you – ask what you can do for your country.’”
A large number of the world’s most successful
companies are trying to be good neighbors
for commercial reasons.
8 SCA SHAPE 1 2013
“Being a good company is simply not good
enough,” says Allyson Park, vice president of corporate
external aff airs at the Coca-Cola Company.
“If we are to achieve our business goals, we will
need to grow in a way that continues to enrich the
world around us.”
The soft drinks giant is one example of a company
working actively on local relations in places
where the company has operations. The approach
is one way of helping to protect the global brand
from damage ranging from legal action alleging
SCA is greening
communities and
deforested areas, such
as in Mongolia
(page 13).