Kids, Soccer Balls and the Unintended Consequences of Good Decisions

Several years ago, I attended a forum in Washington, DC on supply chain responsibility.  At the time, I was managing corporate social and environmental responsibility communications for two different clients, both with vast, global supply chains.  Supplier responsibility was an area of constant focus and opportunity for these companies.
 
The forum was a quiet, routine affair as these things go, and polite.  I saw a few participants looking a bit sleepy at the end of one session in particular – where representatives from three Fortune 500 multi-nationals spent the better part of an hour outlining the steps their companies had taken to eliminate child labor from their supply chains (the inspections and audits, on the ground partnerships, tracking and reporting).
 
Everything changed when, during the Q&A period, a young woman in the audience stood up and posed a question to the panelists.  She worked for a small NGO with operations in India, and noted that many families there desperately rely on the income of all family members – parents, grandparents, and yes, children.  She spoke briefly but compellingly, painting a picture of poverty and need that most in the room couldn’t comprehend.  The panelists look puzzled, and there were murmurs of surprise and disbelief throughout the audience.
 
I remember being at first repelled by her comments, to being puzzled (can child labor ever be okay?), to being unsure about the whole thing.  In my college sociology classes, I learned to appreciate cultural relativism.  It’s important to value and respect other cultures and their norms, but in my heart, I know that some things (like kids working in factories) are just plain wrong.  This woman, however, had a firsthand perspective and a better informed point of view on the issue of child labor in India than I could claim, so how could I argue with her?
 
I was reminded of all of this recently when I read an excellent piece by Hasnain Kazim in Spiegel Online.  He writes about the football stitchers of Sialkot in Pakistan, who produce millions of hand-stitched soccer balls each year.  The city has become the world leader in the manufacture of high quality soccer balls, and several companies that export them around the world bring jobs and opportunity to thousands of Sialkot’s people.  Tens of thousands more benefit from this work indirectly through the stability, economic development and related employment that come with the material suppliers, subcontractors, shipping and packaging firms, and the shops, restaurants and other businesses that cater to the workers.
 
For years, before greater attention was paid to the issue of child labor and before global companies like Nike and Adidas began cracking down on it, children as young as 10 worked in the factories stitching balls together.  In his article, Kazim quotes a stitching center manager who notes that these kids fared reasonably well there, learning a trade that guaranteed them income for life.  Now, the parents of many of these children, desperate for the income that their work can bring, are sending them to toil in the local brickworks and in metalworking factories – places far more dangerous and far more damaging to little bodies than the stitching centers.
 
As the father of two children under 10, the true cost of child labor is becoming increasingly relatable and ever more disturbing to me.  When I see pictures of children in factories or fields or behind market stalls… it’s difficult to absorb and impossible not to be moved.
 
The decisions we make—even the obvious and unquestionably good and right ones—have ramifications, good and bad.  And the longer I work in the area of corporate responsibility, the more I see that the principles and policies that once seemed so black and white, are every shade of gray.
 
In a perfect and just world, 10 year olds should be playing with soccer balls… not making them.  But I am constantly reminded that we don’t live in a perfect world.

 

Chad Tragakis, Senior Vice President, Hill & Knowlton, Washington D.C, and writer for the Hill & Knowlton Blog, ResponsAbility.

CSR Minute: Verizon Challenges Boston College’s Carroll; FD’s Philanthropy Study

Corporate Social Responsibility News: Verizon Challenges Boston College’s Carroll of Management; FD’s Chicago Philanthropy Study

CSR Minute: October 7, 2009 – Mokugift’s Green Quiz on Yahoo; Microgrowth Enterprise Project; Schema’s Corporate Governance Forum

Corporate Social Responsible News: Mokugift’s Green Lifestyle Quiz on Yahoo; Microgrowth Enterprise Growth Facility Project; Schema’s Corporate Governance + Responsibility Forum

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability: A Business Opportunity?

The Social Responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” Do Milton Friedman’s words still ring true today? Did they ever?

Perhaps Milton forgot one key word: good. The Social responsibility of business is to increase its good profits. By now, many of you have probably read Fred Reichheld’s “The Ultimate Question,” in which he discusses the difference between good and bad profits, and the measurement of a company’s “net promoter score” through the question: How likely is it that you would recommend this company to a friend or colleague?

Reichheld describes bad profits as “profits earned at the expense of customer relationships” (think deceptive promotions, unfair charges, etc.), and good profits as those that “are earned with customers’ enthusiastic cooperation.” In essence, good profits are best for the company in the long run as they create ongoing profits, true brand advocates and sustainable growth. It’s not too much of a stretch to include sustainability initiatives into the “good profit” category. So when it comes to sustainability, why do some companies seemingly go after “bad profits” with deceptive adverts and misleading green claims when they know it will come back to haunt them?

To put it another way, given that most companies will never be “green,” or at least not green enough, why do they continue to shoot themselves in the foot by talking about themselves? You’re an oil company, you will never be green! Perhaps the business opportunity they are after rests in shifting the conversation from “look how green we are” to “look how green we can make you be.” Consumers have always looked after their own interests, as they should, and it’s no different when it comes to sustainability. It’s all about me, me, me. How can I reduce my impact? How can I contribute to the betterment of society? How can I be more efficient with what I have? Your average customers aren’t trying to get you to save the world, they are much more selfish than that. They want to do it themselves, and hopefully save some money along the way.

So where exactly do companies go wrong? Many of them target the wrong message (complex, environmental jargon) to the average customer (who simply doesn’t care), only to have the message torn apart very publicly by the small group of stakeholders (NGOs, activists, etc.) who do care, resulting in negative press and a damaged reputation across all stakeholders. Companies aren’t responsible for saving the world, and customers know that, so stop trying to reach for an unattainable goal.

Don’t get me wrong, it is extremely important for companies to minimize the negative impact on the environment and communities in which they operate, but if you’re trying to gain a true business advantage from sustainability, that’s not where it’s going to come from. It will please the small (albeit growing) group of stakeholders that care, but what does it do for the majority of customers that don’t? Nothing. Should you still strive to run a more efficient operation? Yes. Should you do it because a small group of stakeholders are complaining about its impact on the environment? No, you’ll never please them. You should do it because it makes good business sense in the long run.

Focus your efforts today on helping customers lead more responsible lives and you’ll make some good progress in earning the trust, and more importantly those “good” profits you are after. Customers are interested, they just need your help in getting there.

To add your thoughts to the discussion…click here.

Why authentic marketing is hard (and how to make it easier)

authentic, adj. = of undisputed origin, genuine; reliable or trustworthy

You hear the advice everywhere these days: Be authentic! Practice authentic marketing!

To be authentic is to be grounded in reality, to be real, to be yourself. If you’re authentic, you really are who you say you are and who others perceive you to be. If you market your business authentically, you represent yourself truthfully, genuinely. This is particularly important in sustainable marketing.

That calls for authenticity circulate through marketing conversations tells me there’s a need; a gap exists between who you are and how you market yourself or your business. Why is that? Why does anyone have to be reminded to “be yourself”? Why is authenticity in marketing so hard to accomplish? What can you do be authentic and practice authentic marketing?

The authenticity gap explained

Click here to continue reading…

via 3blmedia.com

Food Security Project is a New Model for Self-Sufficiency for Orphans in Conflict-Torn Regions

Equator Coffees Launches Chido’s Blend Coffee to Provide Critical Support

Chido Govero, a young Zimbabwean woman, trains orphan girls to grow highly nutritious food using plant matter from coffee farms – creating a solution for food insecurity, climate change, and orphan self-sufficiency. Equator Coffees releases Chido’s Blend, with 100% of the profits supporting Chido’s work. www.EquatorCoffees.com/Chido.