How Hong Kong government task force urges corporate world to see social responsibility as business opportunity

While many Hong Kong companies are keen to fulfil their corporate social responsibility, very few understand how it can drive business growth, a government task force says.

A study commissioned by the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund found about 85 per cent of the 50 companies that make up the Hang Seng Index take part in corporate social responsibility programmes, such as donating money to charities or visiting care centres for elderly people.

However, only four companies have adopted what has been termed the "Creating Shared Values" concept, an idea first put forward in 2011 in theHarvard Business Review. The four firms are China Mobile, AIA, China Unicom and Mengniu Dairy, none of which are local.

The task force's chairman, Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, said the concept advocates addressing social issues as part of a company's business model, and that organisations that have embraced the idea are successfully driving business growth through it as well as helping people in need.

That thinking contrasts with the traditional view of corporate social responsibility, in which firms attempt to address social problems after turning a profit.

"In the past, people thought making a profit and doing good deeds were two contradictory concepts," said Cheung, who is also president of the Institute of Education. "They thought they could only take up social responsibility after making a profit."

They thought they could only take up social responsibility after making a profit

STEPHEN CHEUNG

But the "Creating Shared Values" concept emphasises that money spent on social responsibility programmes can be an investment opportunity instead of simply an expense.

In 2003, China Mobile identified a large number of villages in remote areas of the mainland not covered by the telephone network, and started work to incorporate them.

"China Mobile realised this could be a business opportunity, while at the same time it was meaningful," said Iris Lui, project manager of CSR Asia, a consultancy founded to promote corporate social responsibility.

Local companies are also making strides in combining profit with social needs.

Alan Cheung, chairman of the Grandion Group, a textiles company, set up a centre in Tsuen Wan earlier this year to offer advice and facilities for young designers looking to produce their own apparel, profits from the sale of which are shared between the centre and the designers. Recent migrants from the mainland, who often struggle to find work after arriving, have been given jobs at the centre.

Cheung expects the HK$10 million investment he ploughed into the project to generate HK$100 million to HK$200 million in revenue annually.

The task force has invited international experts to a forum set for September 9 to discuss the "Creating Shared Values" concept.

-South China Morning Post