Corporate Social Responsibility in Standard Chartered Bank - Case Study Example

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Business organizations in the of their activities are accorded a lot of support by the societies in which they are set, which eventually translates to their success (Urip, 2013). The support comes in a number of ways from customer loyalty in buying the firm’s products to providing an enabling environment which is ideal for conducting business in that particular locality (Baxi, & Prasad, 2005). Corporate social responsibility is basically a technique in which corporate organizations give back to the societies for the support they have accorded them which has driven then to success or rather profitability (Louche Idowu, & Leal, 2010). Returning the favour back to the society can take the following forms; a bid to solve social issues, implementing social philosophies and the act of social responsiveness (Urip, 2013). Therefore, ideally corporate firms, which are enjoying profitability take the act of corporate social responsibility as an act of sharing its proceeds to the societies that are not direct stakeholders of the organizations but contribute actively by supporting the organization through its endeavours (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). Corporate social responsibility is an act of philanthropy that seeks to encourage social support from the local and international communities and at the same time enhance customer loyalty to their brands (Urip, 2013). Corporate social responsibility is founded on a number of principles that regulate on the manner in which these initiatives should be conducted to maximize the gains to both the organization and the society at large (Louche, Idowu and Leal, 2010). Initially, firms enjoyed immense powers but with little responsibility, thus CSR was a mode on tasking the corporate organizations to be more responsible for their actions with the power, which has been bestowed on them by the society (Okpara and Idowu, 2013). Legitimacy is the premier principle of CSR, it is an institutional principle that reiterates that the powers that corporate organizations enjoys comes from the society and any organization which may tend to misuse the powers is prone to fail in its endeavours (Urip, 2013). Public responsibility is an organizational principle which holds the organizations to be responsible to the outcomes of all their dealings. The corporate organizations have the obligation of taking responsibility to any negative impact that arises as a result of its activities (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). Managerial discretion is an individual principle to the leaders of corporate organization, which tasks them to making moral decisions in all matters that binds the organization in general. The outcome of any corporate social responsibility initiative should be aimed at providing positive social impact to both the local and global communities, initiation of social programmes, which are aimed at alleviating the lives of the members of society by improving their well-being. Finally CSR initiatives should be aimed at implementation of social philosophies and policies that seek to protect the social being of the immediate society and which at all times is geared towards enhancing sustainability in terms of environmental and social issues (Baxi and Prasad, 2005). In this paper we are going to examine Standard Chartered Bank to find how it carrying out its CSR activities. Standard Chartered Bank is among the oldest banks to be set up in Europe. The bank has immensely grown over the decades to become a powerhouse in the regional and global market in the provision of financial services (Urip, 2013). The bank has a substantial presence in over one hundred and fifty countries globally with over ten thousand branches across all these nations (Louche, Idowu and Leal, 2010). Given its successful run as a premier financial service provider which has enjoyed profitability consistently over the years the bank has developed a sustainable corporate social responsibility initiatives aimed at alleviating the livelihoods of the societies which has supported its growth and success over the years. Since it is a global outfit the bank comes up with both global and local community-based initiatives depending on the needs of the immediate societies (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). Some of the most notable global initiatives by the bank include ‘Run for a reason’ which is under the annual Standard Chartered bank marathon held in major cities where the bank has presence and the proceeds are directed to charity. ‘Seeing is believing’ is another yet another initiative which is aimed at preventing avoidable blindness in societies across the societies (Okpara and Idowu, 2013). Standard Chartered marathon under the initiative ‘Run for a reason’ is a premier marathon, which is held annually in a number of major cities in the word with the sole objective of raising funds for charity purposes. The marathons are held at different dates across the various cities that play host to it (Urip, 2013). Since it was founded twenty-one years ago the marathon has grown substantially to be a major athletics date in the calendars as it attracts both ammeters and professional athletes from across the world to support the initiative of raising funds to support charity programmes in various societies (Jamali and Sidani, 2012). The marathon was developed with a number of objectives, which it was supposed to achieve once it was successfully implemented and some of the goals are discussed below (Louche, Idowu and Leal, 2010). Athletics is one of the most fitness exercising activities that people should do to maintain healthy lifestyles. The marathon provides staff members as well as the general public to create a schedule once a year whereby they will engage in a running expedition not only to raise funds but to aid the participants in keeping fit and thus help them assume healthy lifestyles (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). Majority of the people have busy schedules throughout the year and thus do not find any spare time to engage in such activities but since this is a corporate activities the staff members and other senior officials find it necessary to attend it and in the process they will engage in the marathon thus helping them keep fit hence maintain healthy lifestyles (Baxi, and Prasad, 2005). The initiative is also a spreading the Marathon spirit to a number of countries where marathon is not common (Urip, 2013). For instance according to statics from the world major marathons professional athletes who win these marathons are normally from Kenya, Ethiopia and Russia. The Standard Chartered marathon is aimed at spreading the spirit of marathon to other cities where the culture is not common such as Hong Kong, Durban, Mumbai just to name but a few (Louche, Idowu and Leal, 2010). The local are treated to a marathon of a world class setting to expose them to the real experience of doing marathon thus helping spread the culture to societies that did not previously embrace it. Over the years the participation in the Standard Chartered marathons across the world has recorded significant increase in terms of participation numbers (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). Moreover, the marathon does attract not only local athletes but also foreign participants also thus establishing the event a point of integration for family, staff and athletes across the world. It provides an efficient social setting that enhances bonding between the members of the society and those people who come from other places to participate in the marathon (Baxi and Prasad, 2005). This makes it an avenue for boosting unity and cohesion among members of those societies. Apart from leisure and integration the sole purpose of the marathon is to collect funds to support charity activities in various societies (Jamali and Sidani, 2012). These include helping the disabled to get access to basic needs and amenities by providing them with foodstuffs, clothing and shelter (Urip, 2013). The funds are also directed to children’s homes to finance the care of orphans and their education. That notwithstanding some amount of the funds collected goes in billing medical cost for people suffering from chronic diseases who are not able to afford quality healthcare services to enable them treat their ailments, these include; cancer and heart disease patients (Louche, Idowu and Leal, 2010). Finally, the marathon has a section dubbed ‘Marathon 101’ which is exclusively meant for primary and secondary students (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). The monies that are contributed from this section are directed in giving bursaries and scholarships to bright but needy students who are not able to fund their education (Urip, 2013). Once the students are enrolled into the programme their education bills are comprehensively funded until they complete schooling and later they’re absorbed into the Standard Chartered mentorship programme where they are trained and later employed as staff. The Standard Chartered marathon since its inception has benefitted close to two hundred thousand beneficiaries across one hundred and fifty countries (Okpara and Idowu, 2013). ‘Seeing is believing’ is yet another corporate social responsibility initiative, which undertaken by the Standard Chartered bank. In its bid to enhance community engagement and sustainability the bank launched the programme in the year 2003 as a global funding programme which was aimed at mobilizing funds worldwide to be directed at eradication avoidable blindness across the world (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). Since this is a global initiative, it is conducted by all branches of the bank worldwide with a campaign to urge the general public to contribute to this kitty in order to restore sight to some individuals. So far the amount that has been raised for this purpose is approximately one hundred million dollars, and it has been used to reach out to over sixty million people globally. A number of social activities including conducting free eye test to people and also provision of free eye support equipment to those who are diagnosed with eye impairments are supported by the initiative (Urip, 2013). In addition, the initiative also provides specialized eye operations to people who are partially blind and their condition can be restored through operation (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). That notwithstanding the initiative also provides mechanisms to assist in preventing avoidable blindness this is done through early diagnosis of eye impairments and relevant measures taken to ensure the condition does not escalate to total blindness (Jamali and Sidani, 2012). This is an ambitious programme, which has attracted massive philanthropic support from various organizations and individuals in a bid to ensure avoidable blindness is eradicated by the year 2050 (Louche Idowu and Leal, 2010). Thus, to ensure the programme is effectively implemented Standard Chartered has partnered with notable health facilities across the world with support of physicians who have further ensured the programme lives to see its objectives is implemented (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). The programme has also featured a number of powered adverts in the media which are aimed at sensitizing the general public on the how to live healthy lifestyles to prevent avoidable blindness and also it is running a media campaign to source more people to support the initiative so as to ensure its goal of $100 million is achieved before 2020 WORLD (Bank and International Monetary Fund, 2009). ‘Living with HIV’ is another programme that was established by Standard Chartered bank in 2003 as part of its efforts to socially engage with the community in enhancing sustainability. The objective of the initiative was to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic was rife in a number of developing countries and, as a result, was claiming a number of lives (Urip, 2013). The programme approached the issue with education as a tool of combating the spread of the disease (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). The task force which was mandated of implementing the programme after analyzing the prevalence of the disease came to the conclusion that the best way to face HIV/AIDS was through educating the masses on the facts surrounding the epidemic. Effective knowledge would enable people to be more careful, and this would prevent new infections at the same time help those living with the virus to embrace positive living to enhance their life spans. Education was meant to sensitize people to understand all the facts concerning HIV/AIDS and with that people would understand the risks that came along with the disease hence be more vigilant in their social practices to avoid new infections (Urip, 2013). The idea of contraception and the use of preventive mechanisms was also part of the strategy as people would be enlightened on embracing safer practices to ensure the prevalence of the disease is reduced by substantial levels (Louche, Idowu and Leal, 2010). Education was also crucial to give people facts and dispute the myths that existed that made it hard to people living with HIV/AIDS to integrate freely with others. The stigma associated with people who tested positive of HIV would only be overcome if people would be made knowledgeable on the issues involving how the disease can be transmitted and who is in danger (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). This would help people appreciate those who contracted the disease and also assist them to live healthy lifestyles without being discriminated from the rest (Jamali and Sidani, 2012). Thus, in line with this programme the bank embarked on an exercise to train volunteers among its staff to work as ambassadors of the ‘living with HIV ’ who on successfully completing a one year training programme would go out and spread the knowledge gained to other people to ensure the whole society is educated on the same(Urip, 2013). The bank also partners with other non-governmental organizations to promote HIV/AIDS awareness among the people by ensuring the communities are sensitized on the virus and educating them on the elaborate measures which they need to take in the fight against this epidemic. The programme majorly involves training, leadership, and mentoring and community service activities which are conducted to ensure the society is educated and free of the epidemic (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). Standard Chartered bank has always been dedicated to sustainability and community engagement services in its bid to promote and enhance interweaving with the society. Its efforts are always aimed at ensuring the society feels a sense of belonging with the company in all of its operations (Louche, Idowu and Leal, 2010). Moreover, being an entity in the economies of the respective countries the bank aims at contributing towards sustainable economic growth of the countries in which the respective banks are located (Jamali and Sidani, 2012). This ensures the bank fully fulfils its legal and a tax obligation to ensure it collaborates with the government to ensure the economy of the country is on an upward trajectory by it being one of the drivers of the economy. Further, the company is always aiming at being a responsible company by ensuring all of its operations are performed in accordance with rules and regulations (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). By so doing, it will ensure the society does not suffer any effects as a result of the company’s operations in their locality. Investing in the community is yet another effort that the company is pursuing in a bid to ensure sustainability as it is engaging the community (Urip, 2013). This comes in a number of ways like recruiting locals to fill vacancies in the organization at the same time outsourcing procurement opportunities to the locals to supply the company with the goods and services that the company requires (Low, Idowu and Ang, 2013). In its bid to conserve the environment, the bank has stepped up efforts aimed at preserving the environment. For instance on each anniversary of the bank it engages all of it employees in tree planting as it commemorates the years the bank has been in business (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). Thus seeks to promote a better and greener environment to free it from any form of pollutants that may jeopardize healthy living (Urip, 2013). There is also a programme known as ‘Take a break low carbon action’ thus is a programme which was launched by Standard Chartered bank of Hong Kong and over the years it has been replicated in a number of branches worldwide. The imitative is aimed at encouraging the staff of the bank as well as the general public to drive less so as to reduce the pollution impact of the emitted fumes to the environment (Louche, Idowu and Leal, 2010). Notwithstanding, the impact of emitted fumes from cars is common destructors of the ozone layer, which leads to an emergence of adverse climatic conditions which puts the lives on earth at risk. Successful implementation of the programme will go ahead in promoting healthy living as the environment would have got rid of pollutants thus people will embrace green and healthy living (Boubaker and Nguyen, 2012). Green Monday is a theme day by the bank across its branches whereby the staffs are encouraged to anything that at least contributes in ensuring a green and better environment. The bank offers an exclusive vegetarian menu at its cafes to commemorate the green Monday theme. That notwithstanding the company offers its employees a three day bonus leave annually to allow them to participate in community service work which are aimed at improving the immediate society (Urip, 2013). Conclusion Therefore, Standard Chartered has involved itself actively in corporate social activities over the years, which have successfully alleviated a large number of people. All the activities have always been geared at ensuring the society gets a piece of the cake that the company has got. The society is the one that is responsible for the power that the company has got thus it is the company’s social responsibility of giving back to the society since it is the society which is responsible for the success of the bank. The programmes that have been implemented over the years in a bid of giving back to the society have been embraced positively with most of them being successful and thus touching the lives of millions of people. Recent reports indicate that the since the bank’s corporate social responsibility it is estimated that over one hundred million people have benefitted in one way or the other from the initiatives worldwide. Bibliography BAXI, C. V., & PRASAD, A., 2005. Corporate social responsibility: concepts and cases: the Indian experience. New Delhi, India, Excel Books. BOUBAKER, S., & NGUYEN, D. K., 2012. Board directors and corporate social responsibility. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. JAMALI, D., & SIDANI, Y., 2012. CSR in the Middle East: fresh perspectives. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. LOUCHE, C., IDOWU, S. O., & LEAL FILHO, W., 2010. Innovative CSR from risk management to value creation. Sheffield, UK, Greenleaf. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=525541[Accessed Nov. 2014]. LOW, K. C. P., IDOWU, S. O., & ANG, S. L., 2013. Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia: Practice and Experience. Springer. OKPARA, J. 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