The View from the Boardroom - UNDP Trinidad and Tobago

The View from the Boardroom - CEO Study on Corporate Social Responsibility in Trinidad and TobagoCHAPTER 1CSR in Trinidad and Tobago – Strategic Evolution or Preserving the Status Quo?CSR in Trinidad and Tobago –Strategic Evolution orPreserving the Status Quo?CHAPTER 1In 2008, a pioneering study on the practice of CSR in Trinidad and Tobagopublished jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) andthe STCIC (now Energy Chamber) found that in their social commitments themajority of T&T-based companies focused predominantly on the philanthropicmodality of Charitable Giving, something that suggested a strong emphasis onreputation management through public relations and a ‘hand-out’ mentalityunderlying local CSR efforts. At the same time, the research produced only scarceevidence of any strategic integration of CSR principles and considerations intocompanies’ business processes and into their overall planning framework. Theauthors of the study concluded that “many programmes and projects are fundedon an ad hoc basis resulting in a lack of sustainability and alignment with thecompanies’ business plans.” 7Such findings were not confined toTrinidad and Tobago’s Private Sectorbut characterised other Caribbeanmarkets as well. 8 Arguably, CSR hasbecome an increasingly familiarfeature of companies competing inthe local market place. CEOs acrosssectors and industries representingmultinational, larger national as wellas Small and Medium Size Enterprises(SMEs) have embraced the notionthat in today’s corporate world,sustainable business practices and acommitment to the public commongood have become a permanentbehavioural reality. The launch ofthe ISO 26000 by the Trinidad andTobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS)in October 2011 is a case in point forillustrating such growing convictionand signaled the readiness of thelocal market environment to adoptinternationally recognised standardsof corporate responsibility. Everysingle CEO interviewed for this reportacknowledged that businesses have aresponsibility for contributing towardssocial wellbeing and environmentalsustainability. Seeking to transcendthe strict separation between themoral dimension of wealth creationand the commercial interest in profitmaximisation, Norman Christie,President of bpTT uses the concept ofSustainability to explain his reasoningbehind the integration of CSR into hismanagerial decision-making process:“I like the idea of long-term thinking.Truly realising what long-term meanspromotes a reconciliation of the strictprofit motive and a motive that mightbe viewed as more altruistic and beingdone to satisfy society. The point thatI hold is that the two motives canconverge if a person thinks about thelong-term. When I define ‘sustainable’I define it actually in a way thatcauses the convergence of the longtermsurvivability of a company orenterprise and people and the planet.”7 Mapping Corporate Social Responsibility in Trinidad and Tobago – Private Sector and Sustainable Development’, UNDP/STCIC Mapping Project 2007, p.8 The Jamaica Employers’ Federation highlighted a similar focus of its member companies on philanthropy and charitable giving in its report ‘Corporate Social Responsibility in Jamaica 2007’.See also Fabio Balboni, Wayne Charles-Soverall, Brigette McDonald Levy, ‘New Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility in the Caribbean’, Caribbean Development Review, No.1, p.27.17