CSR

8th SEEITA – 7th SEE ICT Forum Meeting & 7th MASIT Open Days Conference14-15 October 2010, Ohrid www.seeita.org

Corporate Social Responsibility –A good business decision

(what, why, who and how ?)

Goran Lazarevski

AD EuroComputer Systems-ECSMember of Seavus Group


Social Responsibility is the responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical behaviour that

• contributes to sustainable development, including health and the welfare of society

• takes into account the expectations of stakeholders• is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international

norms of behaviour; and • is integrated throughout the organization and practised in its

relationships.’(extract from ISO CD26000, DIS Sept 2009)

Corporate Social Responsibility-WHAT?



The definition is distant and too academic?

Of course…

So, what is that actually ?

Despite many definitions, it’s pretty simple:

IT IS RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS !



The current situation in Macedonia…

This opinion is often to find:

“Macedonian entrepreneurs are generally irresponsible and care only for profits…”

Would you agree? I wouldn’t...


Corporate Social Responsibility

The National Coordinating Body on CSR

In the past three years,We held and participated in over 40 events, forums, workshops, debates,

conferences and trainings;• We printed over 15 different publications and manuals, in total circulation

of over 10.000 copies;• We established 7 working groups on different subjects with over

40 members from the CSR Body’s membership, supporters andindependent experts;

• We analyzed and assessed over 180 applications for the nationalaward and awarded over 60 projects of our Macedonian companies.

More about the Coordinating body later from Mrs. Popova from the Ministryof economy…


Corporate Social Responsibility

From the National award 2008:


Corporate Social Responsibility-WHY?

• CSR – It sounds nice, but,

Why waste time and money on this?

It’s pretty simple: IT BRINGS PROFITS !– It makes your company competitive

– It’s an investment for a sustainable business

– It’s not a fashion that is going to go away


Important: Business of business is business !

One opinion:

“As manager, I am responsible only to my shareholders and not to the society…”

This sounds reasonable at first sight, but…



What do we need to have long-term profits?

- Loyal customers

- Loyal suppliers

- Loyal employees

- Good marketing tools

- Good corporate governance

CSR is the best way to achieve this…




So, the real question we should set is:

Can we afford, not to be socially responsible ?


Corporate Social Responsibility-WHO?

An opinion:

“CSR is only for rich and large corporations, it is not appropriate for small companies like us, especially in times of crisis…”

This also makes a lot of sense at first sight, however…



The Macedonian National award showed in the past three years that this is simply not true !

The Macedonian IT industry consists mostly of small and medium size companies and still it is a leader in Corporate Social Responsibility projects…

So, we can say today: CSR is for ALL companies, regardless of their size and industry…



Our experience at ECS as well as the Seavus Groupconfirms that activities in the field of CSR are a strong contribution to sustainable business and the best way to build a circle of loyal customers, loyal employees and a positive image.

Our investments in education, environment, socially vulnerable groups, culture and many other fields, strengthen our image and build a closer relationship to all society stakeholders.

We are convinced this is the only way to success.


Corporate Social Responsibility-HOW?

As managers, you want the CSR to take as little time and resources as possible to implement and achieve as much effect as possible, as soon as possible…

But, how do you achieve this ?

How do you save time to make more money?



Be careful:

CSR is much more than philanthropy – it’s the way you perform your business



Of course, as managers, you must decide what to do in the field of CSR…

But, in the process of decision making, it is always good to

- Consult your customers

- Check your previous experience

- Consult your clients

- Consult your shareholders

And of course, never forget:



Don’t do everything yourself…

The time you lose on analyzing, where and how to organize your CSR activities is too expensive: let the professionals provide you the best solutions, so that you can stay focused on the core business…



It’s very important to provide monitoring and measuring of the CSR activities…

Otherwise, how do we know if we did well?



So, after all this is done, you will be able to decide what you choose to be:

- A leader,

- A follower, or

- A passive actor

This decision will determine your CSR strategy !



So, for now, the main question you should all answer to yourself is:

Is my company socially responsible and what do I need to do to improve?



Thank you for your attention.

Goran Lazarevski

AD EuroComputer Systems-ECS Skopje

/member of Seavus group /

Tel. +389 70 364 913

[email protected]

Documents

CSR