csr assignment caa 090213
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B8009
Corporate Social Responsibility
Case Studies and Individual Project
Submitted By:
Heok Kay Liong, Benjamin
G1202284D
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Assignment Submission Declaration
Nanyang Business School
Name: Heok Kay Liong, Benjamin
Matriculation No: G1202284D
Title: Case Studies and Individual Assignment
Course and Code: B8099 Corporate Social Responsibility
Lecturer/Tutor: Professor Richard Welford
Submission Date: 13th February 2013
Keep a Copy of the AssignmentPlease make a copy of your work. If you have submitted your assignment
electronically also make a backup copy.
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acknowledging or crediting the source from which the ideas are taken.
Collusion: submitting an assignment, project or report completed by another person
and passing it off as one’s own (as defined in the NTU Honour Code. See
www.ntu.edu.sg/sao/home for the University Honour Code and Pledge).
Penalti es for Plagiari sm and CollusionThe penalties associated with plagiarism exist to reward good academic conduct; those
who cheat will be severely punished to reflect the seriousness with which NTU views
cheating, and its commitment to academic integrity. Penalties may include: the
requirement to revise and resubmit an assignment, receiving a lower grade, or
receiving an F grade for the assignment.
Declaration
I declare that this assignment is my own work, unless otherwise referenced, as defined by
the NTU policy on plagiarism. I have read the NTU Honour Code and Pledge.
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/yclai/
Signed………………………………………. Date ……………………………. 13th
Feb 2013
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CASE STUDY 1: KELANI VALLEY PLANTATIONS (KVPL) AND HUMAN RIGHTS
1. What do you see as the ‘business case’ for protecting human rights and
putting in place programmes to assist the well-being of workers and their families?
A possible rationale for the protection of human rights and assisting the well-being of
workers and their families would be the internal benefits that it brings to the company.
A healthy and well-adjusted workforce will be more productive as less man hours are
lost to illness and child-care issues.
With better work conditions, worker will also be more motivated to stay in their jobs;
hence KVPL’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices will also have retention
benefits as well as less dissatisfaction among workers which may lead to work
stoppages or strikes.
By addressing social responsibility issues all the way down the value chain, KVPL is
also delivering a strong business case in terms of the monetary and non-monetary
values that it brings to the company. In differentiating itself from the competition
through its ‘A Home for Every Worker’ programme, KVPL is carving out a niche
market for itself. By marketing and promoting its goods as ethically produced, it can
then able to command a premium for its products. The monetary returns can then be
used to sustain the programme and further its human rights initiatives in the future,
completing this virtuous cycle of CSR practice.
Additionally, by protecting and sustaining their workers’ culture and way of life, KVPL
is also ensuring its own continuity as its labour force is mainly made up of the
minority migrants from India. If their identity is lost, the recruitment pool from which
the company draws its staff from may also disappear.
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2. What are the risks to the company of not engaging in programmes to assist in
workers’ protection and development?
The first risk will be lowered productivity that will in turn diminish the returns on
investment of the company. Lost productivity due to family and health issues will hit
the bottom line of the company and disengaged workers also tend not to perform at
their optimum level. Furthermore, employee dissatisfaction due to inadequate
working conditions may also bring about industrial action, which will also lead to lost
productivity.
In contrast, a better working and living environment will guarantee KVPL a continued
supply from its recruitment pool and this will mitigate any potential issues arising
from shortages in the labour market, which is especially risky for labour-intensive
industry such as rubber and tea growing.
By establishing its name in the specialty market of ethically produced goods, KVPL is
also buffering itself against fluctuations in prices common to primary commodities
such as tea and rubber. With less competition due to its differentiation, sales will be
less volatile and not subjected to swings in market prices, ensuring more stable
profits for the company.
In the agricultural industry where forced and child labour may be an issue, especially
in developing countries like Sri Lanka, KVPL can also minimising any potential
litigation for mistreatment of its employees by adhering to international human rights
conventions and labour laws. By providing for its employees, the risk of law suits
arising from ill-treatment can be reduced.
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3. How might you measure the benefits of an initiative such as this one?
As with other community development projects, KVPL’s CSR initiatives are long-term
and results, unlike financial reports on business profitability, are not immediate.
Broadly, the company’s annual gross profit margins can be used as an indicator of
whether the company is successful in the financial sense but usually the results of its
CSR actions will only be realised five to ten years after implementation. Furthermore,
although the measurements of the inputs to the initiatives are fairly easy to quantify
in terms of time and cash value, the impact of the initiatives are more difficult to
measure and attribute to specific actions taken. Therefore, in order to accurately
measure the benefits of KVPL’s CSR programme, both quantitative and qualitative
analysis are required.
Measurable and Verifiable Performance Indicators
Due to the long lag time from the initial investment to the final res ults of KVPL’s CSR
programme, one method is to carefully identify measurable and verifiable shorter-
term proxies correlating action to impact as a quantitative measure of the
performance of such initiatives. For example, yearly data such as educational results,
school attendance records and unemployment rates of the employees’ children can
be used to measure the “Empowerment of Youth” component of the programme.
Similarly, in order to measure the general improvement to workers’ living and
working conditions as a result of the company’s specific “Health and Nutrition”
component of its core programme, historical figures of the company’s annual staff
turnover, recruitment and retention rates as well as sick leave and medical
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reimbursement records during both the pre-and post-implementation periods can be
contrasted in order to verify the effectiveness of the measures.
Furthermore, these figures can also be measured against controls if available; in this
case business performance from KVPL’s competitors not engaging in such CSR
practices, specifically other plantations with a similar background and context in
terms of plantation size, labour force and output production. A better performance
will indirectly indicate the advantage of having CSR initiatives in the company.
However, such correlations may not be entirely conclusive as other intangible factors,
such as branding and advertising, also play a part in the company’s overall
performance. Therefore, these comparisons need to be viewed in conjunction with
qualitative analysis derived from extensive stakeholder engagements.
Qualitative Data
In terms of obtaining qualitative data on the efficacy of CSR initiatives, one of the
methods is through active engagement of KVPL’s staff to garner feedback by
conducting employee satisfaction surveys, in-depth interviews as well as community
and house visits.
In order to maintain neutrality, such activities should be conducted by external
auditors that can give an impartial and objective view of the company. Also, by
interacting with non-KVPL personnel and keeping such interactions anonymous,
employees will more likely express their genuine thoughts and concerns without
worrying about the possible repercussions of giving negative feedback.
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Likewise, customers can be engaged through the conduct of customer satisfaction
surveys and establishment of other feedback channels such as the provision of a
customer service hotline and email address. Questions relating to the effect of the
company’s CSR initiatives on branding can then be addressed such as the
effectiveness of using the CSR narrative to brand KVPL’s tea leaves as an ethical
product.
(1066 words)
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CASE STUDY 2: THE COCA-COLA COMPANY (TCCC), ENVIRONMENTAL
RESPONSIBILITY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
1. Using examples from the case, outline the links between environmental
conservation and community development.
Through its “Plant Performance” core area, TCCC’s management of water usage in
its manufacturing process (specifically wastewater treatment systems) is able to
return used industrial water back to nature such that it is clean enough to support
marine life. Therefore, besides protecting the environment, it also ensures that
fishing and aquaculture communities located near the plants are also not affected by
its effluent; thereby sustaining such industries in the long-term.
TCCC’s “Watershed Protection” initiatives help to protect the biodiversity within the
water catchment as well as preserve its water sources. In doing so, it also helps to
ensure a sustainable water supply for communities within the catchment areas as
well as an outside population that depends on the water source from the catchment.
Other than maintaining a healthy ecosystem, planting of grass and bamboo saplings
help to prevent soil erosions that may cause landslides, blocking rural roads and
damaging public infrastructure such as telephone cables and electrical power supply;
hence ensuring that lines of communications to remote communities are not cut off.
The “Community Water Initiatives” programme helps villagers grow seasonal fruits
and vegetables by providing a long-term supply of water through the construction of
water storage facilities. This has additional environmental benefits in that farmers will
not have to illegally divert water resources from river systems to water their crops
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which may inadvertently affect the riverine ecosystem as well as cause potential soil
stability issues.
The company’s “Awareness and Action” programme helps promote awareness of
environmental conservation at the same time as educating adults and young people
on water challenges and helping them develop local water management solutions.
By starting a community-based network for water information and launching a
website dedicated to water resource issues, TCCC has also empowered
communities to manage water resources while keeping them engaged in climate
change and other environmental conservation issues.
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2. What are the business benefits in assisting local communities in the
conservation of natural resources?
As a branding exercise, TCCC’s internal and external reputation as a socially
responsible company is greatly enhanced. This brings with it monetary benefits due
to potential increased sales of its products as both local and international consumers
are be more likely to buy from the company than a competitor because of the
emotional benefits of associating with an ethically conscious brand. Similarly, socially
responsible staff will also feel more satisfaction being employed by TCCC and this
can lead to increased labour productivity.
Another advantage in assisting communities on water conservation is the potential
benefits that are brought about by fostering relationships and linkages with
community leaders as well as regional and local authorities. Their influence can help
to promote the company in a region where arguably the most effective form of brand
promotion is by word-of-mouth. By having this long-term multi-sectoral partnership
between government, civil society and business, TCC can also benefit when it
comes to mediating potential local disputes arising from plant operations and
mitigating labour issues at the local level.
From the viewpoint of the company’s operations, water is a major resource in the
manufacturing process. Through better water resource management at the local
level, TCCC is also guaranteeing an uninterrupted supply of water to the plants,
minimising potentially expensive production halts due to water shortages.
Improvement of the plant’s performance by using less of the local communities’
water supply can also lead to overall cost reduction.
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Lastly, new distribution networks in rural areas can be created through its water
resource infrastructure developments where previously less accessible markets can
be reached.
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3. Outline how would you measure the impacts of Coca-Cola projects?
Value for Business Indicators of Value for Community
Quantitative Indicators
Reduction of water in the production
process can be measured through meter
readings and this can be directly
translated into dollar value on
expenditure saved on water resources.
Profitability of the company can also be
compared against other competitors not
engaging in similar CSR activities, such
as PepsiCo in Thailand, as well as
against historical records of the
company’s profits before the initiation of
such activities to gauge the effectiveness
of the initiatives in terms of the overall
increase in profits.
Qualitative Indicators
Reputation enhancement of TCCC as a
socially responsible company amongst
Quantitative Indicators
Value to the community from the
“Watershed Protection” and “Community
Water Initiatives” can be quantitatively
measured by tallying the number of
households and people directly
benefitting from the provision of
sustainable water sources, the total area
of water catchment conserved etc.
“Awareness and Action” initiatives can be
counted through the total numbers of
programmes conducted and participants
involved.
In-depth ecological studies can also be
commissioned to quantitatively measure
the effect of the CSR measures on the
natural environment and its impact
compared using internationally
recognized standards.
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Value for Business Indicators of Value for Community
both local and international stakeholders
can be determined through surveys in
the form of market surveys, interviews
and questionnaires with both external
customers and internal staff.
Another indicator of business benefits is
through the amount of coverage from
traditional and new media reports of
TCCC’s CSR initiatives. An increase in
reporting not only serves as a free form
of advertising of the company but is also
an indicator of the extent of impact of the
CSR programme for the brand.
Qualitative Indicators
Anecdotal evidence and emerging stories
can be solicited from within the
communities benefitting from the
programmes through house visits,
surveys and questionnaires. These
accounts can then be used to
qualitatively corroborate the
effectiveness of CSR initiatives on the
community itself.
(925 words)
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INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT: THE BODY SHOP INTERNATIONAL
4. An overview of the community investment activities of one company related to
pro- poor development, poverty alleviation and/or ‘bottom of the pyramid’ initiatives.
INTRODUCTION
According to the World Bank, the common international poverty line given is $1.25
per day at 2005 purchasing-power parity (Ravallion, Chen, & Sangraula, 2009).
However, there are least 80% of the world’s population living on less than $10 a day
with about half of them, almost three billion people, on less than $2.50 per day (Shah,
2013). This section of the population, being the largest but poorest and most
deprived demographic group in the world, has been described as the ‘bottom of the
pyramid’ in terms of their economic status.
Aside from their poverty, people classified in this segment are also usually afflicted
with other associated social issues brought on by their financial predicament such as
falling prey to human trafficking, being plagued by the HIV / AIDS epidemic as well
as suffer gender biases amongst others.
This paper will attempt to present an examination of the community investment
activities by The Body Shop International plc (The Body Shop) in its poverty
alleviation and other associated activities. It will provide a brief overview of the
company, outlining its founding concepts and principles as well as the approach to
its various operational activities before addressing its community action programmes,
support of fair trade initiatives, defence of human rights as well as charity work. The
paper will then conclude by recapitulating the main points in this study.
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COMPANY BACKGROUND
The Body Shop was founded in March 1976 by Anita Roddick (Our History, 2012)
with the first store opening in Brighton, United Kingdom (UK). Listed in 1985, parent
company L’Oréal Group acquired the company in 2006 and it now has 2600 retail
outlets in over 60 countries worldwide (Our Company, 2012).
It was one of the first cosmetics retail brands in the world to practice corporate social
responsibility (CSR) and adopt an ethical business model through its eco-friendly
practices such as providing re-fill services at a discount in order to cut back on
plastic product packaging waste. At a time when others in the beauty care industry
were still pursuing what will now be considered politically incorrect business
strategies such as actively performing unnecessary animal testing for its products,
The Body Shop was able to carve out a niche market appealing to a new generation
of environmentally friendly, pro-animal rights consumers and also charge a premium
in price over the competition for it (Bartlett, Elderkin, & McQuade, 1995).
By establishing its five core values of “Support Community Fair Trade”, “Defend
Human Rights”, “ Against Animal Testing”, “ Activate Self-Esteem”, and “Protect Our
Planet” (Our Values, 2012), the company has continued to demonstrate CSR
through campaigns championing positive social and environmental causes.
These values were preserved via the approach used in its various operational
activities. For example, in terms of franchising a stringent process was taken where
potential candidates were selected only if they passed a barrage of interviews and
tests after which they had to undergo intensive training on product knowledge,
merchandising and store operations so that the company’s brand image and
principles were not diluted with its expansion (Bartlett, Elderkin, & McQuade, 1995).
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Also, with respect to product development, the company will tend to avoid
exploitation of nature and animals when creating new product ranges such as using
synthetics instead of real musk for its White Musk range as well as jojoba oil as an
alternative to whale blubber by-products (Values Report 2011, 2011).
As for its supply chain operations, potential suppliers have to fulfil its ethical, social
and quality requirements as well as undergo periodic legal and financial audits
before it can qualify to be registered on the company’s approved list of partner
businesses. Its “Supporting Fair Trade” programmes also act as a form of community
development which will be elaborated on in the later section of the paper.
INITIATIVES
Remaining true to the conviction and philosophy first espoused by its founder, the
company has continued the social and environmental activism in numerous
campaigns and initiatives since its founding. This next segment will focus on The
Body Shop’s poverty alleviation, development of economically disadvantaged
communities and ‘bottom of the pyramid’ programmes all aimed at fulfi lling the core
values mentioned above.
SUPPLY CHAIN VERIFICATION
In support of its “Defend Human Rights” and “Support Community Fair Trade” ideals,
the company has implemented a system to assess its direct suppliers as mentioned
earlier. By basing this Code of Conduct in accordance to a framework set out by a
recognized body, the Ethical Trading Initiative, the company can then gain
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international creditability for its efforts. The Code attempts to prevent exploitation of
vulnerable groups such as women, child and forced labour, most of which are in the
‘bottom of the pyramid’ bracket, by stipulating guidelines on workers’ rights and
treatment of employees as well as working conditions, equitable wages and number
of work hours (ETI Base Code, 2013).
To ensure that its direct suppliers conform to the ethical standards set out in the
code, the company is not only using audits to check on these partners but also
taking a pro-active and collaborative approach by conducting Ethical Trade training
and workshops for them. Furthermore, this programme is also extended to ‘tier two’
suppliers further down the supply chain such as checking on whether the cotton
supplied to manufacturers making The Body Shop’s employee uniforms are from an
ethical agricultural source not using child labour (Values Report 2011, 2011).
SUPPORT FAIR TRADE
The company’s Community Fair Trade programme, previously known as ‘Trade Not
Aid’, actively seeks to source from small, local and community groups from
developing countries, pledges to pay reasonable compensation for work done in fair
conditions, commit to community development as well as guarantee a sustained
demand in order to ensure that these communities are able to plan for their long term
futures (Support Community Fair Trade, 2012). With most of the suppliers coming
from poor, underprivileged backgrounds, the poverty alleviation effects within these
communities are especially felt and amplified. The programme currently runs in 21
countries with 21 producers.
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One of the early examples of this programme is the Get Paper Industries, a supplier
set up in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1989. It provides the paper fibre used to make the
company’s gift boxes, wrapping, packing paper bags, notebooks, scented drawer
liners and printed cards.
By employing more women than men and at the same time paying the same rate to
them for the same work done even though it is not common in a country where men
are traditionally paid more, these women are assisted and can then better provide for
their families, leading to their status in the community is being raised (Paper
Products from Nepal, 2012).
Another example hailed from the company’s country of origin, the UK, a developed
nation not commonly associated with poverty alleviation initiatives. The Soapworks
Project was initiated in 1989 at Easterhouse, a Glaswegian suburb where
unemployment rates were hovering around 37%. A decision was made to shift its
soap manufacturing facilities from Littlehampton to Glasgow at a cost of £1 million.
The new facility hired sixteen previously chronically unemployed staff (increased to
100 by 1991) and provided them with salaries equivalent to that in Littlehampton,
which was one-third higher than local rates. The plan was to contribute 25% of
profits after taxes to a charitable trust in order to benefit the entire community once
the factory broke even (Bartlett, Elderkin, & McQuade, 1995).
VOLUTEERISM
Among its “ Activate Self-Esteem” initiatives, every October a special ‘Anita Week’ is
held in memory of its founder, who passed away in 2006, to encourage volunteerism
among its staff to spend one day that week on volunteerism. Furthermore, company
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policies allow employees up to 6 paid days per year to do volunteer work among the
local neighbourhood.
Examples of such activities benefitting ‘bottom of the pyramid’ communities include
the setting up of collection bins for donation of gifts to homeless women in the US,
participating in Oxfam’s Trailwalker fundraising events in Japan and supporting
Oxfam projects in Cambodia and Laos. Besides serving the community, these
activities also allow the employees to feel better about themselves; indirectly
boosting self-confidence and productivity as well as their affinity to the company.
Additionally, The Body Shop also benefits from the positive publicity generated in the
local community from their goodwill.
CAMPAIGNING
The company also conducts active campaigning to raise social awareness and
induce positive changes to society as part of its ‘Defend Human Rights’ core value.
An example of this world-wide campaign fighting for basic human rights of the
disadvantaged (Elliott, 2010) is the ‘Stop Violence in the Home’ movement in 2006.
In this instance, the company is campaigning for raising awareness and educating
the public on issues related to domestic violence, especially on children and women.
Children who have suffered from physical or verbal abuse will be affected in their
physical, emotional and social development and the negative impacts can continue
from childhood to the future when they become adults in later life. By preventing
such mistreatment so common among the poor and underprivileged families, the
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company also hopes that future generations will not have to suffer the same fate and
thus break this vicious cycle.
Another case in point is a peaceful demonstration was organized in Denmark in 2010
(Values Report 2011, 2011) to promote awareness of the sex trafficking of children
and young people. In spite of adverse weather conditions, over 1500 people turned
out and attracted much media attention while at the same time generated much
publicity for the cause online as well.
Resulting from the company’s actions, the Danish national government proposed a
national action plan to address the human trafficking issue, recommending that
victims of such sex trafficking not treated as criminals like they previously were.
Police and other government agencies were also similarly educated in the ethical
treatment of these people (Values Report 2011, 2011).
As with most of their campaigns, The Body Shop usually forms partnerships with
experienced and knowledgeable non-governmental organizations (NGOs); in the
above case, with ECPAT International (Altamura & Sakulpitakphon, 2012). Through
such collaborations, the company can then add creditability and legitimacy to its
social causes, as NGOs can provide independent assessment and verification of its
activities. Association with such NGOs also shortens the learning curve for the
company as they provide valuable expertise on the issue concerned.
Besides cooperating with NGOs, The Body Shop also works with CSR advocates in
other businesses to spread the influence of its messages and magnify the impact of
its actions. A good example of this is its ‘Defend Human Rights’ initiative, fighting
against the spread of the HIV / AIDS epidemic with the latest campaign launched in
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March 2009. This world-wide scourge is especially lethal to the poor as they have no
means to procure expensive retro-viral drugs that keep the disease at bay.
Together with MTV International and the Staying Alive Foundation, the company
aims to raise awareness and educate youth on the practice of safe sex in order to
prevent spread of the disease, thus reducing the instances of young people being
infected every day, currently numbering over 6000 for the age group of 16 to 24
(Values Report 2011, 2011).
As MTV is also a forerunner in its field for social activism in the broadcast industry,
The Body Shop can reach further out to the campaign’s target demographic than on
its own by leveraging on MTV’s strengths and know-how in the media industry. With
broad appeal among teenagers and youth who readily identify with the music video
broadcaster’s trendy and popular image as well as its creative brand of promoting
social issues, MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation has collaborated with The Body Shop
to raise more than $3.6 million through campaigns like “Spray to Change”, “Move
Your Lips” and “Yes Yes Yes!" (How We're Funded, 2012).
The company also devised innovative methods of raising money for these
campaigns by associating some of its products with certain causes and creating
limited edition of products especially commemorating such initiatives. For example,
in the above case of the HIV / AIDS campaign, The Body Shop donated all profits
generated from the sale of its Tantalizing Lip Butter to the cause.
CHARITY WORK
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In terms of philanthropic work, the company established The Body Shop Foundation
as a registered charity that tackles human rights, environment and animal protection
as well as other social issues through its funding activities by focusing on grass-roots
organizations whose activities directly benefit the local community.
Ordinarily, these groups would usually be overlooked by other conventional charities
due to the limited returns on investment as their impact are most likely restricted only
to the local level and thus not receive as much publicity and media attention.
Working with such home-grown groups also ensures that issues are addressed by
local expertise that understands the community’s needs the best and that any
solution proposed is also well supported by the community (Values Report 2011,
2011).
As with its approach to business operations, every of the foundation’s projects have
to undergo strict selection procedure. A project has to be able to demonstrate
tangible benefits that can be measured, monitored and evaluated at the end of the
scheme before it is chosen to be implemented.
One such example that The Body Shop Foundation supports is SolarAid: a charity
focused on tackling global poverty and climate change by delivering clean, affordable
and renewable energy in the form of solar panel power to local communities in the
developing world.
SolarAid’s ‘sunnymoney’ programme in Malawi will receive £40,000 over the next
two years from the foundation to recruit, train and supply local entrepreneurs in
installing and maintaining SolarAid’s solar panel products in order for electrical
power to reach over 20,000 people that may not previously have electricity in their
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communities due to the limited reach of the national power grid (Values Report 2011,
2011).
Besides empowering the selected entrepreneurs to bring them out of poverty through
this micro-franchising scheme, the rural countryside will also gain with this project by
having a steady supply of electricity. With electrical power, follow-on benefits may be
brought about that can dramatically change these communities for the better, such
as providing lighting at night so that households involved cottage-industry can
continue to produce goods and exchange them for additional income or for children
to revise and study when they cannot do so in the day as they may have to help out
their families in household or work chores. Investing in children’s education is one of
the most effective ways of alleviating poverty as it allows for the next generation to
break the cycle of poverty by opening them to more opportunities afforded through
the knowledge acquired from education.
CONCLUSION
In summary, this paper has given an overview of the community investment activities
of The Body Shop related to pro-poor development, poverty alleviation and ‘bottom
of the pyramid’ initiatives by first providing an outline of the company’s background,
its core values and how it operationalizes them in its business activities, especially in
its franchising, product development and supply chain operations.
The paper then described how the company’s supply chain verification, community
fair trade, volunteerism, campaigning and charity work contributed to various pro-
poor, poverty alleviation or ‘bottom of the pyramid’ causes and further elaborated on
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The Body Shop’s approach to campaigning by partnering established NGOs and
like-minded businesses to create a deeper impact for its causes as well as in
philanthropy through the selection of local groups for funding in order to maximize
benefits at the grass-roots level.
In conclusion, The Body Shop has not just been a pioneer in the corporate world for
its human rights activism but also for other causes in animal welfare and
environmental protection. It has shown that ethical businesses can be profitable as
well and blazed the trail for many others to follow. Although the company has been
taken over by L’Oréal, a large corporation in many ways the antithesis of Anita
Roddick’s founding ideals and business concept, the company’s principles and
philosophy have survived the take-over and The Body Shop is still thriving and
remains as committed to its core values as ever.
(2708 words)
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