Recommended actions to foster the adoption of Corporate Social ...

– Facilitate gender and child labor rightscounseling actions through the competent andefficient efforts of INMUJERES, and organizeworkshops with women who are leadingmanagers, politicians or entrepreneurs.– Promote efforts to start a CSR informationdesk in local Chambers of Commerce orsimilar business associations, to overcomethe lack of awareness, information andknowledge about CSR tools, theirimplementation and possible results.b. Partnering, recommended actions forbusiness associations include:– Conduct a risk analysis to identify the directand indirect costs of non-compliance in themarketplace and the workplace based on casestudies.– Promote, finance and disseminate results oftraining activities on environmentalmanagement systems application. Start apilot project for a chosen sector onenvironmental management systemsaccording to ISO 14001 at the district level.– Support a women’s association that couldeducate SMEs on gender polices, disseminatebest practices and provide scholarships foryoung women in the field of businessadministration and/or CSR.c. Facilitating, recommended actions forbusiness associations include:– Fund incentives for excellent SMEs, in whichSME owners and employees receive educationand training as a reward for their ethicalbehavior.– Lead the improvement of monitoring systemsand environmental assessments in SMEsthrough the development of the Life CycleAssessment approach in a specific sector(through the supply chain).– Lead the process of writing guidelines for acode of conduct and ethical behavior.d. Endorsing, recommended actions for businessassociations include:– Pilot a project on the implementation ofquality management systems in the supplychain using a chosen territory or sector.Provide assistance to participants accordingto the specific role they play in the supplychain.– Develop a help desk for environmentaltechnology transfer to help SMEs find theproper technology for their business andlearn the proper application.4.4 Civil SocietyCivil society, for the purpose of this study, includesacademia, media, NGOs, and the people interested,involved, or affected by SMEs’ activities. In the pastfive years, NGOs have been the most activeparticipants of civil society in Mexico and havedriven most of the CSR projects. The participationof academia is scarce, and some of the stakeholdersinterviewed asked for a more intense, supportive,and proactive role on CSR by universities andresearch institutes. One important issue is the rolethat advisors, researchers and consultants have infostering CSR among SMEs. Unfortunately the costof consultancy and advice are perceived as too highfor small companies.a. Improving Promotion and Advocacy,recommended actions for civil society include:– Fund training targeted to both managers andemployees in the workplace, emphasizinghealth and safety issues.– Facilitate stakeholder engagement ineducation and training programs such as CSRbenchmarking.– Start an engagement awareness campaignaimed at developing NGO capacities in thedelivery of business educational services withat least five local NGOs and five local SMEs.112 Recommended actions to foster the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)