Corporate T&T must place more emphasis on internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a first step to improving its competitiveness and corporate image, say business researchers.
Dr Ron Sookram, programme director at the newly-established Centre for Corporate Responsibility at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, said corporate responsibility must pervade all aspects of an organisation, and so responsible behaviour ought to start from within the company. "Internal issues are important for organisational performance and companies should begin to give closer attention to these internal issues," Sookram said. He said although 34 of the 35 companies in the survey believed CR could be financially rewarding, only four of the companies specifically identified that they derived financial benefits from their CR initiatives. He said internal CR refers to all the practices that are implemented within a company, such as employee development programmes, health and safety policies, governance practices, creating a motivating and productive work environment within the organisation, and reducing the impact of a company's operation on the environment and product responsibility. He said too many companies were placing emphasis on external CSR and were ignoring the opportunities and benefits that can be easily derived and quantified from internal CR.
"Eighty-five per cent of the companies identified improved branding and reputation as the main benefits for engaging in corporate responsibility. "This suggests that there is a bias among companies to place emphasis on activities that are highly visible, sexy, and thus, external. While it is acceptable to engage in such initiatives, internal CSR is given less priority," Sookram said. "To a large extent, this demonstrates that companies still find it difficult to adequately link CR and financial performance. However, this challenge is not unique to T&T. There are companies in developed economies that are still grappling with this particular issue, and so, the financial rewards are, at times, inconclusive. "Nevertheless, it has been shown that companies that have implemented CR measures and activities have experienced a range of bottom-line benefits.
Together with the new Centre for Corporate Responsibility, Lok Jack GSB also launched its new Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship yesterday at the school in Mt Hope. In his presentation about the role the new centre will play in encouraging innovation in the region, Prof Miguel Carrillo, executive director of the school, said T&T was ranked very low in innovation when compared to other countries.
Carrillo said the school was willing to take on the challenge and he was looking forward to partnering with other stakeholders to develop local entrepreneurship and make the country more competitive by providing a more enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.