Over the years, the world of business has witnessed a prominent emergence of an obligation towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) across various nations.
For a company, it is beneficial to recognise the CSR projects which correspond to a pre-defined sense of social responsibility for that company. This is something that becomes rather difficult, not so with respect to the reputation a company enjoys in a particular community, but rather in the implementation of the said project.
One of the prime factor in this case, refers to the ultimate objective a company must stay true to and that of making profit. The interests of its stakeholders should be a priority for any corporation, something which contrasts with the expenses they must agree within implementation of a CSR project. In few cases however, the interests of its shareholders and the social responsibility related objective may coincide, a scenario which may not be possible every time.
The second factor deals with the ability of a corporation to take the socially responsible decision in a given case. Different social groups within a society may respond to different objectives and sometimes may even be opposed to each other in this regard. The corporation here has to make an effort not to display preferential treatment that could be deemed irresponsible.
The difference in social objectives becomes increasing visible when the given CSR project is carried out in different nation altogether. Here there are two social groups that matter, one representing values of a community in a foreign country where the project is carried out and the other involving the stakeholders, back in the home country. The cultural difference between the two communities may play a big role emphasising a certain conflict. Such a conflict if turned ugly and then coupled with media exposure can destroy the CSR reputation of a company.
Let’s take the example ofa group of Canadian mining companies operating in South America. The issues related to these companies became hot topics, when a bill was introduced in the Canadian parliament. For what should have been a socially responsible step to take, the bill allowed the federal government to undertake any investigation rising from the failure of a Canadian mining company to comply with the standards set by international human rights commission and the concerning environmental agencies. However on the ground of their inability to confront any accuser, the Canadian mining companies made their objections to this bill very clear.
What follows is the publication of two damning stories in the Toronto Star with an array of allegations against few of these mining companies. These stories referred to the different issues which may or may not be valid. As a result, the mining companies mentioned were trapped into a no-win situation where their CSR reputation which they built with years of hard work, was threatened.
According to the story in Toronto Star published in 2009, an open pit copper mine was supposed to be built under a project in Ecuador by a certain Canadian mining company. One community was positive towards the project as it offered employment opportunities for the people of that community. On the other hand, another community went on to oppose to work, citing the damage to their farms. As the Ecuadorian government kept its distance from this conflict, allegations were made against the mining company which ranged from use of excessive force on the protestors to criminal activities in the mines.
The officials from the mining company maintained that they followed every rule and regulation, they were ought to comply with in the given country. The company also stressed on staying true their own ethical codes that the company has developed over the years. The sincerity of the company became further visible as the company’s Vice President of Corporate Responsibility decided to answer the allegation as their official spokesperson. There are still doubts that any sort of ethical code was proven to be effective in maintaining company-set standard, but very few doubt the genuine nature of the entire effort on behalf of the company.
This case invokes few important questions, as to why after establishing a clear set of code of ethics; the company found itself in a conflict that nearly tarnished its reputation?
In order to implement their own standards with respect to ethical code, a company may have to deal with an internal conflict of its kind. As anin-house organisation tasked with implementing a CSR policy, does so giving rise to an expense that another organisation within the same company may find objectionable. The conflict also arises due to difference of opinion within a team working under a project that inevitably puts a stress on the existing working relationships. For any team, however this issue can be resolved with definite directives from its project manager. However, if this dissonance exists within the executive level, the issue becomes more critical.
To carry out business in a foreign country, a company may entrust the entire operation in the hands of the project manager. The project manager in turn needs to take into account few important factors before even getting started with a project in an unknown territory.
A project manager must be able understand all those issues that may concern the project in hand. This is one of the first tasks to be accomplished;a project manager should foresee any type of conflict that may arise in future. Knowledge on the pre-existing issues within the region and the proper education in local politics and social factors thus becomes essential.
After carefully studying the present scenario, the project manager must be able to deduce the emergence of a risk in the future. From that point onwards, a strategy can be applied in order to moderate the said risk. If this approach becomes an unachievable, the management needs to decide if they could still go ahead with the project.
The entire effort behind the identifying the risk should rely on some comprehensive amount of research and investigative work. The risk may involve non-discernible attitudes that could be cultivating within different communities in relation to the given project .One must also take into account the clash of ideas between stakeholders in the home country and its repercussive effects on the communities involved in the project. This involves researching data from the old newspapers, talking to the community leaders or the government officials etc.
For a project manager, another concern relates to the differential treatment of questionable acts by the legal systems in different counties. An act such as payment of bribes many a times finds a form of legitimacy in many countries outside North America and Europe. This is a critical issue as not complying with the rather accepted bribe culture can be troublesome with respect to the total operation. While at the same time, taking part in such an act which is considered to be extremely illegal, may invite indictment of the company in their country of origin.
One of the prime examples in this case is the passing of imported goods through customs which may require systematically sanctioned bribes to the custom officials. If not complied with, a shipment of required good may not reach to its destination at the project site, which further raises the total cost for this said project. This is the kind of risk that could be easily avoided by carrying out investigative research beforehand. During the initial phase of a project, information could be sought related to local laws that are applicable and the international laws that may contradict them in turn.
The project management relies heavily on the project managers being involved in proper risk identification. During the planning stage, right questions should be asked in order to anticipate a risk. This is normally followed by carving up a strategy taking care of the said risk. Including the project scope in the planning process is essential which ultimately determines if a project is worthwhile to invest enough resource behind it.
The project managers should possess a comprehensive grasp on the overall project objectives which include the knowledge of the company’s own CSR policies. If the international laws and the local customs government policies conform to the company’s objective and the interests of its stakeholder, mitigation strategies can be formed to tackle individual conflict issues
This article was taken from here.