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?“We have a fairly rigorouspre-qualification process.We certainly do a lot inensuring that our goodssuppliers and our serviceproviders meet certainstandards or otherwisethey won’t do businesswith us. We have clearlydefined business ethics,we have declarations thatsuppliers have to make,we do investigations onour own depending onthe contractor or serviceprovider that we aredealing with.”Eugen Tiah, CEOPhoenix Park Gas ProcessorsLtd.For some industries such as thefinancial services sector, an importantaspect of CSR-driven compensation isthe area of risk management and itsimplications for potentially damagingeffects on corporate reputation. Thedevelopment of CSR-specific keyShould CSR be practised throughout the entiresupply chain?2.9%97.1%YesNoperformance indicators (KPIs) in thisarea could serve as an example for otherindustries to integrate CSR targets intoindividual performance assessments,something that requires the settingof measurable targets. Companiesthat practise strategic CSR areperceptible to the dynamics, demandsand pressures generated throughoutthe entire supply chain. In the wordsof Berry Ferdinand, ManagingDirector of Bewil & Company Ltd,his own business ethics was cruciallyinformed by a change of thinking andentrepreneurial practise on the part ofhis supply chain environment and hisbusiness partners: “We were involvedin the representation of companiesthat demanded that we took note of allthe CSR-specific requirements in themarketplace. The whole landscape interms of supplying services changedand our business partners demandedthat we pay a little more attentionto things like staff welfare or that wepay attention to the environment. Sogradually we learned that to stay inbusiness you needed to fall in line andyou also needed to be concerned abouta little bit more than just profits”.97.1% of all CEOs interviewed went onrecord as saying that CSR should bepractised throughout the entire supplychain. The latter enables businessowners, managers and boards to setsocial and environmental standardsfor external actors demandingthat suppliers are in compliancewith regulatory frameworks, goodbusiness practices and internationallyagreed industrial relations regimes.At the same time, supply chainsprovide interest groups and activistmovements with an entry pointfor scrutinising especially globallyoperating businesses and theirprofessed sustainability commitmentsthus contributing towards corporateaccountability. Critics would arguethat in the past, such scrutinyhas engendered “negative publicsentiments and invariably resentmentstowards […] global brands following‘irresponsible’ behaviour along theirsupply chain” 19 and that companiescannot necessarily be held responsibleIs your company seeking to implementsustainability criteria throughout its supply chain?46.9%53.1%YesNo19 Kenneth Ameshi, Onyeka Kingsley Osuji, Paul Nnodim, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains of Global Brands: A Boundaryless Responsibility? Clarifications, Exceptions andImplications, in: Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 81, No.1, p.226.26