June 24, 2009, 8:44 PM — While most companies understand the need for sustainable and environment-friendly business strategies, very few are committed to the goal of achieving them, an IBM study on corporate social responsibility (CSR) revealed recently.
The computer manufacturer's second annual CSR survey, conducted among 224 global corporations, said that despite the economic downturn, 60% of the respondents said CSR is more important to their company now than it was a year ago.
However, only 19% of the respondents are collecting CO2 emissions data weekly or more frequently, with the rest collecting it only monthly or quarterly.
IBM said the latter's data collection interval may perhaps be compliant to government and stakeholder standards, but misses the point of achieving systemic changes that actually reduce environmental impact.
Of those surveyed, only a few are collecting data from supply chain partners (30%) regarding CO2, water, waste and energy information, among other things. Moreover, sixty-five percent do not fully understand customer concerns on key CSR issues.
The study showed that companies who performed well in the past year are collecting these types of data frequently or in real-time and are aware of their stakeholders' concerns.
"Our survey participants clearly understand that integrating CSR considerations into their business strategies is essential to their growth and performance," said James Velasquez, country general manager, IBM Philippines. "IBM can help clients determine or identify what is needed to actually make changes that would improve both business performance and societal impact."
IBM said firms are coming down under tremendous pressure from customers, government, investors and employees to be more socially responsible with their operations while being pushed to keep expenditures at the bare minimum.
Regardless, IBM emphasized, businesses that employ CSR strategies have a significant advantage in tapping new markets and improving operational efficiencies.
