H.B. Fuller follows two key principles in executing its community affairs initiatives. First, the company recognizes that community affairs is not a static program, but a dynamic process of constant change, adapting to both changing community and corporate needs. Second, the company strives to integrate employee volunteerism with corporate giving; employee guidance brings a high level of integrity to corporate philanthropy.
Human Rights
As corporations continue to globalize operations, the business value associated with being a good corporate citizen has increased. Mounting shareholder pressure has led companies to adopt business practices that promote socially responsible initiatives around the world. Corporate champions of these efforts realize enhanced brand image, which in turn can increase shareholder loyalty and improve the bottom line.
Recently, human rights abuses have emerged as an international concern, eliciting public demand for action. Corporations have responded by not only ensuring company compliance, but by participating in activities that promote human rights in developing countries.
Starbucks Human Rights Initiatives.
One of the best known corporate supporters of international human rights is Starbucks Coffee Company. The Seattle-based organization is accustomed to conducting business internationally, operating more than 2,100 retail outlets in North America, the United Kingdom, the Pacific Rim and the Middle East. In addition, Starbucks’s major suppliers are located in the coffee-rich regions of Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. In 1991, Starbucks made a long-term commitment to promoting human rights through its partnership with ?CARE?, an international relief organization. Community development projects in Kenya, Indonesia, and Guatemala, countries from which Starbucks imports its coffee beans, are aimed at improving the lives of coffee workers and their families. Current projects include education and literacy programs, rural community development, and preservation of national parklands. Starbucks is the largest annual North American corporate contributor to CARE, donating and helping to raise over $1.2 million, benefiting an estimated 2.6 million people.
In 1996, Starbucks took its human rights efforts one step further, becoming the first US agricultural commodity company to adopt a human rights corporate statement. Known as the “Framework for a Code of Conduct,” this mission asserts Starbucks’s commitment to preventing forced labor and child labor, and supporting freedom of association.
Starbucks’s reputation as a human rights advocate is one of its most valuable assets, strengthening brand image, influencing consumer purchasing decisions, and impacting the bottom line. As the public continues to focus upon and expose human rights abuses, and as U.S. companies continue to expand their presence globally, it is expected that more corporations will become involved in initiatives to improve human rights. Promoting human rights is just one way that companies can effect change while building a reputable brand image that is valued by shareholders.
Natura Cosmeticos ,
Natura Cosmeticos, Based in Brazil, is recognized as a leader in corporate social responsibility in Latin America for its commitment to the communities in which it operates, for creating an empowering workplace, and for its support of human rights issues locally. The company’s mission statement details its dedication to promoting “well being/being well” through its cosmetics business, and Natura has a separate department specifically charged with creating, identifying, and developing social responsibility programs. The company has a focus on creating partnerships with schools, government organizations, and non-profits to enhance the quality of children’s lives and the public education systems in the regions in which it operates. For example, the company has formed a partnership with the Abrinq Foundation for Child’s Rights that entails
(1) mobilizing its network of consultants and suppliers who spend volunteer time to design, produce and sell products the sale of which the partnership child labor program.
(2) including an anti-child labor clause in its supplier agreements.
(3) placing a child-friendly seal on its products.
(4) advocating with other companies around issues such as the Brazilian Child and Adolescent Bill of Rights.
Natura’s employees, suppliers, and consultants are provided with opportunities to perform volunteer community service, and the company makes its facilities, management expertise, and administrative capabilities available to numerous non-profit organizations. The company also demonstrates its commitment to environmental sustainability through its use of refillable packaging.
Conclusion
Today, it appears as if there are more problems on a macro scale than ever before. Therefore, social responsibility by organizational entities is more important than ever. Governments are relied upon to allocate tax money to the well being of society. For example, lifestyles of the mentally ill and homeless could be improved.
Perhaps there is absolutely no way the government can do enough. Hence, organizations need to contribute. However, in doing this, the very important issue of public relations is improved. In addition, the company gains enormous tax benefits.
I still believe that more incentives are needed for corporations to help improve the future holistic entity of the earth. The overall issues at stake are the environment and the human quality of life now, and in future generations. Perhaps the greatest incentive to participate in social good is social good itself.