CSR as something exotic and
offensive is increasingly on the
decline. Nonetheless, a very large
number merely comply with
what is legally mandated, seeing social and environmental
questions as an annoyance and
a source of restrictions.
There are also those who use
timely investments in sustainability as a kind of smokescreen.
“This becomes evident in some
efforts at neutralizing carbon
emissions that help clear the company’s conscience,
without them having to review their model of action,”
Branco says. Lastly, there are many companies that go
so far as including sustainability in their strategies,
but don’t undergo a profound appraisal of their own
consumption practices. “They’ll incorporate social
responsibility as a competitive differential, but they
are not concerned with changing their current model,”
he adds.
A Step Forward
The e ThoS INSTITu Te haS BeeN oNe of
the main organizations responsible for educating Brazilian businesses with the view
that philanthropy is not the only path for
resolving the country’s many social problems. With
a membership of companies of all sizes and representing a wide range of industries, ethos has created forums for the exchange of practices, benchmarks
and manuals—essential tools for sustainable management. They have also encouraged debate over the
issue in trade associations, the media and universities. “We are not so concerned with whether some
of our members do not behave in an exemplary fashion. What’s more important is that those that do help
spread that culture,” says Young. It is also important
to note that 47 percent of ethos’ members are micro
and small businesses.
Indeed, the cutting-edge companies that have
already applied the lessons in-house are starting
to work towards getting their trading partners to
adopt those same concepts. “even if the company is
impeccably managed from a CSR standpoint, they
still are only scratching the sur-
face if they are not engaged in a
dialogue with the stakeholders
and the production chain,” adds
Ricardo Young. “They discover
that they must work with their
value chain, both upstream and
downstream, involving suppliers
as well as distributors.” The goal
is to expand this movement in
concentric circles, so that suppli-
ers influence their own suppliers.
according to Paulo Branco, some
industries, such as steel, pharmaceuticals and retail
are among the leaders in encouraging sustainability
throughout the value chain.
one of the leaders in promoting such dialogue has
been the Tear Program, sponsored by ethos and the
Inter-american Development Bank (IDB). The program
seeks to increase competitiveness and sustainability
among small and medium businesses and to expand
market opportunities with the assistance of their
large-scale clients. The Tear Program selects nine large
businesses with a reputation for social responsibility
from several industries as mentors for 120 small com-
panies in their supply chains. The program promotes
seminars for the exchange of best practices and to
build solutions compatible with the scale of the men-
tored companies. The goal is to increase the productiv-
ity of the participating small and medium companies
by up to five percent by the end of three years.
one participating company is hidropartes, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, a supplier of hoses
and valves to Brazilian oil giant Petrobras. In april
2007, the idea of creating a fund to offer micro-cred-it to improve the quality of life of its 20 employees—
one-fifth of whom were in debt—was born. In order
to accumulate the necessary capital, the company
asked for employees’ help in rationalizing the company’s consumption. “No one imagined that in the
first month alone we would come up with $1,400
in savings from water, energy, paper, and cleaning
supplies and new processes,” says Mariana Luiza
Macedo, a hidropartes manager. With the savings,
which are significant considering the size of the
company, loans of up to $340 are being extended to
There is still
a discrepancy
between the need
for change and
the speed at which
change occurs.
