The View from the Boardroom - UNDP Trinidad and Tobago

The View from the Boardroom - CEO Study on Corporate Social Responsibility in Trinidad and TobagoCHAPTER 4Managing Human Capital through CSR – The Business Case for Corporate Volunteeringsustainable management practiceswith core business processes, keycompetencies and target audiences.CEOs are crucial for the success oftheir companies’ CSR programmes.In their majority, they have alreadystepped up their involvement insustainability activities and haveshouldered responsibility forinitiating, developing and managingCSR projects.It is the CEO who sets the tone fromthe top on questions of corporateculture and identity, strategicdirection and social positioning andit will be the CEO who needs todrive the essential shift from CSR asan issue of reputation managementto CSR as an issue of strategicmanagement. Greater sensitization ofsenior managers is required and majorCSR stakeholders such as Trinidadand Tobago Chamber of Industryand Commerce (TTCIC), EnergyChamber, Arthur Lok Jack GraduateSchool of Business and Trinidad andTobago Manufacturers Association(TTMA) need to specifically engagemembers of the boardroom on issuesof knowledge transfer, Best Practiceresearch and the participation inpeer exchange platforms such asworkshops, symposia and conferences.While in this survey, the majority ofCEOs asserted that CSR was ‘critical’for the commercial success of theircompanies, the reality continuesto throw doubts on the level ofconviction that underpins suchexpressed beliefs. The list of items onthe ‘still-to-do-list’ is substantial. The‘public relations element’ remains afundamental feature of companies’CSR practice in Trinidad and Tobagoand the incorporation of sustainableapproaches into strategic planningprocesses continues to be weak.Managerial performance is often notlinked to the implementation of CSRactivities and the area of supply chainmanagement has still not sufficientlyabsorbed sustainability criteria into itsoperational matrix. In addition, CEOshave a crucial role to play in ensuringthat the company reports regularly onits corporate responsibility portfolioeither as a section integrated intothe annual report or in a standalonefashion via the publication of asustainability report.Understanding commercial successand social progress as two sides ofthe same coin remains a challenge inTrinidad and Tobago. Michael Porterhas sought to reconcile these twodimensions in a conceptual frameworkthat places the idea of multi-layeredvalue creation at the heart of corporateoperations in the social realm. “Thesolution lies in the principle ofshared value, which involves creatingeconomic value in a way that alsocreates value for society by addressingits needs and challenges” he writesand goes on to say that “businessesmust reconnect company success withsocial progress. Shared value is notsocial responsibility, philanthropy, oreven sustainability, but a new way toachieve economic success. It is noton the margin of what companies dobut at the center.” 34 It is precisely sucha shift that the local Private Sectorin Trinidad and Tobago still needsto undergo and CEOs are crucial toinitiate such change.While structures and an enablingenvironment are importantfacilitating factors for CSR, individualleadership matters equally both insidethe company and outside. Particularlyin the area of alliance building andinter-sectoral partnerships, CEOsshould become more directly involvedin determining the overall directionof their companies and – on anexecutive level - get involved in theprocess of identifying nonprofit andvoluntary sector organizations thatpromise lasting synergy effects in theimplementation of social outreachprogrammes and projects. Yet again,the low profile of senior managersand company owners with regardsto questions of partnering finds itsexpression in the fact that only onethirdof all interviewees regardedcivil society as a key driver in theirdecision-making process. Arguably,the capacity limitations of civil societyorganizations to engage Private Sectorpartners in social and environmentalinitiatives are considerable butCEOs should lead corporate effortsto find innovative ways to addressprecisely those shortcomingsthrough assistance in the area oforganizational development. Therecently concluded corporatevolunteer project implemented by theAssociation of Certified CharteredAccountants (ACCA) in partnershipwith the United Nations VolunteerProgramme (UNV) and in support ofthe Diego Martin-based Just BecauseFoundation (JBF) has demonstratedthe value of strengthening the NGOsector’s organizational capacity and indoing so, to improve the level of servicedelivery through nonprofit providers.CEOs have an important lead role toplay in this regard and should be partof the process of partnership buildingfrom as early as possible a stage on.One dimension that this report hasnot specifically addressed is the issueof CSR among Small and MediumEnterprises (SMEs). Based on thefindings of the 2008 Mapping Report,SME’s posed a considerably greaterchallenge to the community of CSRadvocates than large national andmultinational companies. Not onlydid experience demonstrate the needfor making a convincing business34 Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer, ‘Creating Shared Value’, January 2011, Harvard Business Review, http://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating-shared-value; also in Michael E. Porter, Mark R.Kramer, ‘Strategy and Society – The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility’, Harvard Business Review, December 2006, pp.78-92.63