CSR the much misunderstood concept

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Mahmudur Rahman
The financial turmoil surrounding economies and businesses is bound to throw up an embarrassing question sooner than later. What happens to corporate social responsibility (CSR)? The very question, if asked will defeat the whole purpose of CSR at a time when ideally it is most poignant. After all, in blunt terms if the US financial institutions had embraced CSR there was supposed to be plans to address the effect on consumers of the sub-prime disaster.
Unilever Bangladesh's former Managing Director Sanjeev Mehta was crisply clear in Dhaka recently when he warned against knee-jerk reactions. He spoke against cutting marketing spend. As he put it, the value to be gained from advertising in days of less clutter is significant. Moreover, if ever the consumer needed reassurance of their needs-this is the time. CSR is no different, provided it has been implemented properly and not just a PR spin-off.
It was therefore, somewhat amusing to hear some of the corporate leaders skirt around CSR, somewhat like handling a hot potato-knowing it had to be addressed but not quite sure how to go about it. The platform was the Bangladesh Brand Forum attended by some of the leading names in Bangladesh's corporate world and even by some from abroad.
The basic and unadulterated concept of CSR informs us that businesses need to take steps to address and protect consumers from the consequences that their practices may have. Starting from the US all the way to Bangladesh the confusion seems almost equal. There are companies who still merrily go around acclaiming their donations and such to society-thereby totally confusing philanthropy with CSR. In a way it serves big business because they are escaping the bigger responsibility of proper CSR itself.
CSR goes way beyond philanthropy-no matter how much good it does society. It is not about assisting people come out of the morass of poverty nor is it about empowerment. It is simply about addressing the impact that businesses have through their operations.
What the corporate leaders seemed to harp on was all about mixing CSR and philanthropy so much so that a representative of a global advertising company actually went out and said businesses had no role to play in CSR that was designed to improve the lot-so to say-of the people of a country. He was absolutely correct because that is not what CSR is supposed to be doing. Unfortunately the discussion never really got to the point of discussing CSR in detail and therefore the confusion remained. Or should it be said that there was enough confusion for the real issue not to surface.
If a change is definition is required-so be it. Till such a time corporate social responsibility as it means today needs to be understood-especially in relation to why it is good for business. (The writer is a former head of corporate and regulatory affairs, British American Tobacco, Bangladesh and former chief executive officer, Bangladesh Cricret Board. He may be reached at mahmudurrahman@gmail.com)