Beyond charity: CSR drives stability and wealth

Many encourage employees to take part in the schemes - and find that by doing so it improves staff loyalty and morale. Some of the schemes companies are working on hit the headlines - such as the $100 laptops that are being developed for classrooms in poor countries, while others quietly operate and improve the lives of those they touch.

Oracle, HP and Cisco, for instance, are working together to create a number of classrooms for schools in Africa, and it is not unusual to find companies taking part in schemes that have little to do with their core businesses.

Husam Dajani, senior vice president of Oracle MEA, said: 'When it comes to CSR, we don't limit ourselves to our domain although sometimes we try to leverage it to create jobs for people and literacy for the IT sector.'

Giving blood in KSA

Examples include a campaign in Saudi Arabia to encourage people to give blood; now it plans to extend this a bi-quarterly effort, and to get key customers in the region involved. Also in the kingdom it took part in the Food 4 Poor campaign, collecting money to distribute meals to 1,600 people across the region.

'The work that is driven by volunteers who are passionate about this is the most effective - much more effective than those driven by the corporate,' he added. He believes any company that wants to encourage staff to get involved in CSR activities needs to kick it off, then step back and let the volunteers take over. 'Some of the most effective [CSR initiatives] cost us nothing,' he says.

Companies get involved in CSR initiatives for various reasons, both for the good of the people and altruistic. A good initiative will positively benefit those it targets, but equally, it's good PR and in some cases, is creating future customers or employees. Like Oracle, HP also works in the education space in the Middle East and Africa. Projects include Nepad (New Partnership for Africa's Development), a project which among other initiatives aims to bring education to children living in remote areas where there are no roads.

Education and consultancy

There may be a local school, but the project trains teachers who then provide distance learning electronically to the children. It has been rolled out in schools in various countries, including some in Egypt. 'Children go to the school and are taught interactively. So they have some teachers in school, but not all that they need,' said Samer Karawi, marketing director at HP.

An initiative in Jordan focused on equipping schools and giving children access to the internet, and it was a similar plan for Egypt. But providing equipment such as PCs is a short term fix, as computers become obsolete over a couple of years, where consultancy can offer longer-term benefits because it educates and provides information. 'This is a more sustainable model than just providing equipment,' said Karawi.

CSR initiatives, said Karawi, are more than just being for the common good. 'CSR goes beyond charity. We believe education drives growth, wealth and security. Education is the engine of growth and stability, and it is important for us [as a company] to operate in a stable and educated market.'

See also:
CSR at Cisco targets human capital