A passion for corporate social responsibility

I attended the 2nd Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Leadership Forum last Monday afternoon in preparation for the four-day seminar on managing Family Corporations at the Parklane Hotel. It was a fascinating outlook that Prof. Marivi B. Quintos-Gonzales gave about family-owned corporations, especially its intricacies, which most of us who are in business are just too familiar with. When you talk about Family Corporations, chances are, here in Cebu that means more than 90% of all business enterprises.

Indeed, there are many questions to be asked and solutions to be learned from the experiences of other corporations that AIM has gathered or collated through all the years. For instance, if and when the head of your corporation, who is your father, does something that you think would drag your business down, what do you do? Fire you own father in the business he either created or inherited? What about succession? Should the Family Corporation follow the family hierarchy giving the highest position to the eldest brother or should this position be given to the competent sibling?

Prof. Titong Gavino also gave a talk on Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR)... something quite new with AIM, where in the past, education in AIM focused on the altar of profit, profit and more profit, regardless of its consequences to the stakeholders or the environment. A case in point is if you have a fleet of buses or ships that are so dilapidated and uncomfortable for passengers or your bus or vessel is a heavy contributor to environmental pollution all because you don't want to spend to fix those problems disregarding passenger safety because it would mean less profit.

Today's business environment calls for a new breed of businessmen where CSR is part and parcel of the vision and mission statements of the company. Responsible corporations do not only look at their profit, they must also look at social problems that plague the communities where their businesses operate and more importantly, help in keeping a healthy environment for all.

This is a huge departure with AIM's way of teaching young entrepreneurs or future business leaders where today, CSR is part of the corporate strategy to enhance one's business and gain acceptability within the community. Today is the last day of the AIM seminar and we hope that those who attend it would now apply CSR to their respective companies.

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Whenever the AIM gives a lecture of CSR, they never fail to mention the Aboitiz Group of Companies whose company motto Passion for Better Ways is also embedded with their foundations like the Aboitiz Group Foundation, Inc. (AGFI) or the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation (RAFI). Today is another red-letter day for the Aboitiz Corporation as it brings into reality its main objective to promote their Corporate Social Responsibility, which is to uplift public education in the Philippines.

Unfortunately I will be in Manila today to attend the funeral of Sir Max Soliven at the Libingan ng mga Bayani tomorrow. Even in death, Sir Max brings me to places that I have never been like the national cemetery. But yes, from the invitation by AGFI, there will be a ceremonial turnover today at 9AM at the Ecotech Center in Sudlon, Lahug where AGFI would donate 81 computer units complete with Microsoft Operating Systems (OS) and Lexmark printers.

They also refurbished 12 computer laboratories and more important than the infrastructure that they are giving out is the grant of scholarships to 275 deserving students. I attended a similar AGFI activity last year and noting from the smiles of the faces of the Aboitiz top executives who were in attendance, like Chairman Jon Ramon Aboitiz or Erramon Aboitiz and Roberto "Bobby" Aboitiz, those were smiles that money couldn't buy!

Indeed, the Aboitiz Group Foundation has made an impact on Cebu's society more than any corporate entity operating here. Knowing that education is the shortcut or the key to solving our problems with poverty, AGFI's thrust focused on education-related programs, which of course they admit can never materialize without the help of the Department of Education (DepEd) under Secretary Jesli Lapuz.

So far under their educational programs AGFI has built 143 classrooms all over the Philippines used by more than 16,000 students. This year, another 16 classrooms were turned over across the country and plans are afoot to build at least six classrooms every year in the Metro Cebu area. Thanks to the Aboitizes and their passion for Corporate Social Responsibility, which is making an impact in Cebu's socio-economic growth.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit's columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com