The business of corporate volunteerism

When it comes to sustainable development and the environment, business is...

In a hushed conference hall, dozens of blank stares fell upon this statement written on a white board. The task was to complete the phrase, to give one’s personal opinion on how big businesses like multi-national and multilateral companies do their part in helping an impoverished society and miserable environmental conditions.

Lisa Antonio, executive director of the Philippine Business for the Environment, was heading the discussion with Antonino Aquino, president of Manila Water, Co. Together, they braced themselves for anti-capitalist remarks like "Business is cruel" or "Business only cares about profit." But in a split-second, the rejoinders were a mix of the positive and the politically correct. "Business is a contradiction...is involved but needs improvement... is a crucial fiscalizer... is society’s partner..."

Lisa Antonio cites this somewhat diplomatic response as a huge shift from how the reaction might have been almost a decade ago when sustainable development or the idea of business having social responsibility was almost unheard of. It was sometime in the early 1990s that governments in Europe and the US started to recognize sustainable development as a legitimate issue. This was brought about by the economic slump that put companies under more pressure to please their market. This meant doing all they could to satisfy the customer, which included building a good image in order to solicit loyalty and, logically, get the equity.

Says Antonio, "If you were an international company, you had to adjust to the consumer. This idea trickled down from the US and Europe to Asia." Thanks to these efforts, there has been a definitive improvement in how consumers view corporations. Although there has been a wake-up call to the idea of corporate social responsibility, the simple exercise presented at the conference showed that there are still two views to business’ role in sustainable development – one is that business does play a crucial role in society, and the second is that it plays a role but it doesn’t do enough.

What was all this heavy discussion all about? This was the last day of the third APEC Future Leaders Forum held at the University of Asia and the Pacific last Nov. 16. In a four-day conference with the theme "Corporate Citizenship: Doing Well by Doing Good," the students set their own recommendations in order to improve such issues on table: Business and Sustainable Development, Corporate Volunteerism, and Shaping a Future for Corporate Citizenship and Community-building for Asia-Pacific.

Participants in this conference came from universities in Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, the US and Manila. The whole idea was to get young, bright, and potential leaders of the APEC community to engage in a discussion of pressing issues that would affect their future. Keynote speakers represented the academe, government, business sectors and socio-civic institutions. As expected, youthful energy and idealism under the wise counsel of experts produced an outburst of ideas and contradictions.

"Businesses do good for the community more for public image; it’s not for real," says Tanuth Prompoj, a delegate from Thailand. Erika Lorenzana of Ateneo de Manila reveals another point raised by her group: "Corporate volunteerism is good for business. A healthy company means a healthy business. Maybe we should review the intentions of corporate volunteerism. If the intention is self-preservation, is this a good intention?"

Corporate volunteerism was under attack with Aurora Tolentino, executive director of Ayala Foundation, at the helm. It is accepted that companies are really there for profit making, but volunteerism should not be made with a public relations agenda, rather it must be made into an innate responsibility. Tolentino expounds on this, "How do we encourage a culture of volunteerism while people are young so that at some point when they become the president of a company, they can encourage society to do volunteer work? There are companies that pay their employees to do volunteer work, but that’s not voluntary. The spirit of volunteering comes from the heart, but there has to be intervention at larger and larger levels, in our family, in our school, in companies, in government."

Corporate volunteerism, like business and sustainable development, is another phenomenon that came about due to the economic turn-around of events around 1997. Tolentino analyzes that because of the economic crunch of that period, corporations opted to make use of their human resources for community activities instead of writing a check for monetary donations. The employees are made to realize that if the company they are working for can support such a good cause, then the company is not so bad. That’s when company loyalty sets in.

But the essence of corporate volunteerism is not exactly a novel idea in the Philippines. It has really been here for so long, we just never knew it. Tolentino points out, "We Filipinos have always had a strong tradition of altruism. We’re always giving to our extended families, to our children, grandchildren, etc. It’s always deeply ingrained in our culture–to help out. What developed countries have done is that they have institutionalized the idea of volunteering, professionalizing it more so that it’s not just going to be done if you feel like but they develop institutions that form (volunteerism as part of corporate culture)."

A delegate from Manila joins in the dialogue and singles out the youth as also fostering twisted corporate volunteerism by continuously asking for pledges of money from corporations, seeing them only as milking cows and nothing more. Guilty, empathetic laughter fills the room until someone rebuts and says that there is nothing really wrong with asking for sponsorships, but at the same time, the youth should not forget its role as encouraging corporations to do good by highlighting those companies doing their part in community-building and exposing those who are violators. At the same time, a company cannot just do volunteer work and think that it has done its part and then goes on with unethical practices. They have to be consistent; volunteering is not a substitute for practicing ethics in the workplace.

Tolentino catches on to this and launches into the role of society as a watchdog. For instance, the youth should have a role in the goings-on in the business sector as much as they should concern themselves in government issues. "Companies have to have a say in government issues like education, because even if public education is the government’s responsibility, they have be involved because it will affect the kind of workforce that they will have. In the issue of corruption, if the government is corrupt, the flow of capital from abroad is affected, investors will think twice about coming in. So it’s the companies that suffer, capital does not come in, therefore there will be no jobs. Everyone has to help out, even the youth."

Saswati Chanda from the Jawaharlal Nehru Univeristy of India agrees that government should be in consonance with business, local communities, NGOs and other sectors. "We should not leave everything to market forces. Government should partake in business because we’re talking about resources – citizens, natural resources, etc. which are all under the responsibility of the government. We have the Bill of Rights to ensure that the government will not exercise its power too much."

The essence of corporate citizenship is that everyone in society has rights, and responsibilities to one another. Hanson Lee from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology speaks for his group when he defines a corporate citizen as one who has economic responsibilities (obligation to make a profit), legal responsibility (law-abiding), and social responsibility – or simply put as "doing good." He goes on to say that to be a corporate citizen, one must be transparent inside and out. Internally, one must have ethical business behavior, and externally, corporations must be composed of incorruptible individuals. Comments flew left and right after such beatification; that it was too idealistic, "too utopic." Regina Gomez from the University of Asia and the Pacific wanted to get something more concrete out of Hanson’s explanation. "But how do we solve ethical problems like bribery and extortion?" Michelle of Singapore fielded this by saying that we are still trying to shape a future, to put good citizenship to behavior. It cannot be eradicated right away but the least we can do is educate the present generation. Hanson adds that this really is a governmental and non-governmental effort. "It’s not just for something for government to work on. We should make full use of international institutions–education, corporation, media."

Doing well by doing good should not just be an obligation for companies, but a challenge in the light of success or otherwise. This new trend in corporate culture should be here to stay as the world gets back on its feet following events that have shook its very foundations.

It is now necessary for the privileged to realize their responsibility in reaching out to those who have less. In the same way, corporations must utilize their resources and give back to the community which has helped sustain them. Take heed, then maybe in another 10 years, we’ll have all positive completion to the phrase "When it comes to sustainable development and the environment, business is..."

It’s up to us to define it.