CSR AS A FACTOR OF COMPETITIVENESS
Responsible businesses arouse curiosity.
One of the questions that are sometimes asked to those who drive them is: but from an economic point of view, how does it stand up. In addition to having made this reasoning to understand how Tilla Baby Box could take shape and how to create value for companies through theil P.Corporate project, I have had to answer similar questions on at least three different occasions in front of perplexed faces. The idea that social responsibility is in some way a hindrance to economic prosperity is dated but, unfortunately, not yet completely overcome.a.
If, up until the last century, business administrators were held responsible only for the generation of profits and losses, and the overall well-being of a company was evaluated by GDP, now the approach has evolved. The European Commission, which is committed to recognizing the efforts of companies in the field of CSR or CSR, emphasizes thatche “A strategic approach to the issue of corporate social responsibility is increasingly important for their competitiveness. It can bring benefits in terms of risk management, cost reduction, access to capital, customer relationships, human resource management and innovation capabilities.” (1..
Responsible management, therefore, is certainly to be preferred from a moral point of view, but not only: companies capable of integrating the objectives of economic prosperity with those of environmental protection and social responsibility are in fact more competitive 2.).
PEOPLE, ENVIRONMENT, PROFIT
Responsible management does not require, therefore, to take care of the environment and society at the expense of profit, but to take into account all these elements People, Planet and Profit in equal measure to strive for lasting success and pursue a real sustainable development 3. In doing so the needs and interests of current generations are met without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same 4. (4).
This approach is increasingly requested by the interlocutors with whom the companies share objectives and results.Workers, investors and consumers no longer accept a definition of individual and overall performance based solely on economic variables, because these alone are unable to describe reality.à. Instead, it is the larger picture of thesustainability, in which the economic, environmental and social dimensions coexist with equal dignity to offer a more adequate restitution of the state of health of a company, of a single country and of society as a whole. But if the economic indicators are easily quantifiable, how sustainability can be measured?
THE OBJECTIVES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
In Italy, CNEL and Istat have devised the BES Fair and Sustainable Wellbeing: an index that aims to integrate the information provided by indicators on economic activities with the fundamental dimensions of well-being, in ana comprehensive assessment of the progress of society from an economic, environmental and social point of view. Attention to the trend of all these parameters should improve our ability toi pursue a constant and preferably growing environmental, social, economic well-being, such as to guarantee our children a quality of life no less than the current one.e.
The 12 fundamental dimensions of the BES range from work / life time balance to the environment, and contribute on a national scale to monitor progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs identified in the UN 2030 Agenda as a global action plan to eradicate poverty, protect the planet and ensure widespread prosperity.fusa.
The road to sustainable development therefore proposes to consider the economic, environmental and social spheres in an integrated way. A challenge to be taken up not only because it is right and people ask for it, but because it is advantageous 5: companies that will be able to do so, in fact, will be able to draw on a series of sources of value generation that have not been fully understood so far. including the potential.ale. A responsible approach to the environment, the centrality of people in the organization of work, attention to and participation in the general well-being of society are not only ideas for a correct moral conduct, but fundamental strategic choices to build value over time.po.
(1 Renewed EU strategy for the period 2011-14 on corporate social responsibility, European Commission 20111
(2 "Companies with their eye on their 'triple-bottom-line' outperform their less fastidious peers on the stock market" The Economistst)
(3 Triple bottom line, accounting framework composed of three parts: social, environmental, ecological and financial people, planet, profitofitto)
(4 A Sustainable Europe by 2030, European Commission 20199
(5 "Corporate social responsibility is a hard-edged business decision. Not because it is a nice thing to do or because people are forcing us to do it ... because it is good for our business" Niall Fitzerald, Former CEO, Unileverr
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