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CSR-Community CR-Community Share your innovative CSR ideas, is the message of this webpage. It is generally understood that productivity and innovation lead to economic growth, which in turn leads to prosperity. But economic growth in itself is not sufficient to optimize prosperity, as its impact on society and the environment needs to be taken into account. Businesses today are expected to act on their responsibility towards their stakeholders in particular and society in general. When companies act in a responsible manner, they will contribute to sustainable economic growth and by extension to sustainable prosperity.
The objective of this CSR-community page is to present innovative but simple ideas that the other companies could implement. The message remains focussed on the three "I's" : Inspire others, be Innovative and Intergrate CSR in your business process.
Akzo Nobel Paints Thailand light for life programVision. It is one thing that many of us take for granted, the ability to see. However, there are still those who have never experienced the joy of sight, or are born with normal vision but gradually deteriorate until they are completely blind. As part of Akzo Nobel Paints Thailand ongoing Community Service program for 2009, the company recently conducted the Light for Life event at the Bangkok School for The Blind, a non-profit organization under the Royal Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen dedicated to the caring and educating for over 200 blind children in Bangkok. Besides a group of volunteer Akzo Nobel employees, the Saturday event was joined by painters from the ICI Dulux Painter Club totaling 60 volunteers who dedicated their Saturday for the charity cause. The activities started in the morning with donations to the school, including special text books made especially for those children with limited vision but are not completely blind, followed by numerous games conducted by our own staff. The event culminated with a special lunch for the 200 students and the repainting of the school compound walls by our very own painter volunteers.
Better children, Better society, Better futureProject fromAkzo Nobel Paints Thailand is a community program designed to enhance opportunity and quality of life for poor children at various provincial schools through the enhancement of their local community school and also through the training of these children in the painting profession. The first school in 2009 that was the recipient of this program is Wat Bochworadit School in Angthong province, a school for orphans with approximately 300 students. The school itself is located in a remote and very poor area of Angthong, and is severely underfunded, and lacks proper facilities, sanitation, and support. In April 2009, a team of 50 volunteer staffs from Akzo Nobel Paints Thailand helped to paint a new dormitory, provided a healthy and nourishing lunch to all 30 monks and 300 children, donated essential goods, and trained 20 children on how to paint in order to enhance their future career opportunities. This is just only the beginning, and more activities are planned for the upcoming quarter to fully develop the future of these underprivileged children Unilever frontrunner CSRUnilever Thailand has a broad variation when it comes to CSR. Next to internal social projects, such as waste-awareness projects and volunteer work for schools (every section has adopted their ‘own’ school to increase commitment), Unilever is truly taking responsibility for their effect on the environment. Unilever’s code of conduct goes back to linking CSR measures to local problems. In Thailand, waste-management is a big problem. Being the number one plastic-producer in Thailand, Unilever genuinely takes excessive measures to limited their damage on societies and the environment. In several villages, Unilever started to install so called ‘waste banks’. At these banks, local inhabitants can exchange their garbage for money. Special possibilities for saving are also available and educative measures to stimulate local people to separate their garbage. Secondly, Unilever is very innovative in creating packages that minimises space, so transport can be more effective. Furthermore, using these packages in an informative way, Unilever educates consumers to minimise their waste. Due to these measures, Unilever creates more awareness of the litter produces by it’s own consumers. Taking this responsibility is a perfect example of CSR. Multiple benefits with one single ruleAsian Tiger Transpo is very progressive when it comes to CSR. This regional market leader in moving business had a multifaceted policy on the subject in general. Furthermore, the people behind this policy are very ingenious in composing a CSR policy that is highly effective. Among others, one regulation in particular stands out; the ‘six-o clock’-rule. Three months ago Asian Tiger Transport introduces this norm as a pilot. Main purpose of the rule is that people try the leave the office at six o’clock as a maximum. In doing so, the air-conditioning and electricity can be switched off earlier which obviously saves a lot of money. Next to that, it improves social benefits for employees, now they have more time to spend with their families. This will decrease stress and mistakes while working and therefore, it also helps to create a better atmosphere among colleagues. Beside this, employees will also trying to finish their work before six, so they tend to work more efficient during the day. All together this indicates that there are even more then two beneficiaries from one single regulation. Visit website for details: Profit from using alternatives for chlorine in swimming poolsIn the hotel industry, chlorine is widely used chemical to clean sanitary areas and secure clean and save swimming water. However, chlorine is a very polluting substance, which endangers nature and creates al lot of waste in production and dismantling. The material is also harsh on human skin and causes dehydration when frequently used. An increasing number of people are starting to get aware of these side-effects of the chemical. Therefore, Pathumwan Princess Hotels has started to use an alternative cleaning product that accomplishes similar results as chlorine but diminishes the negative side-effects. This alternative was create by … and contents a new chlorine-salt combination. The purifying effect of swimming pool water is the same but other effects are decreased. By using this new method of disinfection, you show concern about the health of your guest and you also help to relieve pressure on the environment at the same time. Visit websites for product details:
10 years of Vertical marathon for Banyan TreeInternational hotel chain Banyan Tree Hotels had an outstanding record when it comes to CSR. It accomplishes almost all aspects of social responsibility, from a social security system for employees, till scientific labs to support environmental research. Small initiatives alternate with widespread, cross boarder rules that apply to the whole business. Furthermore, the head office, which is situated in Singapore, stimulates all the local detachments to come up with their own initiatives that will be applicable to specific local needs. Banyan Tree Hotel Bangkok took this by heart and started organising a very successful sponsored marathon, called the ‘vertical marathon’ within their building. This event, which celebrated its anniversary of a decade, last September, has very little organisational costs. As for the only thing necessary, stairs were already there. Besides, a huge amount of press showed up to reported the event, due to the unusual spirit of the one way-run. This benefitted the hotel in mutual ways; it enlarged the sponsored and the promotional gains. Next to that, it involved staff and clients and created more social bonding. In this way, even more money was raised for many of the local projects that Banyan Tree supports. This affirms that linking the name of your company to spectacular events is an effective way of performing CSR. Visit website for details: Atkinsson Group for workshop sustainabilityIntroducing CSR-principles into your company can be a heavy task. The selection of suitable projects, knowledge on the subject and events and above all the involvement of staff are just a few of the many things that accompany CSR implementation. An easy way to manage these side-effects is to outsource these steps. Following this line, the employment of a specialised company could be the solution. In doing so, you are assured that CSR is implemented in an effective way. A company that provides workshops with a focus on sustainability is the AtKisson Group. With a detachment specialised in sustainability for the Asian Region, this is a highly innovative and fun way to introduce CSR principles into your company and to create awareness among employees. Visit website for details: ING screensaver for staff awareness
Please see RBB, Small in volume, big in scaleAnother lesson learned, there’s no need for a MNC, whenever the philosophy behind the CSR initiatives is right. Even on small scale, a difference can be made, as long as the concern for other people’s wellbeing is present. With selling simple things like caps and DVD’s to customers, Andre Breuer managed to improve the live of thousands of kids and there further prosperities in the future. Last year Recreational Bangkok Biking was awarded with the Annual NTCC/BeneluxThai Business Award. Recreational Bangkok Biking Ltd. is a gem of a company, and probably the smallest company ever to be shortlisted. Set up by inspiring Dutchman Andre Breuer, Recreational Bangkok Biking Ltd organizes bicycle tours through unknown Bangkok and serves thousands of tourists, expats and corporate clients. Slum people are employed to help bikers cross the Chao Praya River, and Andre was very touched by the living standards of these people and especially the lack of educational opportunities for children. Out of the conviction of creating broader future perspective, he became a full sponsor of a slum pre-school. Thanks to the money collected from its bikers, over half a million Thai Baht for school year 2007 and over a million Thai Baht for school year 2008 was raised. These charity yields are rather exceptional for a company with less than 10 staff. Please see link for further information: Internal competition amongst Sofitel resorts leads to best project-selectionAs a worldwide hospitality-chain, Sofitel, has two pillars on which their overall CSR-policy rests. The environmental policy (ECO) is distributed from the headoffice in Paris and applicable for all local resorts in the chain. Secondly, EGO, covers the social part of its CSR regime. The latter accompanies less strict practices, which allows separate local branches to initiate projects of their interests. Therefore, the head office in Paris launched a competition among local offices to come up with the best project-ideas. Working with a competitive matter for CSR-initiatives, money is spend effectively because it has to fit into budget while serving community needs in the most suitable way. Within Sofitel, this has resulted in three community projects, firstly ECPAD, for raising awareness and ending child prostitution matters. Secondly, ‘A Three for a Child’ started two years ago. Furthermore, ‘Operation Smile’ is very successfully adopted into Thai components. Sofitel collected a lot of money for this project. Regional Director Christophe Lejeune, reveals the secret reason behind the success, ‘it’s the closed envelop aspect, it is a very discrete way of asking for support’. Such thing as a free lunch?
Thailand might be the perfect country for Solar energy, with nearly always there strong sunshine. Nonetheless, there are very few companies who use this inexhaustible source of energy. TAPB is on lead taking advantage of this free source of energy with installing ‘Grid-Connected Solar System’ on top of their car park. With this most successful system in renewable energy, TAPB is on the right track to be in-line with Global Warming issues. This resource-saving project also allows TAPB to join the government resource saving incentive program which results in the government purchasing electricity from the brewery in the future. Any new insights for your company? More information can be downloaded
Line-up for awarenessEcco’s solution to increase the involvement of the staff on each level, is to organise a so called ‘line-up’ at least one a week. Gathering together at a central place and share important issues that are currently occurring within the company, will raise the attachment of all staff. Furthermore, it creates possibilities for managers to better grasp what is going on at the work floor. By increasing communication between management and staff, more thoughts and awareness can be shared. CSR is one of the subjects that can gain from this kind of information sharing. In this way the importance of for example saving energy and water can be made clear. Employees have a change to discuss the issues with one another afterwards or during lunch. Furthermore, by increasing communication, important difficulties or obstacles can be taken notice of, and CSR principles will be implemented more efficiently |
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ban-ea@minbuza.nl
www.asiantigers-thailand.com
Thai Asia Pacific Brewery’s (TAPB) record on CSR is endless. Combining international guidelines from the head office and local initiatives, TAPB covers all aspects of CSR. However, this short article will only focus on one single initiative, alternative energy method’s, with Solar energy in particular, but more from TAPB will be published in the near future. 
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