SOURCE:3BL Media, LLC
DESCRIPTION:
Corporate social responsibility is taking on a new urgency in a hot button area, that of the relationships between multinationals that source low-cost labor and cheap natural resources in developing countries, and the local communities in which they operate. Recent disasters in the Asian apparel manufacturing industry and environmental damage from some energy and mining activities in South America and Africa have raised issues of exploitation, overshadowing the positives of rising living standards and cheaper goods and services resulting from the globalization of business. CSR is helping to set things right by adding a new, significant meaning to its original definition: sustainability. For multinationals, sustainability means long-term commitments, deep engagement with local communities, and sharing developed-world knowledge. The latest example can be seen in the many Swiss corporations now working in Vietnam. Besides building factories and producing products, companies like Nestle, Syngenta, Roche, SGS, Norvatis, ABB, and Holcim have committed to sustainability missions in that country. The efforts range from programs for youth, from scholarships for science students to study overseas to helping disabled children, to on-the-job training to teach world-standard agricultural techniques, contemporary construction methods, and modern management styles in the workplace. Medical knowledge is being shared through local universities. Other projects address water and nutrition, key to raising living standards in rural areas. And advanced technology is being made available for these initiatives. These Swiss companies are among the many multinationals that are now committing to higher standards for responsible corporate practices in the developing world by focusing on sustainability. I’m John Howell for 3BL Media.
For more on this and other stories, go to 3blmedia.com
Video Source: CSR Means Sustainability to Multinationals in Developing Countries
KEYWORDS: csr, sustainability, developing countries, multinationals, Natural Resources, labor, low cost, CSR Minute, 3bl Media