Boonchai Bencha-rongkul, chairman of Total Access Commu-nication (DTAC), believes corporate-social-responsibility (CSR) campaigns can be launched even when companies are mired in deep financial losses, as long as they realise that stakeholders are the ones keeping their business afloat.

"Samnuek Rak Ban Kerd" was developed by DTAC just before the 1997 financial crisis broke, but only after the crisis was it included in its corporate culture to ensure that all employees realised the importance of social benefits. The urgency was highlighted when, within the first few months, DTAC witnessed a sharp exodus of customers, to the tune of 100,000 per month, from its customer base of 1.2 million.

"It was terrifying," Boonchai told a seminar last week. "We had been focusing solely on competing with our rival. Then we realised that customers were our fathers. We couldn't survive without them. CSR is a worthwhile activity, and it is the corporate leaders who make employees realise its importance."

At the same seminar, Sudwin Panyawongkhanti, CSR/Assurance partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, also stressed the importance of employee participation in making CSR a success. The accounting firm considers CSR part of human-resource development. Its employees are asked to notify their intention to join the CSR activity, called the "leadership journey programme", and those selected to join a programme must come from separate departments. While communities get assistance, PwC employees learn from the communities and get to know their co-workers better.

Thammasat University lecturer Suthisak Kraisorn-suthasinee noted that while many companies were embarking on CSR activities, they should realise that CSR was not simply about donations and that it could cause headaches due to the limitations of each approach.

Referring to articles by foreign marketing gurus, Suthisak said while companies considered themselves a social unit bound to return something to society, they could find it hard to balance the benefits of the activities and the resources allocated for the activities.

Some consider taking CSR as an approach to seek a social licence and listen to what society wants from it. "Yet by listening to too many people they won't know who to please first, and they may be blamed by groups that are left out, which could create a degree of discomfort."

While caring for the environment and society, companies also need to heed sustainability of their own business. When it concerns money, companies have to weigh whether resources should be allocated to CSR activities or used to reduce their own operating costs.

Evidently for sustainability, environment-oriented CSR needs to be supported by regulations. For example, how much in tax incentives a firm is entitled to if it successfully cuts power consumption, he said.

"A workable CSR programme is a programme that creates value for both society and the company. Companies need to look into their value chain to find out where the opportunities and threats of CSR activities are. When planning a programme, they have to make sure that they're carrying it out better than their competitors," he said.

Toyota Motor, which wants to show concern for the environment, aims to tackle carbon dioxide. Toyota decided to focus on hybrid cars to reduce oil consumption and CO2.

While this is good for society, it also highlights the company's competitive edge.

An assessment is also necessary, as that shows society how committed companies are to their CSR, he added.

Achara Deboonme

The Nation