Posts Tagged ‘Corporate’
Responsibility of the Corporate
What ever one does for the good cause of the society it needed to look back and monitor the situation, weather it is actually fulfilling the intention or it is just lying on the papers. As a person who has given thought a shape for upliftment of the society and oneself, it is our up most duty to keep checking the same, in terms of progress of the desired changes if needed.
For the same purpose there was a visit of Mr. Bill Gates the founder and Chairman of Microsoft Corporation and Bill Gates Foundation in India very recently. Bill Gates foundation is actively involved in various activities related to upliftment of the society across the world and provides funds and the assistance to remote corner places of India too. He Visited city called Amethi in the state of Uttarpardesh. Amethi is very popular place in India as the political representatives of Amethi, mostly belongs to Gandhi family for the past many decades and the Gandhi families are the pillars of Indian politics in India. As the largest political party of the country, and they are the one who have carried Indian tradition legacy for past many years and will continue in future too.
Indian National Congress is most respected political party in India, as the congress party is known to many peoples in the developed countries of the world. The principles of the party’s are totally different from the others like BJP, Janata Dal or the communist party (In India). The National Congress Party of India takes complete responsibility of upliftment the society and its related concerns. As the leader of the reputed member of the political organization and traditional experienced person, Mr.Rahul Gandhi was with Mr. Bill Gates through out the Amethi tour. He was doing the best as a leader to support another leader from the corporate world to provide all the necessary assistance to help the corporate visitor and show him the gesture of Indian tradition heritage.
The heat and the dust of Uttarpardesh at the present climate in the month of May one can imagine as how Mr. Bill Gate have manage the tour, as he is not Asian ethics by birth or the experience of this type of climate. Respecting to the corporate leader and social responsible person it was Mr.Rahul Gandhi’s duty to give the traditional value, simultaneously to be present with him to the Amethi.
It was his gesture that he manages to take out time from his busy schedule and traveled with Mr. Bill Gates and provided the required necessary assistance. He even did the language translation for Mr. Bill Gate as the local people were asking the questions in Hindi or their native language.
We need to learn from our leaders of such, as how improve our behavior and our responsibility towards the society. The Best Part is to learn as, how to implement and manage such things, despite heaving busy schedule.
As a responsible person one shouldn’t leave the things after kickoff, but we need to keep monitoring the developments on time to time. It is not possible to do the same on a daily basis by the people who are attached with the corporate world, because their responsibilities are diverted in many directions, but it can be manageable to access the situation and further directions.
Corporate Responsibility: The Answer to the UK Job Crisis
As the G8 summit in Italy draws to an end it is apparent that the top issues discussed, remains to be the three biggest issues around the world: the current economy, global warming and world hunger.
Their final draft statement seen by Reuters, addresses these different issues and their solution to it.
“We are committed to increase investments in short, medium and long-term agriculture development that directly benefits the poorest and makes best use of international institutions,” the statement said.
While the richest countries in the world debate these issues, big corporate companies around the world have been trying for years to improve them in some way or the other.
Corporate Responsibility (CR), formerly known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been placing big multinational companies under extraordinary stress to honour and support the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.
According to the UK Government’s Corporate Responsibility Report, CR makes business sense.
“Good business leaders recognise that Corporate Responsibility makes good business sense – it attracts the best talent, earns the trust of customers and the community and acts as a powerful investment for long-term sustainability,” said Ian Pearson, Minister of State Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
While countries around the world battle with one or all three issues as well as new concerns manifested from them, one of the biggest problems the UK is currently facing is the growing unemployment rate.
According the Office of National Statistics, the UK had a staggering two million people out of a jobs at the end of 2008 and in the last three months the unemployment rate rose from 6.5 pc to 7.1pc.
Corporate Responsibility takes on a new and more intense role when it demands job creation and skill training during the current economic climate.
Tesco’s plans to expand a store in Barton-Upon-Humber leading to the creation of 50 new jobs in the area, is an example of the kind of CR the UK job market needs.
Residents of Barton-Upon-Humber has responded positively towards their plans and corporate affairs manager, Nick Gellatly said that although recruiting will only start in next year, people from the area have already enquired about it.
“Nearer to the time, we will talk to the Job Centre Plus and set up a Local Employment Partnership to make sure that local people have the best possible chance of getting a job and people who have been unemployed have the best chance of getting a job,” he said.
Another example of this is with Sainsbury’s new store in north Essex where 23 new jobs were created.
The store in Halstead’s High Street was previously a Somerfield store and through the Sainsbury buy-over 70 jobs were safeguarded as well.
“We’re proud of our new store but the best part is meeting the local community. Everyone’s so friendly and we’re looking forward to making a positive difference,” commented Andy Deacon, Store manager.
Companies show their participation through endeavours like these, with on-going charity support or with projects like Vodafone’s Lifetracks programme.
The Lifetracks programme focuses on the youth of the UK, empowering 16-25-year-olds with the knowledge to make informed choices about work, study and training.
The programme involves engagement teams, workshops, help lines, a website and volunteers.
Vodafone’s aim with this programme is to assist 720,000 UK youngsters over a three year period and help 70pc of them into employment, education or training.
Vodafone has also created 3600 jobs in Berkshire at their Newbury HQ and spent £12m on products and services from West Berkshire’s local suppliers.
While the economic climate is currently a daily issue it does not mean that the environmental climate should take the back-seat until the economy settles down.
Natural disasters like floods and earth quakes are a direct result of global warming and will only increase economic turmoil if not pro-actively dealt with.
“This week the G8 nations came to an historic consensus towards concrete goals to reduce carbon emissions,” said US president, Barack Obama.
“Developed nations will reduce their emissions by 80 percent and we will work with all nations to cut global emissions in half. This ambitious efforts is consistent with limiting global warming to no more than two degrees Celsius. Developed countries, like my own, have a historic responsibility to take the lead,” he said.
The good news is that while our big corporate institutions need to focus their CR on job creation, this is not the only focus for some.
Coca-Cola who employ 4500 people in England, Scotland and Wales do their bit for the environment through ensuring that all of their UK manufacturing sites adhere to the highest environmental standards, by being ISO14001 certified.
The largest listed water company in the UK, United Utilities, who maintain water, wastewater, electricity and gas, are trying to improve the environment through their numerous projects.
They are currently involved with a project that turns biogas from sewage treatment into fuel for vehicles.
Another of their projects saved £6.7m through producing methane gas from sewage sludge in order to provide heat and electricity to run sewage systems.
Big corporate companies earn billions each year and to some extend certain global issues, like for example global warming, is as a result of pollution from billions of factories around the world.
That is why big companies owe it to the world to put money back into improving the economy, environment and social issues.
Hopefully the UK will see more CR projects, charity support and most importantly job creation within the next several months as companies start to see the importance of Corporate Responsibility in combating unemployment.
With the prospect of companies in the UK doing their part, citizens around the country can also assist with embarking on their own responsibility projects.
Through making accountable environment-friendly choices, by supporting charities and if at all possible creating a job opportunity for someone who desperately needs one, we can all put an effort into improving an aspect of everyday life.
Corporate Sustainability Reports
With environmental tragedies increasing in recent years, many wonder what companies plan on doing to boost their sustainability efforts. Growing concerns related to the state of natural resources and their future availability needs to be a major focus for all corporations, as the future of their business heavily relies on the environment- and vice versa. Corporate sustainability reporting has been adopted by a number of industry-leading firms, used to communicate their plans to the public. Reevaluating product sourcing, packaging, transportation and other steps involved in product preparation, are just a few of the changes companies have employed to reduce their environmental impact.
Sustainability Reporting/ Transparency
Transparency and reporting corporate sustainability initiatives are best practices for all organizations. Reporting on these policies prompts businesses to think about the impact of their processes on the environment, as well as the impact the environment has on their business. Sustainability reports force businesses to become conscious of their decisions. In many cases, companies have been able to save money as they reduce waste.
The Coca-Cola Company has done a fantastic job in communicating and reporting their sustainability initiatives on their corporate website. At Coca-Cola, manufacturing processes require the use of significant volumes of natural resources. Reporting on sustainability has forced decision makers at Coca-Cola to find innovative ways to reduce the impact of the company on the environment, as they understand that the possibility of future resource depletion would inhibit them from creating their products. Acknowledging that sustainability reporting is a work in progress, here are some examples of the goals set by the Coca-Cola Company to improve corporate sustainability:
Water Usage: Safely return the equivalent amount of water, to what we use in all of our beverages and their production, back to communities and the environment.
Packaging: Reduce the amount of materials and energy used in creating product packaging. Invest in recycling and recovery programs so that packaging can be reused again. The company has invested in establishing PET recycling plants in various locations around the world. Lastly, increase the use of recycled products in the manufacturing of cans, bottles, caps and other products. This allows for recycled items to be reused, and for the finished product to be recycled in its entirety when consumed.
Reduce Carbon Footprint and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Climate change is a two way street. Emissions from manufacturing processes and delivery (ex.vending machines and refrigeration) contribute to climate change. On the flip side, droughts, flooding and extreme weather impact a company’s ability to carry out business processes, the availability of raw materials and consumer ability to purchase products. Coca-Cola has begun using energy efficient cooling systems, mixing energy sources and set standards to reduce the energy used throughout product manufacturing and delivery.
The goals and initiatives established by the Coca-Cola Company can be used as examples of goals and areas for consideration by other companies. According to experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, reporting on non-financial information, such as sustainability, requires the same amount of care given to reports that are mandatory for every business to publish:
“Currently, companies issue their sustainability reports voluntarily. Sustainability reporting is not a public relations exercise. These reports must contain factual information about a company’s policies, programs, and performance, as well as management’s analyses and interpretations of that performance. These reports help the reader understand how the company’s operations impact society and the natural environment, and what the company is doing to reduce the negative impacts.
Brand Image
Sustainability efforts create significant benefits for brands. When an environmental catastrophe is caused by a business or business process, the public response can be detrimental. Just look at the hit BP has taken for the explosion and oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. The damages of the events in the Gulf are still unclear; however, it’s likely the impacts will be felt for many generations to come.
In the SustainAbility article, “Five Principles for Sustainable Brands,” they write:
“Brand is the embodiment of an organization– the symbols, experiences and associations connected to it. The connection between sustainability and brand helps build better relationships across value chains, creates new market opportunities, reduces risk, and, critically, more deeply embeds sustainable practices by making them part of the organization’s identity, its story – and when sustainability is part of the brand promise, it is far less likely to be compromised.”
As mentioned earlier in the post, sustainability forces organizations to consider a number of risks and implications of their processes on the environment. Building sustainability into corporate compliance or social programs is becoming increasingly common. When a company comes forward with their goals, they are held accountable for achieving them. Sustainability goals can also be credited for improving overall corporate performance, as waste and costs are reduced.
UK Must cut Emissions By 60%
The Committee on Climate Change has called on the UK to cut its emissions by 60% compared to 1990 levels over the next two decades.
In its report ‘The Fourth Carbon Budget – Reducing emissions through the 2020s’ the committee puts the case for creating a new marker in the battle to cut emissions.
Currently most targets are aimed at cuts on 1990 emissions levels before 2050. however to drive the fight against climate change the committee suggests a plan as part of a carbon budget for 2023 to 2027 and a target for emissions reductions in 2030, which would be halfway between now and 2050.
The recommended target for 2030 is to cut emissions by 60% relative to 1990 levels, or 46% relative to current levels, which needs a 62% emissions reduction from 2030 to meet the 2050 target in Britain’s Climate Change Act.
The committee estimates the recommended target can be achieved at a cost of less than 1% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or as it states in the report ‘a fraction of one year’s growth’ over the next two decades.
It also backs that new carbon budgets should be legislated by summer 2011, as required under the Climate Change Act.
Committee on Climate Change chair said: “We are recommending a stretching but realistic fourth carbon budget and 2030 target, achievable at a cost of less than 1% of GDP. “Any less ambition would not be compatible with the 2050 target in the Climate Change Act. “We therefore urge the Government to legislate the budget we have recommended, and to develop the policies required to cut emissions over the next two decades. “The case for action on climate change is as strong as ever: climate science remains robust and suggests that there are very significant risks if we do not cut emissions. And countries acting now will gain economic benefits in an increasingly carbon constrained world.”
The CBI’s director of business environment, backed the new 2030 target. He said: “We support the UK’s existing climate change targets for 2020 and 2050 and businesses are already taking steps to measure and reduce their emissions. “The Committee’s proposal for an extra staging post at 2030 could provide additional clarity for investors, but the feasibility of the proposed target would need to be examined in detail. “Investors will only commit to low-carbon projects if they are confident about the policy framework in the long-term. “The Government’s forthcoming announcements on reform of the electricity market and work to simplify the Carbon Reduction Commitment will be crucial tests.”
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