Innovations in Corporate Social Responsibility from Global Business Leaders at Panasonic, Thomson Reuters and Nanyang Business School

Abstract

Problem statement: Due to current varied CSR models and how CSR is presently defined and practiced differently in business and society worldwide, global CSR standards are vital to creating best practices of CSR and to increase the competitive advantage of business and society. Approach: Because most CSR business units in global organizations tend to focus on specific and narrow corporate communications of social responsibility instead of broadening the scope to set global CSR standards across sectors and industries, three global business leaders in Singapore who are familiar with CSR practices at Thomson Reuters, Panasonic and Nanyang Business School were interviewed to investigate how CSR is practiced in Singapore and China. The participants were selected based upon their global business, CSR and HRD knowledge and experience. Ten interview questions guided the case study. Results: The participants’ responses produced seven key lessons learned and five inadequacies of current CSR models that resulted in two innovatory CSR models. The first model is a concentric circle that has culture in the center, followed by personal and collective ethics, economic, legal, environment and government domains. The second model is a concentric circle that has Human Resource Development (HRD) in the center followed by the domains in the first model. Conclusion/Recommendations: The innovatory CSR models can assist global organizations to successfully manage changing global conditions when the organization is viewed as an interwoven and dynamic whole that generates continuous knowledge and bridges its systems, processes and structures that are constantly transforming into an internal and external common global network. CSR values, not stakeholder demands or charitable contributions from global business leaders, managers and individual employees play a significant role in reducing globalization’s unintended consequences and increasing the competitive advantage of global organizations and society.