The View from the Boardroom - UNDP Trinidad and Tobago

The View from the Boardroom - CEO Study on Corporate Social Responsibility in Trinidad and TobagoCHAPTER 2Government, Consumers and Employees – The Drivers of CSRand Tobago than in other countries.“Business and earning money through businessimpacts heavily on ethics. I think the governmentalso plays a role in that they can create theenvironment to motivate the business community tobehave in a certain way. I personally looked at theGlobal Compact and decided let’s make this partof our corporate strategy. But most business peoplehaven’t reached that point, they need to be educated,they need to be informed and for them, you haveto create that kind of enabling environment thatdoesn’t tolerate corruption, that forbids pollutingthe environment, that doesn’t tolerate unfair labourpractices and inspires them to make a contributionbecause it is in their interest and in the country’sinterest to behave like that. If you leave the privatesector alone like that it is like asking a child to writean exam at the university level.”Dave RamkissoonCEO EIL Group of CompaniesThe skepticism of CEOs about the‘driving qualities’ of consumers inTrinidad and Tobago with regards toCSR is further reflected in the factthat only 48.6% of them believe thatconsumers’ purchasing decisionsare increasingly determined by acompany’s social reputation while51.4% did not think that such socialprestige featured prominently inthe decision-making process ofindividuals.Would you agree with the assertion that consumer’spurchasing decisions in Trinidad and Tobago areincreasingly determined by a company’s socialreputation?51.4%48.6%Do you think it is true that companies areincreasingly expected to take over parts ofsocial service delivery previously reserved forgovernments?31.4%68.6%YesNodimension with consumers’ desires,preferences, expectations andrejections leading to a range ofbehavioural and attitude-specificconsequences from purchasing goodsthat have a perceivably high ethical‘value’ to boycotting companies whoseproducts and services do not meetthe ethical standards of a demandingpublic. Based on the findings of thissurvey, such consumer pressure inTrinidad and Tobago seems to beconsiderably lower and less of a ‘gamechanger’than in foreign markets.While only 11.4% of all CEOs namedconsumer and customer demand as adriver for them to take action on CSRissues, an overwhelming 85.3% of allrespondents agreed with the assertionthat social and environmentalconcerns influenced consumerbehaviour to a lesser extent in Trinidad68.6%YesNoThere is little or no evidence tosuggest that Caribbean consumersare prepared to pay a premium onproducts with ethical attributes and toreward exemplary corporate behaviourand ethical leadership because of theirenlightened self-interest As far as the‘punishment’ dimension of consumerpressure is concerned, Trinidad andTobago has never experienced aconsumer boycott or any other formof an effective public promotionscampaign that used the purchasingpower of ‘consumer citizens’ to coerceprivate businesses to choose or abstain26 Johannes Brinkmann, Ken Peattie, ‘Consumer Ethics Research: Reframing the Debate about Consumption for Good’, Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies, Vol.13, No.1(2008), p.40