Embracing corporate citizenship post September 11

In November last year, over 900 delegates journeyed from various parts of the world to Seattle, despite it being a matter of weeks after the dreadful events of September 11.  That fateful day, and its consequences for business, society and the world order, naturally dominated discussions. It has been without doubt the single most important event in recent history to highlight the necessity for economic inclusion.

For business, this means more critically evaluating core business strategy, in particular in relation to procurement practices, placement of branches, and equity in recruitment. The corporate response to the disaster also drew attention to the tension between short-term provision of emergency services and long-term community rebuilding. 

What became clear in an intense three days was that pressure on companies to act responsibly has never been so strong. As a result there is a strong interest in reporting on the impact of CSR performance and how best to use the various global standards in doing so.

As a South Africa delegate attending an International conference of this nature for the first time, it opened my eyes to the myriad different ways in which companies are embracing CSR. It also made me realize that South Africa is not so far behind in its thinking. Delegates from many different countries were only beginning to realize the necessity of building commitment to being a good corporate citizen into every aspect of the business. However, we did share with all other southern delegates the difficulties of implementing these practices in countries where there is a huge gap between rich and poor and where sound ethical standards are more difficult to enforce.

Laura Maxwell Stuart is Corporate Services Manager at CAF Southern Africa She can be contacted at lmaxwellstuart@cafsouthernafrica.org
Gertrud Lomas works at Walker, BoE Bank.

EVENT Business for Social Responsibility 9th Annual Conference
Date 5-9 November 2001
Venue Seattle, USA

For more information about Business for Social Responsibility, visit the website at www.bsr.org