The Pressing Need for Social Renewal (Introduction)
Dieter Helm, a British economist, once said that “there was enough oil in the world to fry the planet many times over.” We might not be using the oil literally for this purpose, but we are definitely frying the planet on many levels, if we are to take into account the current threats to modern civilization. From climate change to religious fundamentalism, geopolitical mayhem, and overpopulation, and from environmental degradation to constrained resources and uncurbed consumerism, the world is facing unprecedented challenges on many fronts.
As it remains exposed to Western winds and local storms, continuously shaken by countless crises, the region has its own set of challenges. With high unemployment rates and growing extremism, declining standards of living, and a disconcerted youth, the region faces profound challenges for the years to come.
It is within this context of relatively weak political and social structures that Middle Eastern societies are left disoriented in the midst of it all. The region is in dire need of change, a sort of political, economic, and social renewal.
Considering the rather feeble governmental provision that prevails across the region, students, academics, lawyers, and activists, among others, have often taken up an active role in addressing environmental and social issues, with the burden of alleviating the needs of society more often than not relegated to non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
However, the undertakings of NGOs face their own set of challenges, especially when it comes to the extent and impact of the efforts made, the lack of oversight and regulation, as well as the unsustainable sources of funding for their organizations and initiatives.
Without disputing the model at hand, and irrespective of their best intentions, we have to concede that NGOs cannot do it alone. The ethical duty to address social and environmental challenges cannot be left just to them. When it comes to our part of the world, we have yet to fully recognize the crucial role that businesses could play in mitigating the risks to the environment they thrive in.
One need not be a devoted advocate of environmental preservation or social well-being to understand that, as individuals who live alongside businesses, the latter’s activities and undertakings directly and indirectly affect our own.
While a business cannot fix it all either, it cannot shy away from addressing the challenges around it. Recognizing the reality that businesses cannot succeed if society fails, businesses can contribute to solving some of the social and environmental problems of our society and of our time.
Corporate Social Responsibility: A Wobbly Surge
The extent and nature of the involvement of the region’s businesses in social affairs has primarily been through corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, such initiatives have yet to come of age, as they have mostly been tactical rather than strategic in their approach.
In fact, businesses have dabbled in CSR activities that have mostly been limited to the sponsoring of local events, the giving away of products, the broadcasting of punctual campaigns, the generation of biased and self-congratulatory reports, and others. These initiatives comprise in essence a myriad of feel-good projects that have been primarily used as public relations or communications tools rather than sustainable development opportunities. While they are a step in the right direction, none of them is effectively sustainable or impactful on the long term.
If one looks more closely at companies’ initiatives, one notices that, when it comes to environmental responsibility, for example, there is often more talk than actual delivery. In fact, some companies can be accused of greenwashing, or using marketing and public relations gimmicks to make deceptive claims concerning their environmental responsibility. A simple yet common example of greenwashing is that of businesses who claim to have saved 10 percent of energy when in fact the drop was due to lower air-conditioning consumption that resulted from cooler weather conditions compared with previous years.
In the region, the banking sector is perceived as the most “advanced” in terms of CSR efforts. In fact, banks’ social or environmental contributions go back a long way, well before the term CSR was even coined. Over the past decades, the local banking sector has increasingly embraced social responsibility and has launched several initiatives in this regard, including the sponsorship of cultural events, initiating some environmental projects, allocating resources to social causes, and others. However, the veracity and real impact of these efforts varies and has yet to be fully proven.
In Lebanon, for example, while the Central Bank has launched several circulars that favor CSR initiatives, the banking sector remains somewhat unregulated in this regard, leaving CSR undertakings and reporting at the discretion of the banks.
As such, it is not uncommon for the public to be subjected to a widespread campaign that promotes a bank’s pledge to the environment, whereas this same bank lacks the simplest scheme of recycling paper in its offices and branches.
A deeper look at the way CSR is structured within banks leaves us to conclude that there is huge room for improvement, as only a handful of local banks boast an independent division dedicated to CSR. In fact, the latter is still part of the prerogatives of the communication and marketing departments, which suggests that social responsibility remains a communication tool rather than an integral part of the business’s strategy.
In the real estate sector, for instance, there is a clear emergence of “green” construction in the region, with the growing knowledge, understanding, and expertise of green materials, processes, and equipment. This is the result of an increasingly conscious community and an easier access to international sources of green products. Effectively, significant strides have been made across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to promote water and energy efficiency, with local authorities working towards implementing regulations and rating systems that set higher standards for development and construction projects.
The truth of the matter is that, beyond overzealous public relations claims, it is important to ensure that businesses in general actually take a step back and reflect on the concrete role and responsibilities they have with regard to the ecosystem and society in which they operate.
The repercussions of image laundering or communicating about responsibility and actually doing little about it can be grave. When discovered, it is a challenging and consuming crisis to recover from. A recent example is Volkswagen’s emissions rigging scandal that was extensively covered by the media, with clear hints as to the ridiculous aspect of the situation considering the fact that the company has been rated first on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
As such, it is important to recognize that a different approach to communication is needed, one that is based on concrete actions and genuine coverage rather than on initiatives that act as a front or as one-off undertakings that have form but no substance.
In a world of ambiguity and change, the main challenge for businesses is to cultivate public goodwill, and build and sustain a trusted and consistent image of their brand, one that is not made of smoke or a house of cards, but rather is based on solid foundations and deep roots. Knowing one’s audience as well as their expectations is crucial. Violating these expectations can have substantial consequences on businesses’ reputations, which can be irreversibly damaged or at least profoundly scarred. In fact, business ethics are increasingly becoming a make-or-break element of corporate reputation and image.
All in all, CSR should not be considered as an optional add-on that is external to core business operations. In fact, CSR should be integrated at strategy level, and businesses need to transform the way they function, integrating sustainability into all layers of business operations. So how can companies effectively harness these opportunities?
Businesses’ Role in Weathering Social and Environmental Storms
Businesses should genuinely take part in the social conversation, bringing in new voices and creating value for society at large.
- Commitment at the Core
Concretely, businesses should start looking into investing money and expertise in strategic plans with the goal of improving the communities around them and taking a public stance when needed. As such, companies should rethink their strategies, revisit their social, environmental, or ethical commitments, and align them to the values that make up the core of their business.
For stakeholders and the public at large to engage and believe in companies’ endeavors, it is important that they do not dilute their communication efforts but rather focus on one key issue or on interconnected issues. This could allow the business to win big in terms of brand enhancement and overall reputation as it takes ownership of a specific issue and humanizes the business by linking its name to positive initiatives.
A notable example is that of Continental, a German automotive manufacturing company that recently partnered with Welthungerhilfe, an organization for development and humanitarian aid, and the German Federal Employment Agency to establish a program that would enable refugees to enter the labor force more easily. This highlights an underlying trend, that of switching to communication that is geared towards meaning and actions (Continental 2015).
Looking at the region under consideration, which boasts increasingly high unemployment rates, estimated to be at 30 percent among the youth, businesses have a great opportunity to nurture future generations. Companies can tie their business strategies to their social commitments and involve themselves at a strategic level by participating in the educational path of the region’s youth. Through providing targeted trainings and resources to students and helping them develop market-applicable skills, businesses can contribute to society while making sure there is a talented pool of youth with skills that they can tap into.
By engaging in a genuine effort to employ youth, businesses would enjoy fresh opportunities to increase their level of recognition and credibility among this target audience and beyond.
- Stakeholder Engagement
As important as it is to engage their own employees, businesses should also strive to engage all of their external stakeholders, ranging from their suppliers to their distributors, partners, consumers, and others. The best form of engagement is one that is holistic, takes into account each stakeholder’s perceptions, and addresses their expectations. It is crucial for companies to ensure that proper communication and operational frameworks are set in place. This entails evaluating the impact of the business, setting public targets for improvements, and communicating around them. It is crucially important to communicate on the real and measurable progress so as to keep stakeholders engaged and interested in the company’s enterprises. This emphasizes the need to craft a comprehensive strategic communication plan that helps stakeholders understand the long-term value of such initiatives.
For instance, Novartis, a pharmaceutical company, has gone a long way in integrating such principles. Its commitment to helping the underprivileged was manifested through giving away its drugs. As there was an evident limit to the quantity of drugs a company could distribute for nothing, it had to rethink the way in which it contributed to this target group. After spending considerable time listening to their needs and then working with its various stakeholders to fulfill them, Novartis rethought the distribution, packaging, and marketing of its drugs and now offers widely available low-cost drugs that benefit its target audience as well as the company’s bottom line. By rethinking its strategy, Novartis succeeded in venturing into a new market while addressing, over the long term rather than a shorter period, an imperative social need: that of access to treatment.
On the local scene, a leading bank partnered with a local NGO through a volunteering program that entailed employees sharing their financial expertise to help the NGO better achieve its objectives. This kind of partnership could be extended to a broader array of skills and across several industries, whereby employers would encourage their employees to “‘lend” their skills and put them at the service of the community. A media, communications, or advertising company could for instance provide employee volunteers who would contribute their communication expertise to help a nonprofit build its capacity and its reach. Other examples would be an engineering company lending its waste management expertise to help schools better manage their waste, a nutrition company sharing its knowledge and frameworks to institute healthy eating habits in schools, and an agribusiness company aiding local small-scale farmers with the handling of their crops. The opportunities are endless for companies to leverage their unique strengths and skill sets to enhance the abilities of the communities around them, in order to help them attain certain objectives or solve complex problems they may face. As the skills needed by civil society and the community are varied and plentiful, any company can partake in such an initiative, regardless of its size or of the industry in which it operates. These initiatives strive to strengthen the feel of inclusion, empower the employees, and consolidate the company’s values.
- A Genuine and Transparent Narrative
As communication becomes an integral part of any business’ success, it is important to do so in a way that engages stakeholders via a strong and authentic narrative. Maintaining a high level of transparency in all communication and leveraging the power of storytelling is critical, as is fashioning a strategy meant to build trust with the consumer base in the long term.
In fact, as consumer expectations are becoming increasingly demanding, and as the public becomes more skeptical of brands, it is crucial for businesses to demonstrate impact using a simplified, genuine, and relatable language, trimming the brand’s message to the core. This will ensure that audiences properly understand the issues at hand and the concrete ways through which the business is addressing them.
In addition, collecting data, knowing how to use it, and presenting it to the public is essential work. For example, Nike, whose brand succeeded to a certain extent to overcome the perception that resulted from the child labor scandal of the ’90s, dedicated a beautifully designed site to its CSR activities, featuring interactive visual data as well as compelling content regarding the company’s sustainable innovations.
On the local scene, amidst the general confusion that usually surrounds contentious topics, and taking into account the somewhat limited discernment of audiences, businesses can stand out and palliate the need for clear and lucid information by acting as experts on the subject at hand. A business can showcase and reinforce its know-how, proficiency, and expertise through a myriad of activities that would help elevate the company’s standing. Instead of simply disseminating messages about the company’s capabilities through push communication and...