The group, therefore, believed that in order to discharge its responsibilities to the social community and environment, the company must first be a successful business concern. It is imperative that a successful business has a strategic vision and a well-defined action plan to deliver results to the stakeholders on a sustainable basis.
HSB lived the three Ps of CSR by Investing in Education, Nature, and People
1. Realizing that a successful group of their size and scope could make a significant impact on the world by ensuring the flow of social and economic benefits through their business.
2. So, the Bank began supporting a large number of local community projects.
3. Employees at HSBC actively involved themselves in volunteer work for various community programs. These efforts were supplemented by contributions and fund-raising efforts from corporate houses.
4. Employees were also encouraged to donate from their salaries to charity. In 2003, employees of Household pledged more than US$ 4.6 million, resulting in the American Cancer Society naming it as one of the top contributors through the ‘workplace giving’ campaign.
5. HSBC’s fund-raising efforts in 2004 resulted in donations of US$ 69.2 million that were used to fund numerous projects in education, environment, and other areas
The projects included,
- The HSBC Children’s Choir – ‘Coral infantil HSBC’ involving 850 children cared for by eight charities in Curitiba in Brazil, was launched in 2002.
- Around 1000 HSBC volunteers worked with Young Enterprise, a UK educational charity that encouraged young people to manage their own business while in full-time education
- The Hong Kong Bank Foundation funded the 2003 exhibition for disadvantaged children in Beijing, China. The exhibition featured 130 paintings and handicrafts of students from 15 special schools.
- HSBC’s support allowed the Royal Botanic Gardens to design the HSBC Oriental Garden – – a contemporary garden showcasing East Asian plants, while retaining a distinctly Australian style.
- HSBC’s funding of school books, classroom equipment, examination fees, clothing, shoes, and other resources to disabled children in Malaysia, Bangladesh, and India enabled these children to go to school.
A key lever for achieving growth was through developing the HSBC brand and investing in people
What are the firm’s ethical responsibilities to society and how does taking care of these responsibilities lead to sustainability?
To answer this question, we must first know what sustainability means and why?
Sustainability is a business approach to creating long-term value by taking into consideration how a given organization operates in the ecological, social, and economic environments. Sustainability is built on the assumption that developing such strategies fosters company longevity.
As the expectations on corporate responsibility increase, and as transparency becomes more prevalent, companies are recognizing the need to act on sustainability. Professional communications and good intentions are no longer enough.
Some of the global issues that sustainable business strategies help to address include:
· Climate change
· Income inequality
· Depletion of natural resources
· Human rights issues
· Fair working conditions
· Pollution
· Racial injustice
· Gender inequality
