The irrevocable fact is that all businesses must fulfill their legal obligations which includes: 1) Paying of taxes, 2) Ensure the rights of employees, 3) Protecting the environment and conforming to state/country regulations. However, many businesses have been making significant contributions to the community beyond the legal requirements thus demonstrating their ethics through Corporate Social Responsibility.
The concept of "Corporate Social Responsibility" (CSR) has been discussed since the 1950s, this concept is increasingly popular, so far there are more than 37 definitions of CSR (cafebiz.vn). Through the process of study and implementing CSR programs, I can summarize as follows: "Corporate social responsibility are the contributions and sharing from the heart of businesses to the community". As we can see, those contributions are in addition to the legal obligations that businesses have to make. Therefore, corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be considered as an ethical responsibility of an enterprise, contributing to the creation of the cultural and humane brand value of the enterprise.
(NS2PC installed clean water pipelines for 2,856 households in neighboring communes, photo by Xuan Van)
Each
company has a different approach to implementing CSR. Vietnamese companies
often implement CSR in the form of "Activities" alone, seasonally
such as: Giving gifts to poor households, disadvantaged households, providing
relief to victims affected by storms, floods, natural disasters; offering
scholarships, building great solidarity houses, classrooms ... by the
Fatherland Front Committee, the Red Cross, or an organization that stands out
and calls for.
Foreign
Direct Investment Companies (FDI) often implement CSR under the
"Program" right from the beginning of project implementation (when
there is no revenue source). FDI companies often borrow money from
international banks (Lenders) to implement projects, in order to share risks.
Lenders often require companies to allocate a portion of loan capital to
implement CSR in accordance with 8 international performance standards on Environmental
and Social Performance: (For details as can be seen from the bottom – on a
case-by-case basis, companies select some relevant standards to apply).
These 8 international standards include both technical and environmental
standards that meet national and international standards. The implementation of
social responsibility under the “Program” is an important criterion for lenders
to disburse as committed.
The
CSR program includes a combination of projects to support the community in local
socio-economic development and environmental protection, each company has
different names such as: Corporate Social Responsibility Program as Community
Development Program (Nghi Son 2 Power Plant Limited Liability Company – NS2PC, More detail about CSR program as can be seen
from the video as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QLIsDZ1ltQ), Strategic Social
Investment Program (Nghi Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited)….
Supporting
the community with millions of USD through the CSR program from the beginning
of project implementation, FDI Companies above are often supported and
appreciated by the local community, making an important contribution to the
success of the project, and the lenders can get capital; contributing to the
goal of building relationships, creating trust "Relationship is gold,
trust is diamond".
FDI
companies in addition to supporting the community under the long-term CSR
program, they still participate in the same social activities as domestic companies
as do mentioned above.
Companies
themselves are not only members of the community, but also clients and partners
of other units. Therefore, the fact that companies contribute to the community
in addition to legal obligations is fulfilling the responsibilities of a member
of the community, the responsibility of a closed neighbor to the community, and
helping to support the community development. Those supports are charitable, humanity
and ethical of entrepreneurs and businesses, building up a beautiful image of
"Reliable partner, responsible neighbor" to the community. Those
beautiful images add the values, the brand of the companies. Brand is the
belief, the money, the vital value of any business.
Xuan Van