http://asiasociety.

org/corporate-social-responsibility-philippines

This concept paper tackles the important issues and controversies regarding the
social responsibility in the Information age.

Modern Era and Debate on CSR

Apart from issues of CSR concerning the employer-employee relationship, the
views on corporate responsibility that had been debated up until the 1950s had
mainly revolved around the role of companies as social institutions and their
relationship to society in general (Heald, 1970). These concerns had been expressed
explicitly in discussions on whether or not the companies should engage in
philanthropy, and if so, to what extent. Initially, the issue of philanthropy focused on
the power relationship of management towards shareholders and employees, but
the discussion later expanded to cover the responsibility of companies in certain
social activities such as social welfare, education, etc. In the 1950s, there was a
shift towards seeing this responsibility and with this shift came an increase in
involvement of business in the society.
Although most of the formal writing on CSR emerged in the twentieth
century, the modern discussion of CSR is said to have started in the 1950s with the
work of Howard R. Bowen, the Father of Corporate Social Responsibility (Carroll,
1999). Bowen stated that by virtue of their strategic position and their
considerable decision-making power the social responsibility of businessmen is to
pursue those policies to make those decisions or to follow those lines of action
which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society (Bowen,
1953). Arguments were made that certain business decisions on social responsibility
could be justified on the grounds of leading to economic gains in the long run, the
expectations of the public, or the enhancement of the total socio-economic welfare.
The most famous among the critics at this time is probably Milton Friedman (1970),
who argues that the social responsibility of the corporate executive is to increase
profits and to conform to the basic rules of society (laws and ethical customs). In the
1970s, social responsibility was related to the need for companies to balance the
interests of different groups. Attempts were furthermore made to integrate the
profit motive of companies and their mainly economic nature with the idea of social
responsibility. Corporate social performance is a definition that comes into use more
during this period, as does the idea of public responsibility of a company. There was
also discussion of a change in the social contract between society and business,
that society was demanding more of companies than just a supply of goods and
services. (Carroll, 1999).

CSR in the Philippines

The Filipino leaders now say that more and more companies go beyond
borders of doing efforts toward the society and into incorporating these in their
business strategies. In order to obtain an overview of how companies practice what
they preach about doing good, the League of Corporate Foundation commissioned
Newsbreak, an independent media group, to conduct a survey among large
companies operating in the Philippines. They designed the survey to determine how
the companies CSR efforts are integrated into the entire organization, especially its
profit-making aspects. To get a glimpse of how potentially sustainable are their CSR
efforts, they also wanted to find out if companies exercise the same discipline in
their CSR activities as they do with their main business.
The survey focused on three major areas: structure and leadership, planning and
funding, and reporting and assessment. These questions help distinguish companies
with genuine CSR programs from those that merely talk about it.
We asked where CSR is in their corporate structure, who initiates and sets CSR
policy, and which department or division enforces it. We also asked what factors
influence the allocation of annual budgets for their CSR activities, which among the
companys functional groups shells out the money, and how they report, assess,
improve and communicate what they do. Eighty one of the country's largest
companies companies participated. Almost three-fourths generate more than P60
million revenues every year. They engage in varied business activities, including
manufacturing to outsourcing, financial services, extractive industries, non-profit,
retail, and real estate. Businesses that operate in Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon are
represented.
The key findings are:

1. Favorable enabling environment for CSR to thrive in Philippine companies

remains because people at the top support and push it within the
organization
2. Most of the CSR activities are still mainly philanthropy and event-driven,
but employee volunteerism has become more prominent in the CSR designs
3. Results assessment, which is basis for further improvement, is generally
weak while communication means still traditional
4. "Goodwill" is a main motivation for companies to engage in, report, and
communicate about their CSR, but business economics motivate financial
support

Thus, aside from donations, foundations also leverage themselves by forging

partnerships with external groups, including non-governmental organizations and
multilateral financing institutions.
Rafael Lopa, executive director of the corporate-led social development foundation
Philippine Business for Social Progress, calls these partnerships "collective
philanthropy."
"A lot of companies outsource the implementation of their CSR projects. For
instance, "SMART Schools" (education program of a mobile phone giant) and CocaCola "Red Schools" (support for schools) are outsourced to PBSP. It emphasizes on
collective philanthropy," Lopa explains.
One significant finding of the 2011 study was how the growing participation of
employees in CSR activities has become a way to ease CSR into how the companies
make profits. In the 2007 survey, employee volunteerism was less prominent when
companies designed their philanthropy, event, or other CSR activities.
The 2011 study showed that 62% of the respondents have CSR activities that are
opportunities for their workers to do volunteer work. In the 2007, it was only 52%.
The increasing involvement of employees is considered significant in the way CSR is
transitioning from being an activity outside the main business functions into one
that engages the people that makes the business run. Sixty percent (60%) of the
respondents said their employees are a top reason why the companies have
engaged in CSR.
This findings support various studies on how companies provide work-life balance to
their employees by exposing them in feel good activities. Studies have shown that
happy and motivated employees are more productive at work. Fifty-two percent
(52%) of the respondents in this 2011 survey said employee satisfaction is a
measure of their CSRs success.
Companies regularly assess performance as part of their business cycle to check if
the entire company and the individual functional groups are far or near their
business goals. It also gives an idea of how the company can further improve itself
and
move
ahead.
However, only 6% of the respondents conduct focus group discussions and 10%
carry out formal assessments to determine if their CSR process or impact has been
effective. Almost half claim they conduct either formal or informal surveys. Forty-six
percent (46%) rely on anecdotes.