Ambassador Stub giving his statement at a conference arranged HNCSR February 28 2011.Ambassador Sverre Stub was invited to give a speech at the conference “Doing business socially”, arranged by Hellenic Network for Corporate Social Responsibility (HNCSR) on the occasion of their ten years anniversary. Click here to read the ambassador’s statement “CSR as tool of economic diplomacy – The Norwegian experience”.
The Norwegian Government has taken a strong stand on "Corporate social responsibility in a global economy".
– The current financial crisis shows that business activities that are solely motivated by the desire for short-term profit can have serious global consequences. CSR has a central role to play for the private sector and its various stakeholders, as well as for the political authorities, if positive opportunities are to be grasped and negative consequences avoided, says Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, introducing the Government's whitepaper on CSR.
CSR – key to competitiveness
– CSR is the future, says Nicolas Analytis, Chairman of HNCSR.HNCSR acts as advisors for the businesses and also the Government seeks them for advice; they constitute the focal point for social corporate responsibility in Greece, all this on the hands of three and a half people.
Analytis and his long time partner Papadopoulos explain how something that may have started with companies’ engagement in philanthropy now has developed into core business activities crucial to companies’ competitiveness in the marked.
– Nowadays, small and medium enterprises (SME’s) are being questioned about their CSR policies. They risk losing contracts, especially to large international companies, if they do not apply CSR-values in their everyday activities, explains Dimitris Papadopoulos, manager of HNCSR.
Supply chains give spin-off effects
Dimitris Papadopoulos, manager of HNCSR.Nowadays, reputation is one of the most important values. Companies cannot turn a blind eye to human capital, the environment and society anymore, explains Analytis.
The media will act as ‘watchdogs’, making the violations widely known and therefore toxic to all businesses.
– One incidence I recall is the one of a well known sports company. The company expressed their outstanding efforts on CSR in the public. Later on, extensive use of child labor in a supply country was disclosed. This made them change their industry, says Papadopoulos.
– A long way to go
– Some businesses, especially SME's, do not know that they are actually practicing CSR. They need to be aware and make their action broadly known. Awareness is in general a key to further development, Papadopoulos says.
According to HNCSR, the rising awareness within the businesses needs to be accompanied by informed journalists who focus equally on negative and positive business activities. Also, a dedicated community of people, demanding action from the consumer’s point of view, is crucial to further development.
– We have a long way to go on making CSR part of the education, both on a higher and lower level.
The Government keeps in contact with HNCSR to be updated on the development on CSR both nationally and internationally.
– We are in a process towards a Greek white paper on CSR. The Minister of Labour has shown great interest, but it is still not at the top of the Government's agenda. Eventually, we are getting there, Analytis ensures.