Responsible Business Guide: A Toolkit for Winning Companies

RBG
Responsible Business Guide: A Toolkit for Winning Companies
Time to Re-think Business models
It is time that companies, particularly SMEs who think they are small or off the public radar,
look at their way of doing business all over again. It is time to look at existing values,
decision-making structures, and policies and practices not only from the perspective of
owners but of stakeholder opinion and community image.
What differentiates a responsible business from others? It comes down mainly to defining
business strategies that clearly demonstrate that a company is committed to accountable
decision-making when offering its products or services to the market. In a business strategy
that changes in order to place responsibility at its core, everyone in the company must
unlearn and re-learn. Everyone must see that they have a role in making their company
a responsible company. This is perhaps the challenge of CSR today.
Two examples immediately come to mind of companies thinking ahead of their time and
actually transforming their business segment and consumer expectations with a strong
ethical message. Both were ahead of their time, but saw spectacular success.
The Body Shop, a British enterprise, became famous for its nature-based personal care
products sourced from communities and sold in reusable bottles, an innovative idea
bolstered by its principled positions on social and environmental issues such as animal
testing, women and children rights, and protection of endangered species at a time when
it was not fashionable. The company introduced direct community sourcing for its products,
expanding from 15 to over 300 suppliers between 1976 and 2007. It set an example of
self-accountability and “ethical consumerism” by opening up to independent social audits.
By the time it was acquired by L’Oreal in 2006, The Body Shop had 2,000 retail outlets in
61 countries, and owner Dame Anita Roddick had become synonymous with ethical
entrepreneurship.
The other example of transformational ethical entrepreneurship comes from Pakistan.
Saga Sports was like any family-owned producer of hand-stitched footballs until it created
a values-driven community production model. At a time when football companies were
highlighted as poor examples of child labor and coercive work practices, Saga established
village-based units producing quality footballs in compliance with international labor
standards. In an industry perpetually at risk from a mobile, informal labor force and
seasonal work, Saga created stability and up to 9,000 regular jobs by institutionalizing
ethical values and a caring work environment. Initially resisted, its model workplaces and
process efficiencies combined with verifiable product integrity are now the standard in
Sialkot. Ironically, a violation of its own standards cost Saga its business in 2007.
Responsible Business Initiative 13