The concept of corporate responsibility
is far from novel: Most people want to work for a company that they believe
positively impacts the world. Most people want to work for a company that they
believe positively impacts the world. What’s new is the way in which
organizations are innovating, taking responsibility as corporate citizens and
giving back to society in the process.
Today, the rise of the Internet and a
digital, globally connected workforce has dramatically increased the potential
for companies to make a difference, both in the lives of their customers and on
a larger scale — and at a faster pace than ever before. With the advent of
social media, social good movements can now "go viral," spreading
awareness like wildfire via YouTube, Facebook and other online avenues.
Corporations also have a whole new, online realm in which to directly interact
with consumers, addressing feedback and generally improving their lives one
tweet at a time.
Social and digital has changed
everything for companies ranging from non-profits to traditional MNCs to
startups, from the way that these organizations manage their CSR to the
projects with which they make a global impact. Below, we've examined a few of
the companies that are leading the charge in the betterment of our global
community and making strides in the arena of social entrepreneurship.
Major players in the social good space
By now, nearly everyone who has heard
the term "social good" is familiar with the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. One of the reasons that the organization is so well known and
widely respected is due to its origins and founders: Bill Gates, the wildly
successful founder of Microsoft who frequently lands atop the list of the
richest people in the world, has used his and his wife's success — and wealth —
to fund global initiatives focused on the greater good.
The organization has its hand in
diverse areas, ranging from reducing HIV infections to providing solutions for
the world's food and water shortage problems. It focuses on four key areas:
global development, global health, global policy and advocacy, and a program
that's specific to the U.S. The Foundation supports and works with
groundbreaking projects like the omniprocessor, a machine designed to improve
sanitation and provide clean drinking water to the developing world, and the
Global Citizen movement, an initiative with the goal of uniting people from
around the world in a community of globally focused, socially aware
individuals.
The Skoll Foundation is another social
good organization making a huge, worldwide impact, specifically in the realm of
social entrepreneurship. The organization invests in, connects and celebrates
social entrepreneurs and innovators tackling "the world's most pressing
problems." Since its inception in 1999, the Skoll Foundation has invested
approximately $500 million in socially conscious projects, and it has awarded
the prestigious Skoll Award to 112 social entrepreneurs and 91 organizations
around the globe.
A couple of the prominent winners of
the 2014 Skoll Award include Mabel van Oranje, founder of Girls Not Brides, an
organization orchestrating global partnerships to raise awareness about child
marriage, and Josh Nesbit, founder of Medic Mobile, an open-source, non-profit
company dedicated to improving healthcare platforms in underserved communities.
Making a positive impact in Asia
Over in Asia, DBS, a Singapore-based
bank with more than 280 branches across 18 markets, set up the DBS Foundation
(DBSF) in 2014, with a S$50 million (USD ~$36 million) commitment to address
the region’s evolving social needs. The bank dedicates a significant amount of
time and resources to social good initiatives and actively supports social
entrepreneurship, as part of its efforts to be a force for good.
The Foundation partners with renowned
social enterprise developers, with a focus on facilitating knowledge-sharing,
as well as increasing the capacity of early-stage social enterprises to achieve
social and commercial viability. These partners also provide incubation, boot
camps, workshops and some financial support to social enterprises. Some of the
Foundation’s partners are incubators and they include: NUS Enterprise, HUB
Singapore, Village Capital and Tata Institute of Social Sciences in India, SE
Insights in Taiwan, YouChange Foundation in China and the Hong Kong Council of Social
Service.
The Foundation also runs an Asia-wide
Grant Program that provides scale-up funding to enable social enterprises to
test products, maximize impact and scale social good businesses. The Social
Venture Challenge Asia is another platform with which the Foundation is
actively involved: This challenge seeks to identify and support early-stage
social ventures with the potential to create lasting, scalable and sustainable
impact. It spans five months and is open to the general public.
To date, the Foundation has given
grants to 100 social enterprises throughout Asia. Including the non-financial
resources and business procurement opportunities provided, DBS and DBSF have
worked with over 200 social enterprises. DBS and DBSF have worked with over 200
social enterprises.
Additionally, the Foundation powers
AsiaForGood, a resource dedicated to all things social entrepreneurship. The
platform aims to build an online community of like-minded social enterprises
and socially conscious advocates, through an online directory, as well as via
regular news and event updates.
Aside from the Foundation and its
initiatives, the bank itself supports social entrepreneurs through innovative,
forward-thinking policies that are atypical of a traditional financial
institution. DBS's Social Enterprise Package offers social-good-minded entrepreneurs
a low-cost solution for funding and managing their growing businesses'
finances, with no initial deposit or minimum monthly balance requirements.
DBS is committed to improving the lives
of all its customers and employees, not just the social entrepreneurs who place
their trust in the company to support their ventures. The bank continuously
innovates, and adopts a customer-first attitude in the development of its
products and services.
Tech companies and new startups making
an impact
Dedicated foundations like the ones
mentioned above aren’t the only organizations making an impact, however.
Traditional companies and for-profit institutions are nurturing a renewed focus
on championing corporate responsibility, fostering social entrepreneurship and
seeking to improve the lives of customers.
Intel is one example of a company that
has adopted a strong stance on social and corporate responsibility with its
conflict-free minerals and microprocessors initiative.
The company has made strides in the past
decade to raise awareness of how the sale of materials used in laptops and
electronics around the world, such as tantalum, tin, tungsten and gold —
otherwise known as "conflict minerals" — are frequently the source of
violence and conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Intel has
pledged to abide by a company-wide policy ensuring that its products are as
reasonably "DRC conflict-free" as possible, and it supports measures
to quell the existence of conflict minerals around the globe.
Startups are homing in on the corporate
responsibility trend, too. The past decade has seen the rise of several hugely
successful startups founded on the notion of social good, such as TOMS and
Warby Parker. Both these companies employ a "buy one, give one"
policy, donating one item — shoes or a pair of eyeglasses — to people in need
with every product purchased.
Sustainability-focused startups are
also all the rage, focusing on a lower carbon footprint and the wellbeing of
the planet — even extending renewable energy and sustainable practices to outer
space. Companies like Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based Earth imaging company,
and Wello, a social venture helping deliver clean water to underprivileged
regions, have made waves in recent headlines. These types of startups are
increasingly common, melding corporate responsibility with customer
accountability and allowing consumers to feel as if they're actively
participating in the push for a more sustainable society.
The DBS Foundation has produced
socially conscious startups that are making an impact in Singapore as well:
T.ware, another company supported by DBSF, produces an innovative
"smart" jacket that gives ‘hugs’ via deep touch pressure, which is
especially soothing for children with special needs. Bettr Barista, as another
example, helps disadvantaged women and individuals embark upon successful
barista careers, with a triple bottom line of "people, planet and
profit." They are also certified as Singapore’s first B.corp, in
recognition of their business practices solving social and environmental
problems.
The achievements of the above companies
and social enterprises prove how social entrepreneurship can scale with the
right support, and thus positively impact society. As new ways of working and
innovative technologies continue to emerge in the social good space, it's an
exciting time to ponder what the future has in store. For companies like Intel,
DBS and TOMS, social good and corporate responsibility is clearly more than
just a business add-on.
-Mashable
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