The FINANCIAL — Green products are to become of high priority for UNDP in CSR in 2013, believes George Nanobashvili, Economic Development Team Leader at UNDP.
The FINANCIAL — Green products are to become of high priority for UNDP in CSR in 2013, believes George Nanobashvili, Economic Development Team Leader at UNDP.
“Green economy is the new area for UNDP and Government in CSR which we are going to support in Georgia. Up till now environmental protection has been the main priority and most popular trend of CSR. The latest research on green business investment opportunities has shown that agriculture is currently the most distinguished field as it is very profitable in terms of commercial value.”
“To have a successful business, it is not enough to simply fulfil functions effectively, which means to accumulate capital, pay taxes, produce quality products, create job places. Society expects more from business. At the same time CSR is the business sector’s reaction to the new requirements from society’s side. Companies should not only think about profit, but should take on more responsibilities for society and make more of a positive impact in their work on their social and natural environment.”
“Socially responsible companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations to contribute to the wellbeing of employees and society. What a business produces, how it buys and sells, how it affects the environment, how it recruits, trains and develops its own people, how it is financed and governed, how it invests in the community and respects the rights of people, its workforce and customers – all of these add up to determine the impact of that particular business on society. Positive and proactive action by the business sector in all of these areas has become the established practice, primarily because it has proven beneficial to all.”
“Sometimes we see advertisements on the television about the activities of different companies that surprise us as we cannot link them to the companies’ portfolio and cannot understand why the companies would implement those projects which are not at all profitable. But for the company it is very important to be socially responsible as it improves its image in general. There are a number of possible ways to gain a competitive advantage in business, which can be achieved through having a proper and effectively safe influence on the environment.”
“We consider the implementation of CSR projects to be profitable for the companies as customers frequently pay attention to the reputation and image which usually is positive when a company follows socially responsible business practice. The customers’’ awareness is raised in terms of CSR. Therefore, CSR-friendly companies can win over other companies’ customers.”
“The implementation of CSR projects might be connected to financial resources, but it will bring benefits in the long run.
When a company has CSR initiatives, employees are more proud of and committed to the organization. This is because employees’ personal identities are partly tied up in the companies that they work for. If a company is saving the world, the employees too, so my association with the company reflects positively on the employees and makes them feel good about the work they do for the company. So, for the companies it should be important how they care about their employees.”
