Textbook- CH 8

• Employee volunteers contribute to a corporation’s social responsibility
• After studying Chapter 8, students will be able to:

  • Identify different responses to corporate social responsibility
  • Define corporate philanthropy and describe the forms it takes
  • Define corporate voluntarism and describe the implications for employees, employers, and the community
  • Define corporate sponsorship and identify trends in this approach to CSR
  • Understand the community investment approach to CSR including its use in Indigenous communities
  • Appreciate the challenges confronting small businesses in practicing CSR
• Walter Zuberek, after stepping down as CEO of York and Smith Limited, is considering how to effectively and efficiently contribute to society with discretionary funds available for social responsibility endeavors
• Table 8.1 identifies business responses to CSR, ranging from high acceptance to little or none:

  • Acceptance of CSR: social enterprise with social return
  • High CSR recognition or embracers
  • Cautious CSR adaptors
  • Tokenism or greenwashing
  • Amoral response
  • Anti-CSR
  • Unknown response
• The highest level of CSR acceptance is seen in social enterprises practicing the social paradigm of "Doing well by doing good," while many businesses recognize CSR as essential based on the economic paradigm of "Doing good by doing well"
• Risks of not practicing CSR include damaged reputation, consumer boycotts, lost sales, labour disruptions, and more, emphasizing the need for corporations to plan their CSR initiatives
• Planning and managing CSR programs require commitment from top management, involvement of internal and external stakeholders, and can involve activities like philanthropy or corporate giving
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) involves activities like philanthropy, voluntarism, sponsorship, and community investment
• CSR programs can be planned and managed in various ways, from having dedicated departments in large corporations to relying on management consulting services
• At METRO, corporate responsibility (CR) governance involves key individuals at each decision-making and implementation stage
• Governance Structure at METRO:

  • Board of Directors: Approves policies and reviews CR plans and reports
  • President and CEO: Approves CR strategy in line with business strategy
  • Senior Director, Corporate Affairs: Defines strategic CR directions and reports progress
  • Senior Advisor, Corporate Responsibility: Oversees CR plan implementation and stakeholder relations
  • In-House Teams: Advance projects based on set objectives and targets
• Corporate philanthropy involves businesses contributing to society through donations of money, goods, or services
• Canadian corporations donate to various causes and organizations, including health, education, community services, arts, and environmental groups
• Arguments for corporate giving include promoting good citizenship, creating goodwill, and benefiting from employee commitment and corporate reputation
• Arguments against corporate giving include concerns about shareholder funds, potential misuse of power, and lack of measurable benefits
• Corporate giving decisions can be made by individual executives, committees, or boards of directors, with assistance from organizations providing advice and evaluations
• Criteria for evaluating donation requests are formulated, and some corporations perform cost-benefit analyses of grants
• Trends and concerns in corporate giving include increased commitments to long-term programs, declining government grants, and corporations becoming more selective in their giving
• Some businesses or their owners choose to set up charitable foundations to handle corporate philanthropy
• A charitable foundation is constituted and operated exclusively for charitable purposes
• Charitable foundations are established by families of successful entrepreneurs, corporations, communities, special interest groups such as schools and hospitals, and governments
• Foundations donate to a wide variety of causes including education, health, environment, community development, and arts and culture
• Organizations outside the corporation that provide advice on corporate giving or donations include:

  • Imagine Canada (formerly the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy)
  • MoneySense
  • Charity Intelligence Canada
  • Better Business Bureau (BBB) Canada
• Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC) is a national membership organization for Canada’s independent grant-making foundations and is a registered charity
• There are about 10,800 public and private foundations in Canada that give away about $6.5 billion per year
• Examples of foundations established by businesspersons in Canada:

  • The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation
  • The Birks Family Foundation
  • The Donner Canadian Foundation
• Some of the strongest supporters of charitable organizations in Canada produce products that are not considered socially desirable by some, such as tobacco, beer, and liquor
• Cause-related marketing is a way for corporations to make a donation to a non-profit organization's program based on the purchase of a particular product
• Strategic giving is an attempt to rationalize shareholder interest with corporate philanthropy where the corporation benefits directly from the funds given
• Social venture philanthropy is the investment of human and financial resources by corporations in non-profit community development agencies to generate a social return instead of only a financial one
• Social venture philanthropy applies venture capital management practices to social responsibility
• Social Venture Partners Calgary combines the time, expertise, and financial and physical resources of its partners to create positive social change in Calgary
• Corporate voluntarism is the time and talent employees commit to community organizations with support and/or consent from employers who recognize the value of such efforts to society
• Canadian corporations encourage employee volunteerism in various ways
• Examples of corporate volunteerism:

  • The Home Depot Canada: "Team Depot" program with over 60,000 volunteer hours annually
  • PWC Canada: focus on supporting young people through various initiatives, with 3,271 employees participating in 365 firm-led team volunteer initiatives in 2018
  • IGM Financial: encourage and empower employees and advisors to volunteer, providing paid volunteer days and awards for outstanding volunteers
  • WestJet: "WestJetters" volunteer with their organization of choice, with volunteer hours contributing to non-profit organizations
  • Capital Power Corporation: EmPowering Communities program encourages employee volunteerism, reporting 14,000 hours in volunteer time in 2017
• Employee voluntarism has become more important due to the decline of the professional volunteer and the increasing need for volunteers to serve
• Advantages of employee voluntarism:

  • Enhances professional skill development
  • Provides a learning experience and personal growth
  • Benefits employee morale and the community
  • Improves the corporation's image and environment
  • Contributes to team building, employee involvement initiatives, and retention
• Disadvantages of employee voluntarism:

  • Possible employee resentment or distractions from job objectives
  • Costs in dollars and time
  • Implication of picking winners or losers among community organizations
  • Controversy over objectives of some voluntary organizations reflecting adversely on the corporation
• Forms of corporate support for voluntary activities:

  • Providing facilities
  • Allowing time off or schedule adjustments
  • Assisting with personal expenses
  • Extending special recognition to outstanding volunteers
  • Issuing letters of thanks
• Corporate policies to encourage employee voluntarism:

  • Providing information on available volunteer organizations
  • Offering recognition or awards to spur additional involvement
  • Supporting programs for retirees
  • Establishing formal programs and designating administrative support