Interview with Ntutule Tshenye: Accessing unlimited potential
Strategy is often decided centrally; however, countries and regions are unique and different, so strategy implementation needs to be adapted locally. For example, Africa is a large and highly diverse continent, and the needs of its people differ from those in Asia, Europe, or the Americas.
Ntutule Tshenye, Citizenship Lead – West, East, Central Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands at Microsoft, offers his insights into Microsoft’s Corporate Citizenship1 strategy and the ways it is applied in an African context. Ntutule joined Microsoft in 2005, coming from the NGO world, where he had been CEO of South Africa’s Youth Development Trust.
What about the area for which you are responsible? How many countries do you cover?
NT: “We have 13 offices with over 600 full-time and contract staff. And we have worked to create a network of almost 10,000 commercial partners that develop, sell, deploy, and support our software solutions. I work in the West, East, Central Africa, and Indian Ocean Islands subsidiary, also called WECA. WECA sits within the broader Middle East and Africa Region and spans 49 countries. I am based in the headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, and have Citizenship managers in each of our four sales locations, including interns in two of the locations. We partner with the student organization AIESEC for our intern program, in order to open up opportunities for students’ entry into the job market.”
And, just to clarity, at Microsoft, CR is called Corporate Citizenship?
NT: “Yes, we refer to Corporate Responsibility as Corporate Citizenship, because our commitment is more than a responsibility – it’s about being an active citizen in the countries and communities in which we operate. Our Corporate Citizenship areas of focus are Responsible Business Practices; Security Privacy and Internet Safety; and Unlimited Potential. In our understanding, addressing all of those three areas is about being a good corporate citizen.
“We have concrete Corporate Citizenship goals. They are to (1) serve the public good through innovative technologies and partnerships; (2) contribute to economic growth and social opportunity; (3) deliver on business responsibilities of growth and value to customers, shareholders, and employees; and (4) approach Citizenship as a core part of Microsoft’s business value.”
What about your vision and mission for your Corporate Citizenship?
NT: “They are actually not different from our corporate vision and mission. Our vision is: ‘To bring the benefits of technology to the next five billion people.’ Our mission is: ‘To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential.’ Our specific mission in Africa is: ‘Realizing the Unlimited Potential of Africa’s people and businesses through the provision of software, services, and solutions toward the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.’
“We have really thought about what legacy we’d like to leave in Africa. We see an Africa where every school has a computer center where children can practice and use technology. We see every African neighborhood with access to technology and training. We see every government leveraging technology to provide basic services for all citizens. We see every citizen benefiting from technology that supports Africa’s transformation to democracy. We see subsistence farmers who are able to realize the true value of their produce on the global market through the use of technology. We see children and families healed by powerful medical expertise. And then we see an Africa at peace with itself and able to contribute to the great endeavors of humanity and compete on the world stage.”
What are your strategies then to reach those goals?
NT: “Globally, we have three interrelated strategies: transforming education; enabling jobs and opportunities; and fostering local innovation. Unlimited Potential is the umbrella messaging framework within which these three global strategies are implemented, and it is always a holistic approach; programs never address just one of the three components. Just to give you an example: innovation creates jobs, and you need to be educated for innovation – in 2007, almost 15 million people were employed globally in jobs created by the Microsoft business model. We bring the same spirit of innovation to Corporate Citizenship that we have always applied to our business.
“For Africa, we have adapted the three global strategies to meet local needs appropriately. Our African approach has four core pillars: (1) Coverage – which means expanding our footprint across the subcontinent; (2) Leverage – expanding impact through partnership and capacity building with influential stakeholders; (3) Community Development – citizenship efforts are aligned to national development priorities, and we provide funds to augment NGO impact in the areas of youth and women, entrepreneurship, digital literacy, and employability; and (4) Innovation – here we provide business models and technology innovation relevant for and within Africa.
“We then have three criteria against which to test our activities. They all need to have local relevance, offer people access, and be affordable for people.”
What about NGO partnerships?
NT: “Those are absolutely key, just as much as government relations. We want to empower NGOs as key partners and contribute our know-how. If, for example, a government representative or an NGO brings an IT-related community competency issue to our attention, we research what we know and what we can do about it. A small example is that Windows Vista was made available in local African languages like Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa. We want to also strengthen the NGO sector through ICT, skills development and management, performance for both projects and processes, and business and sustainability models. That’s where we have core competencies. Last but not least, we also partner with universities, and that is a huge audience. Those young people are tomorrow’s decision-makers!”
And how do you find those partnerships work out?
NT: “With the company’s approach to Corporate Citizenship, I have the space to really immerse myself in the communities and find out about local needs. What I noticed there initially was a certain level of damage sometimes – an image of the company as ‘taking the profits and running with them.’ We had to address that, and we did by introducing programs that are aligned to people’s needs.
“You have to be seen as part of building our countries and markets, and also understand how government works – e.g., understand the continuing influence of previous political leaders and work with that. If you do all that well, the business benefit is that you are earning your loyalty from your stakeholders, and, once they trust you, the lines of communication and interaction are really open both ways.”
How are local Microsoft employees involved in your community activities?
NT: “In Sub-Saharan Africa, we have about 500 employees. The company gives them three days of paid leave per year to be active as volunteers, and people do take us up on that. For example, the training centers at Nigeria’s Chief Bola Ige Information Technology Center are also enabled by Microsoft funding and volunteers to provide IT skills training to unemployed women, helping them to acquire the skills they need to find employment.”
How much do you spend?
NT: “We invest considerable amounts – however, we are careful not to follow a worrying practice that I’ve seen adopted by some companies operating here. They report even regular local salaries they pay as community investment. We do not do that. Paying local employees local salaries is, to us, part of normal business operations. What we report as investment in the community is uniquely for programs under ‘Unlimited Potential.’ Microsoft sees incredible potential in Africa. We invest hundreds of millions of dollars in our software, our people, and our partners, in order to transform education, foster local innovation, enable job creation, and support economic development across Africa.”
What should companies wanting to implement global Community Involvement themes in Africa be aware of? What should they pay attention to in their approach?
NT: “That is a good question, and to me the answer is actually simple and straightforward. Citizenship to me is first of all about local immersion, and then it is about empowering people. Immerse yourself fully in the local context. Build relationships! That takes time and is so often underestimated. It is a big risk to just start ‘doing business as usual’ without building the relationships first. And, when you are with people, just talk like one of them – no need to set yourself apart. Then look into what the local needs are and how you can address them, applying your strategy to build local capacity and empower people.”
“Business cannot succeed in societies that fail,” according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.2 For societies...
