Invest with Values

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

  • RESOURCE DIRECTORY
    • GETTING STARTED
    • FULL DIRECTORY
    • Top Resources
    • Share a Resource
  • NEWS CENTER
    • NEWS CENTER
    • By Category
      • Local Banking
      • Community Investing
      • Impact Investing
      • Sustainable-Responsible Investing
      • Featured Articles
      • Beyond Investing
      • IWV news
      • Top Resources
    • News Partners
      • 3BLmedia
      • AllianceMagazine
      • CorporateKnights
      • GreenMoney
      • Locavesting
      • MaxImpact
      • InvestWithValues Sponsors
      • InvestWithValues Partners
    • Newsletter Sign-up
    • Newsletter Archive
  • About
    • About Us
    • Brian Kaminer
    • Learn More
    • Testimonials
    • Investments Talk! Video
    • Launch Press Release
    • News Center Press Release
  • Sponsors & Partners
    • Sponsors
    • Partners
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Survey
    • IWV News
    • Share a Resource
  • Spoiler title
    Free GuideSubscribeClose
    Get a free 30 minute personalized guide to
    Invest With Values, after subscribing.
    * = required field

Pushing Beyond The Ordinary in Corporate Social Responsibility

March 6, 2020 By 3BLmedia

We believe that over the next 10 years, effective CSR initiatives of purpose-driven companies will be characterized by three principles: business alignment, user-centricity and co-creation.
Corporate social responsibility—the practice of companies holding themselves accountable to serve a social purpose and make a positive impact—was not always the main focus of business leaders. Channel some profits into philanthropy, it was thought, and you’ve checked the CSR box.

Those days are long gone.

Clients now expect companies to be purpose-driven, and corporations know it: Between 2011 and 2018, the share of Fortune 500 companies publishing CSR reports grew from roughly 20 percent to more than 85 percent. During that period, CSR went from being a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have.

In fact, four of five people surveyed say corporations should prioritize purpose as much as profit, according to IBM’s recently published Global Purpose Study, conducted in November by Morning Consult. The study, which surveyed 7,020 people in 14 countries, also reflected that people have specific opinions, which vary based on country of residence and age, as to which kinds of CSR programs they most admire.

Still, there is widespread uncertainty about what makes CSR effective and how to get there.

We believe that over the next 10 years, effective CSR initiatives of purpose-driven companies will be characterized by three principles: business alignment, user-centricity and co-creation. No matter what kind of CSR framework you prioritize, these design principles can provide a strong foundation.

Business Alignment

In the “age of authenticity,” CSR should be woven into the fabric of an organization. If it’s an afterthought, and fully dependent on the company’s yearly profits, then CSR can become hard to scale and sustain. The goal for effective CSR is to make a real difference. If viewed as optional, it might never make a permanent impact.

If companies align their CSR efforts to the qualities that help make their business models great, they have a chance to do something extraordinary. So ask yourselves, “What makes our company special?” If you’re a bank, don’t limit yourself to staffing soup kitchens. Take the next step and help the unemployed with personal finance advice or job-seeking strategies.

If you are a tech company, and you know that there is a shortage of STEM-savvy students, and you recognize that there are severe educational disparities based on geography and ethnicity, then don’t just donate computers or cash and hope for the best. Don’t limit yourself to making the occasional visit to classrooms. Instead, reinvent the paradigm of education, and put your understanding of computer competencies to work. Build a skills pipeline for the private sector—one that will also move marginalized communities into well-paying careers.

That’s what we did here at IBM, with the P-TECH education model we pioneered. P-TECH schools are innovative public high schools that enable students to graduate with a free associate’s degree in applied science, engineering, computer science or other competitive STEM disciplines. Industry partners such as IBM provide students with mentors and paid internships. To date, P-TECH schools have been announced in 24 countries, in collaboration with key education and industry partners.

User-Centricity

The most recent Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to a trio of researchers who changed our understanding of world poverty, and how to alleviate it. Their innovation was in pinpointing the real faces of poverty, which turned out to be very different from the sweeping generalizations previously assumed by the Western world. That is what user-centricity is all about.

As technology evolves, the “age of the average” is drawing to a close. Instead of demanding access to goods and services designed for the “average consumer,” we now crave personalization in everything from entertainment to medicine.

User-centricity is at the core of most business models, and it should be driving social impact initiatives as well.

For example, if your company offers technical or vocational training to the community, don’t just settle for generic workshops. Determine what skills are in demand, and analyze how local residents learn best. Then help them put their knowledge to use by helping them find a job.

We applied this user-centric approach to IBM’s new SkillsBuild online learning platform, which provides the unemployed, refugees, asylum seekers and military veterans with “career fit” assessments, training, personalized coaching and the experiential learning they need to succeed in today’s workforce. SkillsBuild draws on the best of IBM’s technology in open source, AI and beyond, and is designed to help equip underserved populations for the workforce of the future.

Our focus on the user was also at the heart of a digital tool, called the Cancer Guidelines Navigator. It is designed to help over-burdened, under-resourced oncologists across sub-Saharan Africa by providing treatment options in the NCCN Harmonized Guidelines ™ for sub-Saharan Africa for cancer patients. It had to be easy to learn and use, and it needed to take into account that oncologists and patients in sub-Saharan Africa don’t have access to all of the same medications that Western countries have.

Co-Creation

What do P-TECH, SkillsBuild and the Cancer Guidelines Navigator have in common? They all benefit from co-creation—the involvement of multiple stakeholders at every stage of a product or project, from conception to design to implementation.

We couldn’t have created the first P-TECH school without working directly with City University of New York and the New York City public school system. We couldn’t have expanded the P-TECH model, in which participating companies work with school districts to understand their unique curriculum needs, without engaging the business community—even competitors. Around the world, there are now more than 600 companies affiliated with the P-TECH model.

We couldn’t have created SkillsBuild without working with the NGO partners that help enrollees find jobs. We couldn’t have created the Cancer Guidelines Navigator without working with the American Cancer Society, Africa Cancer Coalition, Clinton Health Access Initiative and National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Similarly, co-creation is at the heart of our work on the Traffik Analysis Hub, a first-of-its-kind international data sharing and analytics platform to disrupt the growing criminal industry of human trafficking. During its design and development, we partnered with financial institutions and NGOs to create a platform designed to capture information from multiple sources.

(For more detail on these guiding principles, you can view and download a full report, here.)

CSR can no longer be considered a branding exercise, to be developed in a vacuum with the goal of burnishing a company’s reputation. Creating purpose-driven CSR, of the caliber that clients worldwide are demanding, is not easy. But by prioritizing business alignment, user-centricity and co-creation, companies can consider themselves off to an excellent start.

Mar 3, 2020 6:30 AM ET
Tweet This:
.@IBMorg finds 4 out of 5 people surveyed say corporations should prioritize purpose as much as profit. CSR should be woven into the fabric of an organization #GoodTechIBM http://bit.ly/2PFL36Y
Article
Pushing Beyond The Ordinary In Corporate Social Responsibility
Awards and Recognition
Company Ratings
CSR Awards
Sustainability Awards
Human Resources
Education
Higher Education Access
Improving Education Quality
Energy
Environment
Events, Conferences & Webinars
Continuing Education
Leadership
Thought Leadership
Health and Wellness
Technology. Innovation & Solutions
Access to Technology
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Social Innovation
Marketing, Media & Communications
Philanthropy
Reporting, Ratings & Rankings
Business & Trade
Business Ethics
Corporate GovernanceCorporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility
Decent Work and Economic Growth
Employee Engagement
Employee Giving
ESG
Ethics & Governance
Human Resources
Jobs
Partnerships
Safety
Social Entrepreneurship
Sustainability
Fair Trade
Eco-Living, Consumption & Travel
People, Social Action & Community Engagement
Community Involvement
Day of Service
Partnership for the Goals
Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Pro Bono
Service Leadership
Skills-Based Volunteering
Volunteering
Positive Change
Social Change
Supply Chain & the Circular Economy
Sustainable Development Goals
Finance & Investment
Crowdsourcing
Economic Empowerment
Economic Growth
Sustainable Investment
Socially Responsible Investing
design
Design Thinking
cocreating
NYSE:IBM
good tech
corporate responsbility
IBM
Share This:

This post was originally published on Justmeans.com


home-compass-croppedVisit the Invest With Values - Resource Directory to access leading investor information, opportunities, organizations, events, groups and tools.

Filed Under: -Sustainable-Responsible Investing

About 3BLmedia

Founded in 2009, 3BLmedia is a leading news distribution and content marketing company focused on niche topics including sustainability, health, energy, education, philanthropy, community and other social and environmental topics.
Learn more about 3BLmedia and their articles.

News Search

Sponsors

Talgra RSF RSF Social Finance logo Trillium MicroVest MicroVest LOCUS LOCUS Impact Investing CFC capital for change

Events

All News by Category

Take the Survey

Why do you care about money and investing?
  • Home
  • Directory
  • News Center
  • Sponsors & Partners
  • About
  • Connect
  • Google Plus
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Copyright © 2021 • Invest with Values • All Rights Reserved • 914-230-0741 · info(at)talgra.com
Created and Managed by Brian Kaminer of Talgra LLC

Disclaimer: The information shared through investwithvalues.com has been provided by Talgra, LLC (“Talgra”). No representation or warranty, expressed or implied is made by Talgra, the sponsors, partners or contributors as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. The website is for educational and informational purposes only and is subject to change. This does not constitute an offer or a solicitation to purchase or sell any security, and nothing herein should be construed as such. The opinions represented in this directory are those of Talgra and should be considered in conjunction with advice from a professional advisor in the context of your particular investment situation. The specific investments included in this website are examples of investments that can be made in each of the different investment categories and are not recommendations to purchase any individual security or investment vehicle.