CSR and business activities differ in targets. A business succeeds in selling products and services, if the products and services can compete to find limited buyers. In the fierce business world, there are both winners and losers.

      But the goal of CSR is not limited. It could be extended to cover community or social problems. Competition in business sense thus can’t be applied in CSR.

      As such, no business stands to lose or gain from CSR activities. While the market itself reaps total investment gains, as none is wasted in the competition.

      A challenge in launching CSR activities in 2010 is how to integrate all resources for total gains. As CSR market is unlimited, it could suck (limited) resources of a company but promise little gains. Even a rich company could not turn desert into a sea.

Once a company realises that available resources could be just a drop of water, it is reasonable to combine resources with other companies to create an oasis. The joint efforts will ensure the growth of trees and plants, or even the self-sustainable ecology.

       A company may try to answer these simple (or hard) questions to review the effectiveness of its CSR activities:

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  How many trees we planted 3 years ago remain alive? (And how the survival rate could be enhanced?


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  How many cloth bags distributed to clients and employees to replace plastic bags are still in use? (How to increase the figures?)


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  Are the check dams we helped built in a village functioning? (How can we help ensure the functionality?)


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  Has the public library we donated to a village achieved the visitor target? (How to keep it alive?) 


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  How effective the fund contributed to the community and environment development fund is? (Is there a better way to develop community and environment?

          Starting a CSR activity without considering the after-process would never lead to sustainable development.

          Kicking off something is a start of the sustainable development, but we do know that dropping a water into the desert would never lead to sustainability. The business world is thus in the turning point in mobilising cross-organisation efforts, if it really wants to create an oasis. 

To achieve the goal, a company needs to drop its identity and the obsession to create a difference without taking into account the context. If it can overcome the challenge, it will lead to the sharing of resources, just like what we witness in the logistic and IT areas where many players – even those in the same business - are allowed into a single network. 

       The question is if any company realises that our CSR can be jointly implemented like the backoffice services. Most companies do not. They remain committed to their own CSR programmes, singly seeking public awareness through different or outstanding activities. To them, CSR is simply a PR tool and this lessens the true meaning of CSR. With this perception, they win or lose from their own CSR.

       But if companies realise the value of sharing this backoffice service, this would ensure the high effectiveness to stakeholders – clients, consumers, community, and etc. This in turn will strengthen their identity and uniqueness.

       Companies in several industries like automobile, electrical appliances and electronics have started to combine forces in the supply chain. Parts manufacturers, distributors, service centres are put together. If the sectoral initiative could happen with CSR, CSR would not be just a buzzword but the initiative for concrete value to society.

       Cooperation like this can be cross-sectoral, to encompass companies which share utilities or a similar target groups. Companies can join hands to address a shared social issue.

        Yet again, when launching sectoral and cross-sectoral CSR initiatives, companies should also take into accounts undesirable and unexpected consequences. None of us wants an initiative that would weaken communities.

By Pipat Yodprutikarn